Factors affecting the effectiveness of women's parks in Khuzestan province with an emphasis on physical activity

Parks and green spaces are the most important physical resources in order to promote physical activity among different strata of society. The current research aims to identify the factors affecting the effectiveness of women's parks in Khuzestan province with a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) approach. In the qualitative phase, a semi-structured interview with the participation of 15 experts and content analysis was used. The sampling method of choosing experts in the research was done in a purposeful way and by snowball method. in the quantitative stage; The researcher-made questionnaire was designed and validated in order to confirm the factors identified in the qualitative section and was distributed among the visitors of women's parks in the province, and finally 341 questionnaires were collected in person and electronically. In this section, in order to check the data, structural equations using partial least squares method were used. The results of this research in the qualitative phase included the identification of six main factors (security factors, environmental factors, social and cultural interactions, physical and beauty factors, sports and health factors, and human factors) in the better effectiveness of women's parks in the province. In the quantitative part, all factor loadings of the items were greater than 0.4, which indicated the appropriateness of this criterion. Also, the t value obtained for all items is more than 1.96, which indicates the significant effect of all items at the confidence level of 0.95. According to the geographical conditions of the province, it is suggested that city and sports officials, relying on the results of the present research; They should have a special view on the development of women's parks with a sports approach in order to provide the means for a healthy society and the growth of citizens in sports, cultural and social dimensions.