Elderly Residents’ Uses of and Preferences for Community Outdoor Spaces during Heat Periods

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Very relevant and inspiring topic. The elderly population have to live in societies that are not designed for them, their needs are limited to mobilities, and in most cases, these requirements cannot be fulfilled. 

The study aims "to evaluate the environmental factors influencing the selection of these outdoor spaces by the elderly for relaxation and communication."

The abstract is informative and reveals fundamental aspects of the study. However, these sentences: " We analyzed the correlations between these factors and the number of occupants in these spaces and developed predictive models accordingly. The findings indicate that the environmental factors impacting the utilization of outdoor spaces by the elderly during heat periods within the community are, in order of importance: temperature, relative humidity, human traffic flow, and noise levels." fail to explain environmental factors. The authors should add these factors to the abstract in order to improve readers' experience. Moreover, the abstract should reveal clear results of the study in its field. Overall the abstract needs to be elaborated.

The introduction and Theoretical Frameworks parts are well-written and have a vital and strong literature review about and around the topic.

There are some minor typos and format mistakes, such as page-6 3.1. The capital letter should be used for Methodology. 

Considering elderly groups are highly sensitive, do the authors receive an ethical review before the study?

Results are presented consistently and their presentation is appropriate for the presentation of these analyses.

Results are discussed very well and the contribution of the study to the field is evidenced in the conclusion and discussion parts.

There are some minor typos and format mistakes but the overall quality of the English Language is satisfactory.

Author Response

Thanks for the kindly advice, please see the attachment about the reply and revision for the paper.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The issue raised is very important, because the aging of the population is becoming the number one problem today. The use of outdoor spaces, which were analyzed during the research, can facilitate the organization of places where elderly people can stay.

Since the readers of this article may have little knowledge about the place of the research, I would suggest adding in the description of the research group the characteristics of the environment - how big the city is, what is the number of recreational places, such as parks or squares, etc.

Based on the analysis of the observed phenomena, can the forms of physical activity undertaken by seniors be specified?

I had no information on how many people were monitored.

Author Response

Thanks for the kindly advice, please see the attachment about the reply and revision for the paper.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Some incomprehensible parts should be answered, the article can be published after minor revisions and corrections.

The issue addressed in this study is important, as current research does not adequately characterize the behavioral impact of the external environment according to activity types, age, and gender. This study aims to explore the linkages between the behaviors of elderly individuals in the community and outdoor environmen-tal conditions.

“The ZhuGuang community, which was surveyed in this study, is located in the Yuexiu District of Guangzhou. This area is typically high-density and contains a large proportion of elderly individuals. the community experiences severe aging” it is written, but it is not written

-where this data was obtained from, how did you determine this area?

-Was video recording and survey done on all hot days? How many people were surveyed?

-For how many days was the video shot, then the hottest day was selected from these recordings?

-It is necessary to give brief information about FCN image recognition technology.

- These questions need to be clarified.

-You also need to improve the conclusion part, some result information is scattered without classification, you can use one of the following articles for this.

*The Relationship Between the Adorability of Urban Landscapes and Their Users Demographic Variables: The Case of Edremit, Van/Turkey.

**Visual preferences assessment of landscape character types using data mining methods (Apriori algorithm): The case of Altınsaç and Inkoy (Van/Turkey)

Author Response

Thanks for the kindly advice, please see the attachment about the reply and revision for the paper.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

In the first review, I have put forward some suggestions to the manuscript, and the authors have a major revision and fully addressed my concerns from point to point, and I am satisfied with the answers they provided. Therefore, I recommend the publication of the manuscript.

Author Response

Thanks for your recognition. There is no specific comment, so no changes were made in this report.