Urban greenery mitigates the negative effect of urban density on older adults' life satisfaction: Evidence from Shanghai, China

Considering that most working adults spend nearly half their waking time at work, creating a supportive built environment around workplaces could be a feasible approach to maintain adequate levels of physical activity. However, the extent to which the built environment around workplaces influences walking behaviors in working adults remains unclear. Using survey data of 1009 full-time employees in Shanghai, China, this study assessed the nonlinear relationships between the built environment characteristics around workplaces and three domains of walking behaviors (commuting, utilitarian, and recreational walking). Using gradient boosting decision trees, our results showed that the built environment around workplaces is crucial for higher levels of walking behaviors, but built environment features tended to have distinctive associations with different domains of walking behaviors. Specifically, the number of physical activity facilities was positively associated with all three domains of walking behaviors, while a high floor area ratio was negatively associated with different domains of walking behaviors to some extent. Furthermore, several built environment characteristics, such as land use entropy, street view greenery, distance from home to the city center, and distance between the city center and workplaces had distinctive associations with different domains of walking behaviors. The findings of this study could provide nuanced guidance for creating pedestrian-friendly environments around workplaces to promote walking behaviors and overall physical activity levels in the working population. 

Examining non-linear associations between built environments around workplace and adults’ walking behaviour in Shanghai, China

Considering that most working adults spend nearly half their waking time at work, creating a supportive built environment around workplaces could be a feasible approach to maintain adequate levels of physical activity. However, the extent to which the built environment around workplaces influences walking behaviors in working adults remains unclear. Using survey data of 1009 full-time employees in Shanghai, China, this study assessed the nonlinear relationships between the built environment characteristics around workplaces and three domains of walking behaviors (commuting, utilitarian, and recreational walking). Using gradient boosting decision trees, our results showed that the built environment around workplaces is crucial for higher levels of walking behaviors, but built environment features tended to have distinctive associations with different domains of walking behaviors. Specifically, the number of physical activity facilities was positively associated with all three domains of walking behaviors, while a high floor area ratio was negatively associated with different domains of walking behaviors to some extent. Furthermore, several built environment characteristics, such as land use entropy, street view greenery, distance from home to the city center, and distance between the city center and workplaces had distinctive associations with different domains of walking behaviors. The findings of this study could provide nuanced guidance for creating pedestrian-friendly environments around workplaces to promote walking behaviors and overall physical activity levels in the working population.

Nature-based Solution of Greenery Configuration Design by Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation of Microclimate Environment and Carbon Sequestration

Casual evaluation of the effects of a large-scale greenway intervention on physical and mental health: A natural experimental study in China

Extensive evidence from cross-sectional studies has revealed a positive link between greenspace access and walking behaviors. However, the inherent weaknesses of the cross-sectional research design have provided little causal inference. In this natural experimental study, we assessed the effects of a large-scale greenway intervention (i.e., the opening of East Lake greenway) on walking behaviors in Wuhan, China. Longitudinal survey data on 1,020 participants were collected before and after the intervention in 2016 and 2019, respectively. The results of the mixed-effect difference-in-difference (DID) models showed that the greenway intervention had a significantly positive effect on the walking time, especially for residents living within two kilometers from the greenway. Furthermore, women and socio-economically disadvantaged people benefited most from the greenway implementation regarding walking time. Our findings provided compelling evidence that public investment in transportation infrastructure (e.g., greenway) effectively promotes walking behaviors and mitigates social inequities in physical activity.

Dongsheng He

Papers

Large-scale greenway intervention promotes walking behaviors: A natural experiment in China

Examining non-linear associations between built environments around workplace and adults’ walking behaviour in Shanghai, China