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The analysis of urban health transformations must include the study of how neighbourhoods are influenced by demographic changes such as immigration. The objective of this study was to analyse how the relationship between native and immigrant residents in neighbourhoods with different socio-economic levels influenced the use of urban health assets, such as public spaces and food stores. Three Madrid neighbourhoods of different socio-economic levels were selected and studied by conducting 37 semi-structured interviews and 29 focus groups. Data analysis was based on qualitative sequential discourse. The main finding was that the presence of immigrants in Madrid neighbourhoods, especially with low and medium socio-economic levels, was perceived negatively, affecting the use of public spaces and food stores. This negative perception unfolded in three dimensions: (1) difficulties for natives and immigrants to live together; (2) limitations on using public spaces caused by a feeling of insecurity; (3) criticism of immigrant food stores, especially Chinese-run food stores. Our findings showed a worrisome lack of social contact between immigrants and native residents, which affected the use of urban health assets, such as public spaces and food stores., Depto. de Sociología Aplicada, Fac. de Ciencias de la Información, TRUE, pub

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M, Parks are potential key urban assets for improved population health; however, their use is not equal among all social groups. Individual and contextual factors could influence residents' perceptions of parks and how they interact with and, eventually, benefit from them. The use of complementary methodologies provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between park use, physical activity (PA), and residents' perceptions. Thus, we designed a mixed-methods study to analyze differences in park use and PA, and the perceptions of parks as urban assets for PA. We selected six parks from three neighborhoods in Madrid (Spain) with different neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) for systematic social observation. We registered park users by age, PA level (low, medium, and high), gender, and NSES using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) audit tool adapted for iOS software (iSOPARC). We also conducted 37 semi-structured interviews and 29 focus groups to analyze residents' perceptions of parks as urban assets for PA in the same neighborhoods. We adopted a convergent-parallel design to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data, and to describe the convergence and divergence areas between them. Parks within the high-NSES were more visited, showing a higher proportion of people performing high PA (11.9%) as compared to residents of the middle (9.3%) and low-NSES (3.2%). Female visitors showed lower PA levels compared to men, especially for parks within high-NSES. The following issues were reported as influence urban park use and perceptions: park maintenance and area perception, works constraints, insecurity and crime, differential perceptions by age, and the availability of organized activities in the parks. Residents from high-NSES reported fewer barriers to park use compared to residents from the other areas, who reported limitations such as less leisure time due to job constrains or perceived insecurity in parks. Senior particip