Built Environment Effects on Physical Activity and Mental Well Being of Young Women in the Balkans

Houshmand Masoumi^1,2*Melika Mehriar¹Georgios Laskaris³Ioanna Spyropoulou³Biljana Popeska⁴Snezana Jovanova Mitkovska⁴Mishko Djidrov⁴Maryam Mirafshar⁵

• ¹Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• ²University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
• ³National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
• ⁴Goce Delcev University, Štip, North Macedonia
• ⁵Urban Research and Education UG, Berlin, Germany

While physical activity is widely recognized as a key factor in physical and mental health, the impact of subjective and objective built environment characteristics on well-being across different population groups remains understudied. This gap is particularly evident among specific ethnic groups and genders, as most such studies focus on populations from Western and high-income countries. The primary objective of this paper is to assess the associations between various built environment characteristics, including both objective and subjective features, with the levels of physical activity and the well-being of young women in the Balkans. To achieve this, a questionnaire survey was designed and implemented in five cities in the Balkans: Niš (Serbia), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Athens (Greece), Bucharest (Romania), and Štip (North Macedonia), targeting the sub-population of young women. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) modelling was employed to identify the subjective and objective built environment characteristics that affect engagement in moderate and vigorous physical activity and well-being. The findings of this paper show that a high level of street connectivity is associated with a higher level of moderate and vigorous physical activity. Additionally, there is a significant association between exciting green spaces in the neighbourhood, proximity to shops, mixed land-use neighbourhoods, cycling infrastructure, and higher levels of physical activity and well-being.