3.2. Systematic Study Following PRISMA
The Citespace analyses uncovered impacts on dog walking and health from the perspective of physical environments. Most recent research into the canine disciplines has started to switch the focus to related environments, such as dog parks.
The subsequent systematic study was conducted following PRISMA. Figure 3 illustrates the flow of the literature identification, screening, and inclusion, which yields a total of 55 articles of interest, of which 46 were peer-reviewed journal articles and 9 were dissertation/thesis [36,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46]. Most of these articles were conducted in the global west, especially in the USA, Australia, and Europe. There were 16 articles proposing dog park design and/or management strategies without discussion of their pros and cons, and 13 articles focusing on the benefits and/or conflicts of dog parks. Around half of these articles (26 out of 55) explored both the pros and cons and the strategies of dog parks, but only nine of them formulated design and/or management strategies according to the benefits and conflicts. Dog park benefits, conflicts, and design and management strategies for the 55 articles are summarized in Table 1.
As some studies addressed multiple aspects, including benefits, conflicts, or design and management strategies of dog parks (Table 1), we synthesized the information in the following figures (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7) according to their frequencies in the identified studies.
In Figure 4, the most reported benefits brought by dog parks were identified as improving the physical and social health of dogs and their owners. Some other benefits often mentioned by scholars included building a sense of community and enhancing social cohesion, public safety, and community engagement. Individual scholars indicated that the existence of dog parks in the community can increase property values [22], bring vibrancy to the community [57], and enhance emotional attachment of dog walkers [43]. Additional benefits of dog parks, including mental/psychological health benefits, are related to social benefits, such as promoting human socialization and the enhancement of social cohesion and community engagement.
Hygiene problems related to the dog waste is a serious issue in dog parks, as identified by most studies. Figure 5 also showed that incompatible uses between dog owners and non-dog owners, aggressive dogss, and the lack of regulation of dogs received additional attention among large numbers of researchers. While physical health benefits are the most identified dog park benefits for both park visitors and canines, several studies indicated that dog park visitors may have a limited intensity of physical activity. In addition to the negative impacts on the environments indicated by more than one study, such as damage plant community and soil degradation and erosion, Booth [63] was also concerned that the presence of off-leash dogs may influence wildlife in parks.
Design strategies for dog parks include the consideration of their location, size, adjacent park facilities, amenities, and esthetics (Figure 6). Improvements in accessibility and amenities received the most attention among the proposed design strategies, such as increasing park access and the provision of garbage bins for dog waste. Several studies indicated the placement of signage for direction, adequate seating for dog owners, and monitoring programs or equipment for governing off-leash areas. Numerous studies stated that vegetation and plantings also need to be carefully considered in dog parks. Some other design strategies, such as linear-based path design [3], safety amenities, and natural reserves [64], although only discussed by individual studies, were consistent with the common strategies for dealing with identified conflicts, including lack of physical activity and hygienic issues.
In Figure 7, most research has suggested that strengthening public engagement in the decision-making process for dog park construction/management can address the conflicts between canines and humans, as well as between dog owners and non-dog owning park users. A self-enforcement policy that motivates dog-walkers to manage their dog’s waste is important in the off-leash areas. Numerous researchers have raised the issue of environmental impacts caused by the canines, and this should be core to the management process of dog parks. Some other management strategies covered the necessity of having animal control officer presence, policies and penalties for noncompliance [36], and even a banned list of chronic offenders [46] in dog parks. To deal with the conflicts in dog parks, the strategies of periodic monitoring of soil conditions [74] and share of time in unfenced areas with other park users [21] were also raised.