Evaluation and Optimization of Restorative Environmental Perception of Treetop Trails: The Case of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, Xiamen, China

Abstract

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.

Study on the Influence and Optimization of Neighborhood Space on the Perceived Restoration of Rural Left-Behind Older People: The Case of Changsha, China

“…At the same time, they can be separated from the tedious family things, improve their ability to adapt, and have coherence with daily life. Environmental perceptions have a significant positive correlation with restorative environmental perceptions [52]. Environmental preference alone and different landscape space types were significantly associated with positive mood.…”

“…The independent sample t-test was used to test the difference in data obtained by two groups of uncorrelated samples. This method has been widely used in similar studies [42,52,87]. In this study, the gender data of participants' sociodemographic characteristics showed that there were two no-relational data sets, so a t-test was used for detection.…”

Urban professionals’ restorative tourism: exploring the role of perceived environmental restorativeness, push and pull motivations and destination attributes on tourism expectations

“…Indeed, the tourism demands among Chinese urban professionals have recently shifted from mass tourism to restorative tourism ( Lehto et al, 2017 ). Known examples of restorative sites in China include Mountain-to-Sea Trails, which include elevated footpaths and pedestrian bridges to create car-free corridors across the island, allowing urban professionals to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy a relaxed pace and improving their perceived recovery ( Wu et al, 2023 ). The destinations of restorative tourism are often in domestic locations ( Gartner, 2004 ; Vaishar and Šťastná, 2020 ; Batista et al, 2022 ).…”

The Role of “Nostalgia” in Environmental Restorative Effects from the Perspective of Healthy Aging: Taking Changchun Parks as an Example

“…Some studies have established the relationship between park environment preference, place attachment, and environmental restoration effects [17,18]. Environmental preference is an attitude, while place attachment is an emotional response.…”