Exploring the Impact of Urban Green Space on Residents’ Health in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

China’s rapid urbanization has exerted long-lasting effects on socioeconomic development in cities and on the living conditions of urban Chinese. However, few studies have focused on understanding the effects of urban green space on health at the community level, which is an emergent issue for urban planning and policy makers. Based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2016, this study aimed to investigate the effect of green space and green space planning on individual health in urban built environments, in addition to the effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors. The results indicated that the distribution, accessibility, and frequency of usage of green space, as well as individual demographic and socioeconomic factors (education, income, employment, and birth situation) are strongly associated with individual obesity and other related health issues (e.g., stress and suboptimal health). The results also showed that a higher percentage of male adults suffer from obesity than female adults and that older adults have a higher tendency to be overweight than others. Making changes in the built environment can motivate people to be more active in urban green spaces and maintain a healthy status. These findings have implications for urban planning and design for building healthy communities in the context of China’s new-type urbanization and healthy China policy.