The effects of accessible urban parks on healthy social and physical development of children: The case of Elgöli Park in Tabriz, Iran

The industrialization process that started in the 19th century brought about the problems of urbanization with the rapid increase in the concentration and population. In this case, the quality of life in urban centers is decreasing and suitable urban spaces for child development are gradually diminishing. As a result, parks are becoming increasingly important as recreation areas where all the people living in the city, especially children, can breathe, relax and enjoy the longing for nature. Accessibility of all recreational areas, which play an important role on urban open space, in this sense parks, should be arranged in such a way that people of all age groups can freely use them regardless of disabled or non-disabled ones. Due to keeping people, especially children, away from city center life, parks satisfy needs of many people. As a result, parks and playgrounds, which located in them, lead to train healthy generations by allowing children to play freely and perform various play activities. Also, parks and playgrounds play an important role in children's future life including a healthy body, experiencing higher self-confidence and communicating comfortably in the society. In this study, the contents of open green spaces and park concepts were investigated and planning, regulating principles and standards of architectural and landscaping objects in all types of parks were examined. However, the development process of child, concept of play and effects of the parks on the child's physical, social, emotional and mental development were emphasized. As an example, Tabriz Elgoli Park was analyzed in the context of above mentioned information and users were questioned for the physical and functional qualities of it and also effects of the parks and playgrounds on the social and physical development of the children. The fieldwork was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, Elgoli Park was assessed based on observations on social and physical factors, with referring to TSE standards. In the second stage, a questionnaire form was used to examine the opinions of the Elgoli park users about the place and the effects of the park on physical and social development of the children, and filled out forms were investigated with multivariate statistical analysis methods. The results show that Elgoli park has problems in terms of accessibility. According to the interviews, it was determined that Elgoli Park had a positive effect on the social and physical development of children as a whole, but the playgrounds contained the inadequacies and the positive effects of child development were limited and therefore less preferred by parents and children. Key words: Urban parks, Accessibility, Child, Child development, Children's playgrounds, Tabriz Elgoli Park.