Deriving the impact mechanism of urban green space environment on community social capital based on multi-source data integration: a case study of nanjing city, China

Abstract

With the orderly progression of urban renewal in China, social capital, as an important factor in analyzing the relationship between stakeholders, has once again become a key topic in urban planning research. Green spaces have proved to have a more notable impact on social capital than other built environment factors. In light of this, the present study is based on the data of 1,282 residents’ questionnaire surveys conducted in Nanjing in 2022 and extracts spatial characteristic information of green space through multisource big data such as remote sensing data, street-view data, and points of interest, to investigate the influence mechanism of physical and perceived attributes of urban green space on community social capital. The study found that there are differences in the influence mechanisms and dimensions of these dual attributes of green space on social capital. The direct effect of perceptual attributes is more substantial, while physical attributes almost exclusively affect social capital indirectly through the perception of green space. Notably, among the physical attributes, only the total coverage of neighborhood vegetation has a considerable direct effect on neighborhood relations, whereas community sentiment, a willingness to participate, and larger and more aggregated green spaces do not enhance community social capital effectively. Lastly, community social capital is affected substantially by exogenous variables of socioeconomic attributes, and there is group differentiation. Results reveal the direction of renewal and optimization of urban green spaces from the perspective of promoting social capital, which provides a reference for the synergistic and high-quality development of the community’s physical and nonphysical environments.

References

[1] Arnberger A, Eder R. The influence of green space on community attachment of urban and suburban residents. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2012, 11(1): 41-49.

[2] Buchanan, J. M., & Yoon, Y. J. (2000). Symmetric tragedies: Commons and anticommons. The Journal of Law and Economics, 43(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1086/467445

[3] Butler T, Robson G. Social capital, gentrification and neighbourhood change in London: A comparison of three south London neighbourhoods. Urban Studies, 2001, 38(12): 2145-2162.

[4] Chahardowli M, Sajadzadeh H, Aram F, Mosavi A. Survey of sustainable regeneration of historic and cultural cores of cities. Energies, 2020, 13(11): 2708.

[5] Chen Y, Qu L. Emerging participative approaches for urban regeneration in Chinese megacities. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 2020, 146(1): 04019029.

[6] Chua V, Ng IY. Unequal returns to social capital: The study of Malays in Singapore through a network lens. Asian Ethnicity, 2015, 16(4): 480-497.

[7] Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American journal of sociology, 94, S95-S120. https://doi.org/10.1086/228943

[8] Collins RM, Spake R, Brown KA, Ogutu BO, Smith D, Eigenbrod F. A systematic map of research exploring the effect of greenspace on mental health. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2020, 201. 103823

[9] Czupich, M. (2018). Level of social participation in the creation of urban regeneration programmes–the case study of small towns in Poland. European Spatial Research and Policy, 25(2), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.18778/1231-1952.25.2.05

[10] Dadvand, P., Bartoll, X., Basagaña, X., Dalmau-Bueno, A., Martinez, D., Ambros, A., ... & Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2016). Green spaces and general health: roles of mental health status, social support, and physical activity. Environment international, 91, 161–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.02.029

[11] De Vries S, Van Dillen SM, Groenewegen PP, Spreeuwenberg P. Streetscape greenery and health: Stress, social cohesion and physical activity as mediators. Social Science & Medicine, 2013, 94 26-33.

[12] Fang Yaqin & Xia Jianzhong. (2014). Measurement of social capital in urban communities. Urban Issues (04), 60–66. https://doi.org/10.13239/j.bjsshkxy.cswt.140410 .

[13] Feng J, Tang S, Chuai X. The impact of neighbourhood environments on quality of life of elderly people: Evidence from Nanjing. China. Urban Studies, 2018, 55(9): 2020-2039.

[14] Font X, Garay L, Jones S. A social cognitive theory of sustainability empathy. Annals of Tourism Research, 2016, 58 65-80.

[15] Gui Yong & Huang Ronggui. (2008). Measuring Community Social Capital: An empirical study. Journal of Sociology (03),122–142+244–245.https://doi.org/10.19934/j.cnki.shxyj.2008.03.006 .

[16] Güneralp B, Reba M, Hales BU, Wentz EA, Seto KC. Trends in urban land expansion, density, and land transitions from 1970 to 2010: A global synthesis. Environmental Research Letters, 2020, 15(4. 044015

[17] Hanibuchi T, Kondo K, Nakaya T, Shirai K, Hirai H, Kawachi I. Does walkable mean sociable? Neighborhood determinants of social capital among older adults in Japan. Health & Place, 2012, 18(2): 229-239.

[18] Helbich M, Yao Y, Liu Y, Zhang J, Liu P, Wang R. Using deep learning to examine street view green and blue spaces and their associations with geriatric depression in Beijing, China. Environment International, 2019, 126 107-117.

[19] Holcombe, R. G., & Williams, D. W. (2010). Urban sprawl and transportation externalities. Review of Regional Studies, 40(3), 257–273. https://doi.org/10.52324/001c.8176

[20] Hong, A., Sallis, J. F., King, A. C., Conway, T. L., Saelens, B., Cain, K. L., ... & Frank, L. D. (2018). Linking green space to neighborhood social capital in older adults: The role of perceived safety. Social Science & Medicine, 207, 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.051

[21] Hong Z, Park IK. Is the well-being of neighboring cities important to me? Analysis of the spatial effect of social capital and urban amenities in South Korea. Social Indicators Research, 2021, 154(1): 169-190.

[22] Huang R, Liu G, Li K, Liu Z, Fu X, Wen J. Evolution of residents' cooperative behavior in neighborhood renewal: An agent-based computational approach. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 2023, 105. 102022

[23] Hui ECM, Chen T, Lang W, Ou Y. Urban community regeneration and community vitality revitalization through participatory planning in China. Cities, 2021, 110. 103072

[24] Izadi A, Mohammadi M, Nasekhian S, Memar S. Structural functionalism, social sustainability and the historic environment: A role for theory in urban regeneration. The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice, 2020, 11(2–3): 158-180.

[25] Jansson M, Fors H, Lindgren T, Wiström B. Perceived personal safety in relation to urban woodland vegetation–A review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2013, 12(2): 127-133.

[26] Kemperman A, Timmermans H. Green spaces in the direct living environment and social contacts of the aging population. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2014, 129 44-54.

[27] Kim D, Kawachi I. A multilevel analysis of key forms of community-and individual-level social capital as predictors of self-rated health in the United States. Journal of Urban Health, 2006, 83 813-826.

[28] Kim H, Marcouiller DW, Choi Y. Urban redevelopment with justice implications: The role of social justice and social capital in residential relocation decisions. Urban Affairs Review, 2019, 55(1): 288-320.

[29] Kong Yu, Zhen Feng, Chang Enyu & Zhang Shanqi. (2024). Analysis of the impact mechanism of built environment on residents’ community participation : a case study of Nanjing city. Human Geography(01),29–39. https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2024.01.004.

[30] Koohsari, M. J., Nakaya, T., McCormack, G. R., Shibata, A., Ishii, K., Yasunaga, A., ... & Oka, K. (2021). Traditional and novel walkable built environment metrics and social capital. Landscape and Urban Planning, 214, 104184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104184

[31] Landstedt E, Almquist YB, Eriksson M, Hammarström A. Disentangling the directions of associations between structural social capital and mental health: Longitudinal analyses of gender, civic engagement and depressive symptoms. Social Science & Medicine, 2016, 163 135-143.

[32] Levanon A. Ethnic social capital: Individual and group level sources and their economic consequences. Social Science Research, 2011, 40(1): 77-86.

[33] Li B, Jansen SJ, van der Heijden H, Jin C, Boelhouwer P. Unraveling the determinants for private renting in metropolitan China: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Habitat International, 2022, 127. 102640

[34] Li K, Huang R, Liu G, Shrestha A, Fu X. Social Capital in Neighbourhood Renewal: A holistic and state of the art literature review. Land, 2022, 11(8): 1202.

[35] Liu Y, Wang R, Xiao Y, Huang B, Chen H, Li Z. Exploring the linkage between greenness exposure and depression among Chinese people: Mediating roles of physical activity, stress and social cohesion and moderating role of urbanicity. Health & Place, 2019, 58. 102168

[36] Liu Y, Zhang F, Liu Y, Li Z, Wu F. The effect of neighbourhood social ties on migrants' subjective wellbeing in Chinese cities. Habitat International, 2017, 66 86-94.

[37] Liu Y, Zhao B, Cheng Y, Zhao T, Zhang A, Cheng S, Zhang J. Does the quality of street greenspace matter? Examining the associations between multiple greenspace exposures and chronic health conditions of urban residents in a rapidly urbanising Chinese city. Environmental Research, 2023, 222. 115344

[38] López-Contreras N, Puig-Barrachina V, Vives A, Olave-Müller P, Gotsens M. Effects of an urban regeneration program on related social determinants of health in Chile: A pre-post intervention study. Health & Place, 2021, 68. 102511

[39] Lu Y. Using Google Street View to investigate the association between street greenery and physical activity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2019, 191. 103435

[40] Mazumdar S, Learnihan V, Cochrane T, Davey R. The built environment and social capital: A systematic review. Environment and Behavior, 2018, 50(2): 119-158.

[41] Mouratidis K, Poortinga W. Built environment, urban vitality and social cohesion: Do vibrant neighborhoods foster strong communities?. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2020, 204. 103951

[42] Mullenbach, L. E., Larson, L. R., Floyd, M. F., Marquet, O., Huang, J. H., Alberico, C., ... & Hipp, J. A. (2022). Cultivating social capital in diverse, low-income neighborhoods: The value of parks for parents with young children. Landscape and Urban Planning, 219, 104313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104313

[43] Putnam, R. D. (2015). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. In The city reader (pp. 188–196). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315748504-30

[44] Renzaho AM, Richardson B, Strugnell C. Resident well-being, community connections, and neighbourhood perceptions, pride, and opportunities among disadvantage metropolitan and regional communities: Evidence from the Neighbourhood Renewal Project. Journal of Community Psychology, 2012, 40(7): 871-885.

[45] Richardson, J. G. (1986). Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. (No Title). https://lccn.loc.gov/85000931

[46] Ren Xiao. (2019). Study on Influencing Factors of Social Capital in Urban Communities--Backstreet alley in the core area of the capital Remediation as an example (Master's Thesis, Capital University of Economics and Business). https://doi.org/10.27338/d.cnki.gsjmu.2019.000622

[47] Samsudin R, Yok TP, Chua V. Social capital formation in high density urban environments: Perceived attributes of neighborhood green space shape social capital more directly than physical ones. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2022, 227. 104527

[48] Shin B. Determinants of social capital from a network perspective: A case of Sinchon regeneration project using exponential random graph models. Cities, 2022, 120. 103419

[49] Song Y, Yang R, Lu H, Fernandez J, Wang T. Why do we love the high line? A case study of understanding long-term user experiences of urban greenways. Computational Urban Science, 2023, 3(1): 18.

[50] Sunita K, D., Shahnawaz, & Shekhar, S. . Evaluating urban green and blue spaces with space-based multi-sensor datasets for sustainable development. Computational Urban Science, 2023, 3(1): 12.

[51] Swyngedouw, E. (2005). Governance innovation and the citizen: The Janus face of governance-beyond-the-state. Urban studies, 42(11), 1991–2006.https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500279869

[52] Taubenböck H, Debray H, Qiu C, Schmitt M, Wang Y, Zhu XX. Seven city types representing morphologic configurations of cities across the globe. Cities, 2020, 105. 102814

[53] van Veghel J, Dane G, Agugiaro G, Borgers A. Human-centric computational urban design: Optimizing high-density urban areas to enhance human subjective well-being. Computational Urban Science, 2024, 4(1): 13.

[54] Wood L, Shannon T, Bulsara M, Pikora T, McCormack G, Giles-Corti B. The anatomy of the safe and social suburb: An exploratory study of the built environment, social capital and residents’ perceptions of safety. Health & Place, 2008, 14(1): 15-31.

[55] Yijun Ye, Yibing Z. Research on the Integration and Renewal of Adjacent Segregated Residential Areas in Urban Center: Based on the Theory of Urban Organic Renewal. Urban Planning, 2019, 10 80-85

[56] Zhou H, Liu L, Wang J, Wilson K, Lan M, Gu X. A Multiscale Assessment of the Impact of Perceived Safety from Street View Imagery on Street Crime. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 2023, 114(1): 69-90.

[57] Zimmer,Lin Rongyuan. (2002). How Society Is Possible: Selected Sociological Papers of Zimmer[M].Guangxi Normal University Press,459–530.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Key Project(42330510)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s)