Promoting the use of green space is a fundamental way to improve physical and mental health and to enhance the quality of life of urban residents. In response to increasing demand for green space in cities, the impact of perception of green space for health promotion on willingness to use parks and actual use among young urban residents was investigated in this study. A total of 1135 young residents (ages 18–35) in three cities in China were surveyed by online questionnaire. A group of multiple regression models was constructed to investigate the influencing perception factors of participants’ willingness to use parks and actual use. The results revealed that the young residents’ perception of green space components for health promotion (green space access, types, sizes, plants, water, sensory features, microclimate environments and amenity facilities) had a greater effect on their willingness to use parks and to promote health, while it was less influential with respect to their actual park use behavior (frequency and duration). Among these variables, green space access is a critical concern for willingness to use toward parks. The disparities of perception of green space for health promotion effect on willingness to use a park and actual use provide a better understanding of the psychological factors affecting park use among young residents. The findings also provided some implications for public health policymakers, urban planners and landscape architects in designing parks to encourage visitation by young people.

Understanding the relationship between mood and the environment among the elderly is important for the healthy aging agenda. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between residential outdoor environments of different qualities and mood in the elderly. Nine residential neighborhoods across three different quality levels of the outdoor environment in Guangzhou, China, were surveyed. Measures included demographic characteristics, assessment of the residential outdoor environment, and mood status of the elderly. We constructed a group of multiple regression models to investigate influencing environmental factors of participants’ mood. Results revealed that the environmental factors influencing mood in the elderly are different across the three types of residential outdoor environments: function and cleanliness of the site showed a significant correlation with mood in high-quality residences, while pavement was significantly correlated with mood in medium-quality residences. In contrast, transparency, enclosure, greenness, temperature, and humidity were significantly correlated with mood in poor-quality residences. To promote mental health in the elderly, we recommend that different qualities of residential outdoor environments should be considered individually rather than aggregated as simply “outdoor space.” The findings of this study are expected to contribute to create age-friendly communities for an aging society.

Urban streets are important public spaces for daily activities that play a crucial role in promoting health in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perceived street walkability and mood in the elderly, and specifically, the mediating effect of environmental preference and place attachment. We surveyed a total of 269 elderly residents from six streets in Guangzhou, China. We collected assessments of the street environments, environmental preferences, place attachment, and mood status from the elderly. A serial multiple mediator model was constructed using the structural equation modeling method. The results showed that the perceived street walkability was sequentially associated first with an increased level of place attachment (β = 0.798, SE = 0.358, p < 0.000) and then environmental preference (β = 0.191, SE = 0.033, p = 0.038), which was in turn related to improvement of positive mood in the elderly (β = 0.595 SE = 0.341, p < 0.000). Environmental preference alone was found to be significantly associated with positive mood (β = 0.595, SE = 0.341, p < 0.000), while no significant effect of place attachment was found when considered individually (β = −0.075, SE = 0.089, p = 0.395). These findings provide a greater understanding of the possible mechanism through which street environment impacts mood in the elderly. Therefore, when promoting the emotional experience of the elderly, we might consider not only physical environment factors but also psychological conditions in street environments.