Investigating the coexistence of ecological quality and recreational activity in urban green spaces during the summer

Urban green spaces fulfill a variety of essential functions, with ecological quality and recreational activity being two crucial aspects. However, the literature on these two aspects has largely remained separate, with most studies exploring the determining factors of just one aspect. As a result, achieving the dual purposes of encouraging recreation participation and conserving the environment has proven to be a challenge. Ecological quality was measured by integrating the reference condition approach with the index method in 14 urban green spaces. Recreation participation was determined by counting the number of visitors engaging in recreational activities, and recreational activity diversity was calculated using the Shannon–Wiener index. Subsequently, this study calculated the coexistence of ecological quality and recreation participation, as well as the coexistence of ecological quality and recreational activity diversity. No significant relationship was observed between ecological quality and recreation participation or recreational activity diversity. More buildings and less paved areas were identified as factors that promoted the coexistence of ecological quality and recreation participation, as well as the coexistence of ecological quality and recreational activity diversity. Additionally, the coverage of woody plants positively predicted the coexistence of ecological quality and recreation participation. Visual naturalness was identified as a positive predictor, while the coverage of lawns acted as a negative predictor of the coexistence of ecological quality and recreational activity diversity. These findings provide valuable insight into the multifunctional design and management of urban green spaces.