Green space perception and utilization in times of pandemic from the perspective of urban green resilience: A comparison analysis across age groups

Abstract

In the context of frequent occurrence of major public health events worldwide, understanding citizens’ perception and utilization of urban green space is crucial for implementation of urban resilience. However, perceptions and utilization preference of different age group of citizens are often overlooked, leading the governance policy of urban green resilience failed to timely respond to the heterogeneous demands of citizens’ ecological well-being. Using a large sample questionnaire survey across 2019–2023, This study proposes to investigate citizens’ perception of the Covid-19 pandemic’ impacts on urban green resilience and their utilization preference of urban green space during different periods of pandemic. The results showed that: (1) Compared to the negative impact perception, there is a more significant difference in the perception of the positive impact of the pandemic on urban green resilience among different age groups; (2) In the perceived success and importance perception of urban green resilience, the young group often shows significant perception differences compared with the middle-aged and older adult groups; (3) There is significant age effects in citizens’ perception and utilization of urban green space at different periods of COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether the results from the main urban area of Beijing case study contribute to international discussion on urban green space management and urban green resilience governance in metropolitan areas worldwide as they add additional insights on the differences perception and changed utilization of urban green spaces particularly looking at city dwellers among different age group as well as the importance of timely response heterogeneity preference of city dwellers’ ecological well-being demand.