Leisure Activities of Adolescents and the Role of Neighborhood Open Space Evidence from Dhaka City

Abstract

This paper explored the existing leisure activities (LA) of adolescents in Dhaka city and
the influence of open space on LA. A total of 152 adolescents were selected through
snowball sampling from 20 different areas of the city. Participants’ notes of the
adolescents for a week and their questionnaire survey was conducted, and the parent of
adolescents were interviewed to explore current leisure practice. Subsequent reasonsbased
thematic analysis was done to investigate the impacts of open space on LA. Existing
leisure activities of the respondents reveal that very low outdoor or physical activities but
very high on screen-based activities. Factors that significantly influence outdoor leisure
practice is socio-economic factors such as gender, age, adult’s accompany to school,
friends in neighborhood and the years living in the area. Adolescents’ attitude to LA, their
safety perception and parents’ control over outdoor leisure, residency floor and access to
rooftop or garage as well as the width, crowding and cleanliness of adjacent street
significantly influence outdoor leisure activities (OLA). The quantity, proximity, size and
safety of the open spaces have significant impact on OLA of adolescents in Dhaka city.
Thus, lack of open space may have negative impacts on physical and mental growth of
adolescents.