The effects of green apartment living, neighborhood greenspace exposures and greenspace exposures in activity space on residents’ walking behaviors and mental health in China

Abstract

Many evidences have proved that residents' health outcomes are influenced by their overall living environments. However, existing literature mainly stresses the effects of outdoor greenspace exposures on health and little is known about the compound effects of indoor and outdoor, static and dynamic, and over-head and eye-level greenspace exposures. This study aims to make multi-scale comparison into relationships between greenspace exposures and health by incorporating the geographical contexts of indoor green apartment living, static greenspace exposure within neighborhood, dynamic greenspace exposure in daily activity space, and the perceived greenspace exposure in general in Nanjing China. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 132 green apartment occupants and 170 conventional apartment occupants aged 18 years old and over from March to June 2018 in Nanjing with rich resources of greenspace and green building developments. Respondent's walking behavior was assessed by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Respondent's mental health status was acquired from the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. This study employed multi-sourced greenspace assessments based on remote sense data, digital map data, street view image data, and machine learning interpretation methods. Partial least square structural equation modeling was chosen to analyze the pathways underlying the greenspace exposure-health associations. Results show that green apartment living does not exert much influence on residents' walking activities and mental health. People choose to live in green residential buildings does not mean that they choose to lead a green life. It is the outdoor objective and subjective greenspace exposures influencing residents' outdoor activities and mental health. After controlling for neighborhood exposure and perception indicators, greenspace exposure in activity space influenced physical activity intensity and health. Residents who enjoy good visibility and diversity of outdoor greenspace in their mobility path could show better health performance. The effects of activity space green exposures on health were bigger for the elderly and female than for the non-elderly and male respectively. The results could shed light on comprehensive green community design and green city planning.