A treetop trail is an elevated linear green open space that plays a key role in forming a scientifically rational urban space and meeting the growing leisure needs of the people. Taking the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Xiamen, China as a case, and through 426 questionnaires, this study explores the dimensions of the perceived restorative environment components of greenway recreationists and impacts on behavioral intentions. The demographic factors lead us to the following three conclusions. First, from an age perspective, restorative environmental perceptions are strongest among those aged 60 and above and weakest among those aged 18–30. Second, in terms of place of permanent residence, local visitors have stronger restorative environmental perceptions than other city users. Third, in relation to the number of accompanying travelers, individuals who embark on solo journeys experience the most robust perception, while that diminishes as the count reaches three or more companions. A structural equation model (SEM) is used to present the quantitative relationship among avoidance motivation, treetop trail environmental quality, restorative environmental perception, place attachment, and loyalty. The results showed that users’ escape motivation has a direct and indirect positive correlation with restorative environmental perceptions, and environmental perceptions have a significant positive correlation with restorative environmental perceptions. Furthermore, their place attachment to the restorative nature of the treetop trails positively affected their loyalty. This study provides essential factors to consider when constructing treetop trails in high-density cities.
To achieve sustainable urban development, it is essential to gain insight into the spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics and the driving mechanisms of the urban thermal environment (UTE). As urbanization continues to accelerate, human activity and landscape configuration and composition interact to complicate the UTE. However, the differences in UTE-driven mechanisms at different stages of urbanization remain unclear. In this study, the UTE of Shenyang was measured quantitatively by using the land surface temperature (LST). The spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics were chronologically studied using the standard deviation ellipse (SDE) and hotspot analysis (Getis–Ord Gi*). Then, the relationship between human activities, landscape composition and landscape configuration and LST was explored in a hierarchical manner by applying the geographical detector. The results show that the UTE in Shenyang continues to deteriorate with rapid urbanization, with significant spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics. The class-level landscape configuration is more important than that at the landscape level when studying UTE-driven mechanisms. At the class level, the increased area and abundance of cropland can effectively reduce LST, while those of impervious surfaces can increase LST. At the landscape level, LST is mainly influenced by landscape composition and human activities. Due to rapid urbanization, the nonlinear relationship between most drivers and LST shifts to near-linear. In the later stage of urbanization, more attention needs to be paid to the effect of the interaction of drivers on LST. At the class level, the interaction between landscape configuration indices for impervious surfaces, cropland and water significantly influenced LST. At the landscape level, the interactions among the normalized difference building index (NDBI) and other selected factors are significant. The findings of this study can contribute to the development of urban planning strategies to optimize the UTE for different stages of urbanization.
The counties have experienced urban expansion and landscape pattern fragmentation. As carriers of new urbanization, the balanced development between urban expansion and landscape connectivity in the counties needs to be emphasized. The uncontrolled expansion of land should be discouraged and planners need to clarify land use expansion patterns. Using Changsha County as the study area, the characteristics of the landscape pattern between 2000 and 2020 were analyzed. The morphological spatial pattern analysis and landscape connectivity method (CMSPACI), as well as the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, was used to construct the ecological network. We also explored the most appropriate corridor width using the buffer zone to guide future land use planning and ecological network planning. The results show that based on CMSPACI the total area of ecological sources identified was 304.91 km2, encompassing a large area of forest parks. The total length of the 25 ecological corridors identified by the MCR model was 431.97 km. Ecological sources and corridors are missing in the central region; so, their pattern was optimized using landscape connectivity and the absence of location as selection criteria. The optimized network indices showed significant improvement. The width of the ecological corridors should be controlled in order to be in the range of 30 m to 50 m to maximize the effect of the corridors on species dispersal and migration. Our proposed research framework for the construction and optimization of EN in Changsha County can provide ideas to balance the contradictions between urban expansion and landscape connectivity in Changsha County.
The disparity between urban and rural development in China has resulted in the significant migration of rural laborers to urban areas, giving rise to a growing population of left-behind children in rural areas. The number of accidental injuries among these children traveling independently is increasing, suggesting that road safety in rural areas should be of concern. This study explored factors affecting road safety for left-behind rural children traveling independently. The data were collected from a survey conducted in four villages in Changsha, China. The study used a variety of methods, including spatial syntax, linear regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and stepwise regression analysis, to analyze factors affecting road safety for rural left-behind children traveling independently. The study revealed significant differences in road safety perceptions among rural left-behind children and their guardians. Road safety perceptions were significantly higher for left-behind children. Factors such as plant density, turning angle, road scale, road slope, recognizable signs, internal corner space, animal danger, enclosure type, electronic tools, monitoring facilities, strangers, and social concerns were found to be significantly related to road safety perceptions of left-behind children traveling independently. The findings suggested that left-behind children who travel independently in rural areas face a potential risk of accidental injuries. These results can be used by decision makers to improve the rural road environment and to provide useful assistance for the healthy growth of left-behind children.
As a significant component of rural settlements, residential architecture is a record of historical changes containing considerable research value. In the study of residential architectural continuity, the focus is on the inheritance and innovation of traditional residential architectural “genes” in contemporary new residential buildings. Based on a systematic review of the literature, the purpose of this study is to analyze the research trends, categories, and variables relating to architectural continuity in residential buildings, and to build a systematic and comprehensive framework for assessing the architectural continuity of residential buildings in rural settlements based on prior research. This study provides guidance and references for evaluating the design of new residential buildings in rural settlements and for formulating regional planning principles. Using the PRISMA guidelines as the basis for the review method, we filtered the literature from three databases: Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and EI, and studied the 40 articles selected at the end. As can be seen from the results, the literature on architectural continuity in rural settlements has focused more on functional and typological levels and less on the archetypal level of architectural continuity (user behavior). Still, the archetypal level is the most important, because the behavior of housing users directly influences the degree to which housing is continuous in terms of its function and type. The most important finding of this review is that the resident behavior of housing users has a significant influence on the assessment of the continuity of housing architecture, and thus, the continuity of housing architecture in rural settlements must be assessed in conjunction with user behavior.
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