Network Analysis of Bogotá's Ciclovía Recreativa, a Self-Organized Multisectorial Community Program to Promote Physical Activity in a Middle-Income Country

Abstract

Purpose. Conduct a social network analysis of the health and non–health related organizations that participate in Bogotá's Ciclovía Recreativa (Ciclovía). Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Ciclovía is a multisectoral community-based mass program in which streets are temporarily closed to motorized transport, allowing exclusive access to individuals for leisure activities and physical activity. Subjects. Twenty-five organizations that participate in the Ciclovía. Measures. Seven variables were examined by using network analytic methods: relationship, link attributes (integration, contact, and importance), and node attributes (leadership, years in the program, and the sector of the organization). Analysis. The network analytic methods were based on a visual descriptive analysis and an exponential random graph model. Results. Analysis shows that the most central organizations in the network were outside of the Health sector and include Sports and Recreation, Government, and Security sectors. The organizations work in clusters formed by organizations of different sectors. Organization importance and structural predictors were positively related to integration, while the number of years working with Ciclovía was negatively associated with integration. Conclusion. Ciclovía is a network whose structure emerged as a self-organized complex system. Ciclovía of Bogotá is an example of a program with public health potential formed by organizations of multiple sectors with Sports and Recreation as the most central.