Social Gathering and Motivations: Understanding What Draws Young Visitors to Urban Parks
Universidade de São Paulo; Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa
How they used Delve
Researchers at the Universidade de São Paulo and the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa used Delve to organize and code 97 structured interviews with young park visitors across four Peruvian and Brazilian cities, identifying and comparing themes about what draws them to urban parks.
“The use of DELVE qualitative analysis software supported the systematic organization and coding of the interview transcripts, allowing themes to be identified, grouped, and compared across participants. [...] By employing DELVE, the research team ensured that themes emerged inductively from the data, while also maintaining transparency and consistency in the analytical process.”
- Field
- Environmental and urban psychology; what motivates 18-27 year olds to visit urban parks in Peru and Brazil, and how digital connectivity shapes those visits
- Data
- 97 in-person structured interviews with 18-27 year olds in São Paulo (34), Salvador (25), Arequipa (28) and Lima (8), each covering 25 open-ended questions on motivations, barriers, safety perceptions and park use, conducted between 21 September and 21 November 2024
- Approach
- Interpretivist, inductive thematic analysis of structured-interview responses, with codes applied systematically to text segments and themes compared across the four cities for cross-cultural contrast
- Data types
- Interviews
Abstract
Urban parks are public infrastructures that support recreation, socialization, and psychological well-being, yet their relevance to younger generations in digital societies remains underexplored. This article addresses this gap by examining the extent to which youngsters engage in social behaviors within parks. Drawing on 97 structured interviews across São Paulo, Salvador, Lima, and Arequipa, it adopts a qualitative, interpretivist design. Findings reveal that relaxation, nature contact, and peer interaction are dominant motivations, while digital connectivity functions as facilitator and distraction. The analysis highlights urban parks as hybrid socio-digital arenas and urges policymakers to design inclusive, safe and multifunctional spaces. The study contributes to bridging environmental psychology, urban sociology, and youth studies, offering a perspective on the evolving functions of public spaces.
Citation
Edgar Romario Aranibar Ramos, Miguel Angel Demetrio Olarte Pacco, Rosy Melany Parizaca Ninaja (2026). Social Gathering and Motivations: Understanding What Draws Young Visitors to Urban Parks. Revista de Psicología. https://doi.org/10.18800/psico.202602.020