• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aims to develop a shared forest walking program and verify its effects on self-esteem, life satisfaction, and depression among older adults living alone in rural communities. Methods: Participants were assigned to an experimental or a control group, with 20 participants each. Data collected during August 1~3, 2022, before the program, and October 29~31, 2022, after the program. In this study, the shared forest walking program was conducted twice a week for a total of 24 sessions, with each session lasting one hour. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0, x² tests, and t-tests. Results: The experimental group participating in the sharing forest walking program showed higher self-esteem and life satisfaction than the control group, along with a decrease in depression. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences in self-esteem (t=5.97, p<.001), life satisfaction (t=7.78, p<.001), and depression (t=-7.58, p<.001). Conclusion: The shared forest walking program, developed based on the results of this study, improved self-esteem and; life satisfaction; and reduced depression among older adults living alone in rural communities. We propose the development of a continuous program to assist older adults living alone in underprivileged rural areas to experience retirement with reduced depression, increased self-esteem, and enhanced life satisfaction.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.493-499
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• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the mediating effects of walking days on body mass index (BMI) according to the public transportation satisfaction of middle aged Koreans aged 40-59 in Korea using the 2015 community health survey data. The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for provision of the neighborhood environment and support programs for the walking activity and promotion of daily walking activities among middle aged people. Among 228,558 individuals, 85,344 middle aged people aged 40-59 years were selected as final subjects for analysis. The data were analyzed with the open source statistics program R 3.4.1 to determine whether the number of walking days had a mediating effect on body mass index (BMI) as an independent variable. The Sobel test revealed that the number of walking days increased by B=0.010(p=.010), and that when the satisfaction with public transportation increased, B=-0.052 (p=.021), the number of walking days decreased by B=-0.038 (p=.001). To increase the number of walking days and decrease the body mass index by increasing public transportation satisfaction by increasing the use of public transportation, public transportation fare adequacy and access convenience among the public transportation satisfaction mentioned above should be improved more than the current level. It is not easy for individuals that live in small cities to reach their destination by public transportation after leaving the metropolitan area; therefore, improvement of public transportation systems is necessary to improve health.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.93-104
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• 2021

A coastal ferries, which serve as a mode between mainland and offshore islands, are frequently used by islanders and travelers visiting islands. Therefore, it is located in a place with good accessibility to the downtown so that users can use it conveniently. However, research on the built environment and walking environment of coastal ferry terminals has not been conducted to ensure that elderly islanders and general travelers can use comfortably the coastal ferry terminal. In this study, with a focus on the coastal ferry terminal space, the walking section was set as 1)the accessibility of the coastal ferry terminal, 2)the built environment for using the coastal ferry terminal, and 3)walking environment in the ferry boarding and disembarkation at the coastal ferry terminal, and 4, 5)walking environment in the ferry. An evaluation tool was developed to measure the walking environment for each walking section, and the importance and satisfaction of users were analyzed using the IPA for the Yeosu Coastal Ferry Terminal. As a result, in the process of approaching the ferry terminal, 'convenience of using public transportation by foot' and 'convenience of using signposts guiding the location and direction of the ferry terminal' were investigated as concentrated areas. On the other hand, the built environment inside the ferry terminal and the walking environment showed that the satisfaction of the users was high. Regarding the walking environment from the ferry terminal to the ferry, the 'surface walking environment of the walking path', 'convenience of walking with luggage', 'convenience of walking in the slope section', and 'convenience of walking in the ferry ramp section' showed low satisfaction. This study can be used as basic data for improving the facilities and walking environment of Yeosu Coastal Ferry Terminal and is expected to be used as data for comparative research with other coastal ferry terminals.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1231-1238
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• 2007

The promotion of walking and bicycling is recently a hot topic in the urban planning and design field. Many planners have already examined the many components of the land use-transportation connection and built environment-physical activity link. A rapidly growing area of urban form research is to measure the level of walk-ability in urban environments. With this background, this research conducted a preliminary study to develop the evaluation indicators of pedestrian environments. Based on the literature reviews on walking or pedestrian environments, we proposed the seventeen indicators related with pedestrian facilities, road attributes and walking environment. We also performed a questionary survey to evaluate the satisfaction of their neighborhood pedestrian environments for 302 randomly selected adults living in the City of Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do. Finally, this research provided the valid model to evaluate the effects of physical environmental factors on the walking satisfaction using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.135-153
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• 2016

This study is aimed at grasping improvement factors of Cheonho Park, Gandaemae Park and Hunlyunwon Park as barrier free friendly parks. For this study, current status of parks, users' state and satisfaction were analyzed in October, 2014 and September, 2015. To detect current status, period of designing, whole size, facility pavement green space area, and main spaces were examined. As for BF status, mediation facilities, leading and guidance facilities, convenient facilities and BF pedestrial passage were analyzed. Also, It examined user behavior and satisfaction by accessibility, convenience and safety items. As a result of status analysis, three parks were designed in 1997~1998. The size of parks were $15,180m^2{\sim}26,697m^2$. As for mediation facilities, the slopes of walking-passage in Cheonho Park and Gandaemae Park were flat. The rate of leading-guidance facilities was 72.7%~93.4%. In the three parks, the effective width of safe pedestrian space within BF pedestrial passages was more than 1.8m. In Cheonho Park and Gandaemae Park, more than 50% of soil and urethane were used as paving materials. Users were the most satisfied with accessibilities in Cheonho Park due to flat-typed walking passages. In convenience, when it comes to using benches and pergolas, it showed significantly different satisfaction in every park. In safety, there were also considerable difference in every park. Overall, it was analysed that the satisfaction with information for safety and facilities was significantly low. Against this backdrop, this study suggests three considerations to recreate parks as barrier free friendly parks. 1) Flat-typed walking passages and enough parking areas near parks should be constructed. 2) Additional rest furniture for convenience should be installed and complemented. 3) Walking oriented-spatial safe facilities for safety should be differently supplemented.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.53-62
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• 2022

Animal companionship is gaining popularity in Korea, and interest in dog walking is also increasing as a strategy to maintain the physical and mental health of dogs and dog owners. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception and satisfaction of dog owners with the neighborhood environments for dog walking and to examine the willingness to pay (WTP) for an off-leash dog park. Of a total of 249 online survey respondents, 47.8% said they take a walk at least once a day and mainly walk around nearby neighborhoods or parks. Respondents showed a high attachment to their dogs and recognized that dog walks help increase physical activity and maintain the health of owners and their dogs. The satisfaction with neighborhood environments, such as attractive views and the connection of walking trails, was low, and there was a high demand for off-leash dog parks. The truncated mean WTP was estimated to be 85,618 Korean Won, and the result of regression analysis and t-test revealed that walking frequency and the satisfaction with dog walking facilities were statistically significant in the WTP. In order to encourage dog walking to promote physical activity and health, more attention needs to be devoted to improving neighborhood environments for dog walking.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.57-65
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• 2010

Physical activity of the people has decreased due to a sedentary lifestyle according to developing the economy throughout the world. It is thought to increase the risk of chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, etc. People are interested in walking, which is an easy activity to engage in as an antidote to chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to increase the diminishing physical activity of modem society by inducing walking as part of everyday life through building a walking-based activity-friendly city where people can live merrily, safely and pleasantly. For this purpose, this study conducted a satisfaction survey to dwellers of Jinhae on the physical pedestrian environments which affect determining walking participation and intentions of people, and also provided a valid model to evaluate the effects of the physical environmental factors on walking satisfaction using factor analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results are summarized as follows. The 18 variables of the physical pedestrian environments were selected based on pre-literature reviews. The results of the satisfaction surveys showed that the satisfaction of crossing aids in segments was highest, while the building feature was the lowest. Factor analysis was run through a two-step process. The first analysis was conducted to examine the adequacy of this factor analysis on the selected 18 variables. As a result, two variables were removed and the remaining 16 variables were extracted to the four factors by second analysis. Each factor was named function of path, effect of traffic, amenity and safety based on the each factor's commonality. Each factor score of the extracted four factors was set as the independent variable, while the overall walking satisfaction was set as the dependent variable. Then, the multiple linear regression analysis was conducted and showed that all four factors had a positive influence on the overall satisfaction of walking, especially the 'function of path' and 'amenity' factors, followed by 'effect of traffic' and 'safety'. The results of this research will be used as foundational data for creating a walking-based activity-friendly city.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.60-73
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• 2011

Since Jeju Ollegil opened in September 2007 and attracted the sensation of popularity throughout the country, the interest in 'Walking Trails' has increased, and the central ministries and the local governments composite and assign various 'Walking Trails'. Walking trails are not tours on which people go to see one spot and move to another spot by vehicle, but a long linear journey that leads people to see, to feel and to experience a region's landscape and culture while walking on the trail. 'Walking Trails' are efficient routes to discover and to use a former way and to link the various ecological regions' histories and cultural resources, so it is most important to select a route. Although the routes were selected by considering the various planning factors and giving each route a specified theme, some problems like the inconvenience of visitors caused by lack of facilities have occurred. After designation and construction of the trails, they were not properly evaluated by visitors. Therefore, it is the purpose of this study to suggest a better way to construct the trails by surveying visitor satisfaction and by analyzing the impact of planning a route on visitor satisfaction at Bukhansan Dulegil which was completed. For this study, with a questionnaire based on the literature review to identify the important planning factors for selecting a route, a survey was conducted on visitor satisfaction for each section and their intention to revisit and to recommend that trail. Based on the characteristics of each section that was identified in the field research, the trails were classified into five types and satisfaction of each type and each type was analyzed. In addition, analyzing the impact of planning factors on satisfaction, the impact of satisfaction on revisiting and recommending and visitors' perception of the theme, further improvement for better construction of the trail was presented. Satisfaction of sectors with strong natural elements was higher; 'walking comfort' was the highest planning factor affecting satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction was surveyed to have high influence on revisiting and recommending.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2021

This study empirically analyzes the effect of pedestrians' personal and household characteristics and accessibility to public facilities on a walking safety satisfaction (WSS) level. The aim is to find ways to improve vulnerable pedestrians' WSS level and contribute to the creation of an inclusive urban environment. As a result of the analysis, age and gender variables were important for elderly people, and education was an important factor for disabled people. The WSS level was impacted by the factors of single-person households, income, and residential areas. In the case of accessibility to public facilities, the greater the satisfaction with accessibility to public institutions, urban parks and green areas, and public transport, the greater the WSS for the elderly and the disabled. And, the greater the satisfaction with accessibility to commercial facilities, the greater the WSS was for the elderly's WSS. However, the satisfaction with access to medical facilities was the opposite in the case of the elderly.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1D
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• pp.17-25
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• 2010

In Korea, the importance of walking has not been stood out in relief because of the rapid increase of a car on a drastic economic growth in the past half a century. Walking has failed to be recognized as a traffic measure or one of basic human rights. Therefore this study brings up problems of weakened walking right from increase of cars and examines reinforcing policies for walking right of advanced countries. And this study presents institutional devices for introducing walking safety measures of advanced countries reflecting pedestrian satisfaction and opinions about walking right. The results of this study are, First, pedestrians' walking liberty is guaranteed, Second, how to repair walking environment is searched and practical measures are analyzed to find out what is applicable to Korea, can reduce pedestrian accidents and is wanted by pedestrians using GAP analysis and Structural Equation. Third, basic data for upcoming selection of policies are presented by analyzing pedestrian satisfaction assuming that selected measures are operated.