scholarly journals Dynamic and Heterogeneous Demand for Urban Green Space by Urban Residents: Evidence from the Cities in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9384
Author(s):  
Tianzheng Zhang ◽  
Yingxiang Zeng ◽  
Yingjie Zhang ◽  
Yan Song ◽  
Hongxun Li

With the increasing number of people starting to attach importance to urban green space (UGS), estimating urban residents’ demand for UGS has become critical. Previous studies have estimated residents’ demands for UGS in different cities using the Rosen–Roback model. However, there has been little analysis of the renters’ requirements for UGS or the dynamic and heterogeneous demands for UGS by residents in cities with varying characteristics. In this study, the prefecture-level cities in China were selected as the object of study for their wide representation of various city characteristics, and the Rosen–Roback model was used to address the abovementioned issues. Residents’ demand for UGS in 285 prefecture-level cities was assessed from 2010 to 2017. The results confirm our hypothesis that when UGS increases by 1%, house prices will increase by about 3% and rents will increase by about 7%, and the demand continues to grow. We also analyzed the heterogeneous demands for UGS by urban residents in different types of cities from three aspects: population density, economic level, and the effects of the National Forest City policy. Finally, we provided suggestions based on empirical results for planning and managing UGS.

Author(s):  
Hyun Jin Lee ◽  
Dong Kun Lee

The mounting mental health issues faced by elderly urban residents increase the social and economic costs to society associated with dementia and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of elderly urban residents suffering from mental health issues, to address these issues more effectively. We used 2015 Community Health Survey data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify the demographic and social characteristics of 11,408 elderly urban residents in relation to stress levels and symptoms of depression in seven metropolitan areas in Korea, and to calculate the odds ratio for urban green space. We found that the prevalence of these mental health issues generally decreased in relation to the ratio of green space of an area. These findings suggest identifying elderly people who are vulnerable to certain mental health issues based on demographic and social characteristics and demonstrate that the ratio of urban green space within a community is an important component in improving mental health outcomes for elderly urban residents. These findings have policy implications for assisting elderly people vulnerable to certain mental health issues and for establishing a green welfare policy targeting this population.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 876
Author(s):  
Silvija Krajter Ostoić ◽  
Ana Marija Marin ◽  
Martina Kičić ◽  
Dijana Vuletić

Background and Objectives: Cultural ecosystem services of urban green spaces are increasingly important and often recognized as such by people living in urban areas. Qualitative studies on perception of cultural ecosystem services from urban green spaces are still rare. Previous studies addressed only certain types of urban green space and often only some services. There is a lack of understanding how people perceive cultural ecosystem services from different types of tree-based urban green spaces. Hence, the purpose of the study was to explore whether and how people perceive and use cultural ecosystem services of different types of tree-based urban green spaces. Materials and Methods: Focus groups were conducted with citizens in each city district. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and transcripts analyzed in MAXQDA software. We used bottom up code-category-theme approach to analyze the data without predefined set of codes or categories. Results: Place attachment, aesthetic and recreational services were more recognized than educational and cultural identity services. For place attachment, most important single attributes were positive memories, and good maintenance, while most important categories were facilities, existence of emotional ties, possibility of experiences, recreational use and access. Presence of specific tree species and presence of trees in general were most important attributes for aesthetic services, while possibility of experiences and trees were the most important categories. Conclusions: People perceived various cultural ecosystem services from tree-based urban green space, even though some services more than others. Recreation may be the underlying goal of our participants when interacting with tree-based urban nature. Forests, parks were recognized as those providing multiple cultural ecosystem services. However, other types of green spaces were also recognized as bearers of these services, albeit with less services and attributes attached. It supports the importance of careful planning of urban green spaces in terms of providing a variety of green space types. The study provides basis for later quantification of cultural ecosystem services (CES) from tree-based urban green space.


Author(s):  
Rui Zhou ◽  
Ying-Jing Zheng ◽  
Jing-Yi Yun ◽  
Hong-Mei Wang

The aim of this study is to assess the impacts of urban green space on depressive symptoms among Chinese urban residents aged 45 and older. In total, 7397 urban respondents were included in this study. Each respondent participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study Wave 3 (2015). Environmental-level variables were retrieved from the National Bureau of Statistics database. Both unadjusted and adjusted methods were used in the multilevel regression analysis. Almost one-third of the sample population suffered from depressive symptoms (31.20%). The multilevel logistic regression model showed that green coverage ratio of city-built districts is negatively associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms among urban mid-aged (OR = 0.79, p < 0.05) and elderly (OR = 0.75, p < 0.05) residents, and the public recreational green space helps to reduce elderly people’s depressive symptoms (OR = 0.77, p < 0.05). This study adds insights about the impact of green space and other environmental factors on depressive symptoms among mid-aged and elderly urban dwellers. It is important to provide enough and accessible overall urban green spaces; additionally, attention should also be paid to specific green space forms such as public recreational green space.


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