The COVID-19 pandemic and associated societal measures to control the spread of the virus have brought about significant changes in almost every aspect of life in the US and globally. The economic and societal effects of the pandemic are vast, with consequences not only for large systems such as health care and education, but also for individuals and families. Previous large societal disruptions in the US, such as the 1918 H1N1 Influenza pandemic,¹ Great Depression (1929),² and Great Recession (2008)³ have influenced population growth and fertility rates, but the exact effects of COVID-19 on fertility and birth rates are speculative to date. In the US, a multitude of factors could variably influence pregnancy rates. For example, economic concerns may lead people to postpone conception, whereas decreased access to contraceptive services could lead to increased unintended pregnancy rates. A 2020 Guttmacher Institute study⁴ demonstrated that 40% of women reported changes in plans for childbearing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 41% of women with children reported worry about being able to take care of their children, and 33% of women had to delay or cancel an appointment for reproductive health or contraception care. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted longstanding economic and health disparities in the US,^4-6 yet how such disparities will influence fertility rates and obstetric complications are unknown at this time.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a quintessential public health crisis, profoundly impacting the utilization patterns of urban green spaces through stringent quarantine and lockdown measures. However, existing research inadequately addresses specific concerns regarding future urban green spaces and tends to oversimplify population divisions. This study delves into the needs and preferences of Shanghai residents affected by the pandemic and quarantine measures, focusing on various aspects such as specific types of green spaces, facilities, landscape elements, and landscape and spatial types. Multifactorial population clustering was also performed. This study delineates the following conclusions: (1) It is imperative to afford residents access to green spaces at least once a week, even during quarantine periods. (2) Residents exhibited a preference for accessible green spaces equipped with essential amenities, favoring unobstructed vistas and plant-centric ecological landscapes during the pandemic. Additionally, there is a notable preference for private green spaces among residents. (3) Post-pandemic, the “affluent” group displays a heightened overall demand for green spaces, the “middle-class” group shows a conspicuous inclination towards specific green space landscape elements, while the “low-income” group consistently exhibits a low preference for green spaces during and after the pandemic. This study underscores the necessity of developing human-centric green spaces to promote equity and resilience in the face of future emergencies, rooted in residents’ preferences amidst public health crises.

Tea tourism has gained prominence recently, particularly with the recognition of traditional Chinese tea processing techniques as an intangible cultural heritage. Nevertheless, as a niche form of tourism, knowledge gaps persist regarding the understanding of tea tourists’ perceptions of the tourism environment and their subsequent impact on behavior intentions. Underpinned by affordance theory, this study aims to investigate the role of tourism environment affordance in shaping behavior intentions through emotional value and cultural identity. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to analyze survey data collected from 296 online responses provided by tea tourists. The key findings are as follows: (1) tea tourists primarily visit sites like a tea village, tea garden, and tea house, typically once or twice annually, with visits lasting 2–4 or 4–8 h; (2) convenient transportation and facilities, educational opportunities, and well-designed environments emerge as the most influential aspects of tourism environment affordance; and (3) tourism environment affordance significantly influences emotional value and cultural identity, and these in turn act as mediators between tourism environment affordance and behavior intentions. Therefore, this study expands the application of affordance theory to tea tourism by elucidating how perceptions of tourism environment affordance impact tea tourists’ behavior intentions and it deepens our understanding of the flow of cultural ecosystem services. Additionally, it underscores the pivotal role of tourism in providing cultural ecosystem services for preserving intangible cultural heritage and nurturing cultural identity. Practical implications for promoting tea tourism as cultural ecosystem services are also gleaned from our findings.

In the original publication, the given names and surnames of the authors were swapped in one of the references and hence incorrectly cited as Blal et al. 2