Characteristics of urban park recreation and health during early COVID-19 by on-site survey in Beijing

Abstract

The positive health effects of green space have received increasing attention, however, on-site surveys and city-level research to reveal the relationship between urban park recreation and urbanite health in metropolitan areas during a post-pandemic period are lacking. We conducted an on-site survey using a questionnaire with 225 respondents from 22 urban parks distributed across the metropolitan area of Beijing during the early COVID-19 eased period with another 1346 respondents in 2021 to make verification. We identified factors that could influence public perceptions of park quality and human health (i.e., physical, mental, and social health) and revealed gender differences in perceptions of park characteristics. The correspondence pattern of perceived urban park quality with social health is distinct from that of physical and mental health. Due to the strict social distancing policy in early COVID-19 period, urban parks in different levels of urbanization environment could exert varied health effects.