‘Greening our backyard’- health behavior impacts of the built environment within the overall ecology of active living

The Jerusalem Railway Park illustrates the ecology of active living, being an urban infrastructure created with broad citizen engagement. It connects residential and commercial areas housing diverse populations while facilitating active lifestyles. In this study, we sought to understand 55 and above-aged residents’ perceptions regarding an environmental change in their neighborhood, and how it frames their lifestyle choices. Mixed-methods tools were used creating an eight-categorical tree that models the main perceptions raised. That tree can be evaluated and mapped ecologically. Our results show that living in proximity to the park encourages engagement in active lifestyle behaviors. Beyond the latter, the data reveal linkages between the health impact of the park and the ecology of its creation, maintenance, community cohesion, inter-ethnic relations, municipal politics, transportation systems, and environmental concerns in a sometimes tense city. The paper illustrates how health effects interact synergistically with other components of urban systems to improve quality of life.