Influencing Mechanisms of Recreational Attractiveness of Urban Mountain Parks Based on Structural Equation Model

Abstract

Urban mountain parks (UMPs) are vital green spaces for public leisure and recreation, but their recreational value is often underdeveloped, with few studies examining the influencing mechanisms of UMP recreational attractiveness. To address this issue, this study conducted an empirical investigation in Fuzhou, China. Guided by China's Standard of Rating for Quality of Tourist Attractions, a structural equation model (SEM) of UMP recreational attractiveness was established and tested based on an expert group and a questionnaire survey of 609 tourists. The findings reveal that seven factors—tourism transport, excursion services, tourism safety, integrated management, natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, and market impact—contribute positively to enhancing UMP recreational attractiveness. Among them, natural resource conservation has the highest influence, followed by landscape resource value, indicating that they both play the greatest role in affecting UMP recreational attractiveness. These seven factors are interrelated, with natural resource conservation strongly positively influencing market impact and landscape resource value. This study explored the influencing mechanism of these seven factors on UMP recreational attractiveness, which can provide practical recommendations for enhancing UMP recreational value worldwide.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Urban Mountain Parks / Recreational Attractiveness / Structural Equation Model / Natural Resource Conservation / Landscape Resource Value / Tourism / Fudao Park

Highlight

	· Develops a multi-dimensional evaluation system and a structural equation model for UMP recreational attractiveness
	· Natural resource conservation and landscape resource value are the greatest factors for UMP recreational attractiveness
	· Explores influencing mechanisms of UMP recreational attractiveness and provides design and management strategies

1 Introduction

With the continuous progress of urbanization, people's demand and concern for ecological and recreational functions of urban parks are growing^[1]. In many mountainous cities, urban mountain parks (UMPs) are increasingly important green recreational spaces^[2] and an essential part of urban park system^[3]. Compared with ordinary urban parks, UMPs has unique advantages, including topographic features, diverse spatial patterns, distinctive ecological resources, and microclimatic variations^[4], which can provide considerable ecosystem services. Further, UMPs offer residents with opportunities to experience nature and enhance their life quality in the city^[3]. Despite these benefits, many UMPs still face challenges, including inadequate construction guidelines, insufficient leisure services, underutilized landscape resources, and poor spatial design, all of which limit their recreational value^[2]. It can be seen that a scientific, comprehensive evaluation of UMP recreational value can support landscape optimization, management improvement, and sustainable development^{[1] [2]}.

Recreational attractiveness is a quantitative indicator of a recreational destination's capacity to attract visitors, and also an intangible factor that can influence tourists' choice of recreational areas and activities based on the abundance of available resources^{[5] [6]}. UMP recreational attractiveness is collectively influenced by factors such as the distinctiveness, cleanliness, and aesthetic value of landscape resource, transportation accessibility, and safety^[5]. As part of recreational tourist sites, UMPs are also critical in offering cultural ecosystem services, thus improving its recreational attractiveness would benefit human mental well-being^{[7] [8]}.

At present, existing studies worldwide about recreational attractiveness primarily focus on the adopted models for influencing factor selection and evaluation studies, among which most current research has used the "push-pull-resistance" model^[9]~[14], especially in Asia (China^{[9] [10]}, Malaysia^[11], and Japan^[13]) and Africa^{[12] [14]}. For instance, with this model, scholars examined the factors influencing tourists' destination choice^[10] and used online review data to identify the motivations of tourists visiting religious sites in Kyoto^[13]. Despite the abundance of research, such a model is unable to explore the relationships between factors, which can be addressed by structural equation model (SEM)—SEM can also control measurement error, manage multiple variables, and construct complex multivariate models^[15]~[17]; furthermore, it plays a crucial role in identifying and examining influencing mechanisms^[18]. However, currently SEM is mainly applied in social sciences, management, and economics^[19], with limited application in landscape planning and design. In terms of research objects, rural areas^[20]~[23], forested landscapes^[24]~[29], waterfront landscapes^[30]~[33], and urban parks^{[1] [34]~[38]} are the dominant assessment subjects of recreational attractiveness studies, which primarily evaluated tourists' willingness to revisit and the performance of recreational services in tourist attractions. Relatively, UMP has not yet been widely studied and the findings of research on common urban parks cannot be well applicable to UMPs. In terms of influencing factor selection, current studies are mainly based on previous literature^{[28] [39]}, specific theories^{[6] [40]}, or tourists' perceptions^[5], with few studies involved standardized policy documents. However, the scholarly exploration of UMP recreational attractiveness is still limited, especially the use of SEM to probe into associated influencing mechanisms based on national policy documents.

China's Standard of Rating for Quality of Tourist Attractions (the Standard hereafter), compiled by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism^[41], is a criterion used to evaluate the tourism quality of scenic spots based on service quality, landscape quality, and visitor experience. The Standard is a well-developed and widely used assessment system and a multi-dimensional evaluation framework, covering ten dimensions including natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, etc.^[41]

This study initiated a preliminary exploration on the influencing mechanisms of the UMP recreational attractiveness by taking Fudao Mountain Park in Fuzhou, a national A-class tourist attraction in China, as an example. An evaluation questionnaire was created by an expert focus group under the guidance of the Standard, and then the SEM for the evaluation of UMP recreational attractiveness was constructed and tested, ultimately revealing influencing factors and corresponding mechanisms of UMP recreational attractiveness. This study aims to answer the following questions: 1) What are the factors affecting UMP recreational attractiveness? 2) What are the influencing mechanisms of these factors on UMP recreational attractiveness, including influencing paths and coefficients? 3) What are the interactions between these factors? This study hopes to provide both methodological insights and practical recommendations for planning and design optimization, enhance UMP services, and promote the sustainable development of UMP recreational tourism globally.

2 Study Area and Research Methods

2.1 Study Area

Fuzhou is a typical mountainous city in southeast China, where mountains and hills account for 72.68% of the city's total area. Enjoying the unique advantages endowed by nature, the municipality has planned and constructed a series of UMPs for meeting citizens' activity demands^[3].

Fudao Park located in the main urban area of Fuzhou City was selected as the study site. Consisting of three zones, namely, Jinniu Mountain Sports Park, Jinniu Mountain Park, and Meifeng Mountain Park, Fudao Park is one of the most popular and well-known UMPs in Fuzhou, with topographical advantages, unique ecological resources, diverse spatial forms, and rich landscapes. It particularly features the Fudao (Blessed Trail), the first suspended steel-framed urban forest trestle in China, with an overall length of approximately 19 km^[42] (Fig. 1). It provides citizens with a variety of ecosystem services such as forest recreation, scenic views, and fitness. Therefore, Fudao Park is a representative for UMP recreational attractiveness research.

2.2 Research Methods

For quantitative data, this study used the SEM to identify and examine the influencing factors of recreational attractiveness and their interrelations. In this article, 13 hypotheses were proposed as well as a hypothetical model of recreational attractiveness was constructed, and then the SEM method was used to for testify and analyze the hypothetical model. SEM is a multivariate statistical tool for analyzing relationships between variables and testing the consistency of theoretical models with research data. It also can determine the weights of indicators and analyze the relationship between them.

For textual data, this study employed word frequency analysis on tourists' comments collected from the questionnaire, which measured tourists' perception and statistically analyzed the word frequency to determine keywords and themes.

2.2.1 Questionnaire Design

This questionnaire was developed based on the Standard and relevant literature^[1][43]~[59]. It was a seven-point Likert scale with responses ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The questionnaire was designed and constructed by three steps, as shown in Fig. 2. First, the Standard was used as the initial framework, which comprises dimensions measuring service and environment quality (including tourism transport, excursion service, tourism safety, cleanliness, postal service, tourism shopping, integrated management, and natural resource conservation) and landscape quality (including landscape resource value and market impact). After reviewing relevant literature^{[1][43][48]~[59]}, the dimension of postal service was removed for its lower correlation with recreational attractiveness, and the dimensions of cleanliness and tourism shopping were integrated into the dimension of excursion service. Upon these final seven dimensions, 35 question items related to recreational attractiveness were developed. Second, the question items were contextually altered according to the actual conditions of Fudao Park. Third, in order to ensure that the question items were professional and scientific, six experts in Tourism and Landscape Architecture were invited to form an expert focus group under existing moderation guidance^[60]. All experts hold a doctoral degree and were at least at the level of associate professor. Through two rounds of 60-minute face-to-face multidisciplinary discussions, the experts reviewed the research objectives and the initial questionnaire framework to examine the relevance, accuracy, and logical coherence of the questions, and then 31 items remained (Table 1). On this basis, a multi-dimensional evaluation questionnaire was formed for UMP recreational attractiveness.

The final questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part included questions about participants' demographic characteristics and the number of visits to Fudao Park. The second part included structured and semi-structured questions, where the structured questions covered seven dimensions sourced from the Standard as latent variables, while recreational attractiveness as the observed variable. Referring to relevant literature^[43]~[47] and experts' feedback, attractiveness, willingness to revisit (loyalty), and satisfaction were used to collectively reflect the recreational attractiveness to tourists. In addition, a semi-structured question—"what recommendations do you have to improve visitors' experiences at Fudao Park?"—was designed to collect individual opinions and suggestions from participants, who were encouraged to freely express their recommendations and feelings about the future enhancement of Fudao Park.

2.2.2 Data Collection

The investigation team consisted of the four authors, and the participants were the visitors of Fudao Park. The questionnaire survey was conducted from 20 March to 15 April, 2022, during which the weather in Fuzhou City was comfortable, avoiding the impact of thermal comfort factors on the results. Finally, a total of 609 questionnaires were distributed. After screening, 55 invalid questionnaires were excluded, leaving 554 valid questionnaires.

3 Research Hypotheses

According to the Standard, this study proposed seven factors affecting recreational attractiveness, i.e., tourism transport, excursion services, tourism safety, integrated management, natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, and market impact (Table 1). Recreational attractiveness in this study was measured with these factors by proposing corresponding hypotheses. With reference to previous research^[61], hypotheses that were not supported by the literature were eliminated, resulting in the retention of 13 hypotheses, as outlined below.

Improved transport conditions affect tourists' environmental perceptions and satisfaction with destinations^[48]. Qianqian Gong et al. have noted that traffic accessibility is an important factor affecting recreational attractiveness of mountain tourist attractions^[49]. Consequently, Hypothesis One (H1) was proposed as tourism transport has a significant positive effect on recreational attractiveness.

Excursion service refers to the services, activities, and facilities provided by scenic spot managers to create a convenient tourism experience and meet the needs of tourists^[53]. In this study, it included tour guide services, tourism activities, tour guide systems, and tourism shopping. Improving excursion service is essential to every tourism destination^[62]. Market impact mainly includes the popularity, reputation, marketability, and thematic specificity of a tourist destination. Empirical research by Neffi Sulkaisi et al. has revealed that the quality of services in tourist destinations has a direct effect on tourists' satisfaction and loyalty^[50]. Mukhles Al-Ababneh has also pointed out that services, facilities, and accessibility are essential considerations in choosing a destination^[52]. Therefore, Hypothesis Two (H2) and Hypothesis Three (H3) were formulated as excursion service has a significant positive effect on market impact and excursion service has a significant positive effect on recreational attractiveness, respectively.

Travel safety is a basic requirement for tourists and a primary factor influencing their travel decisions. Mohammad Soliman et al. revealed that safety factors in tourist destinations have a positive impact on tourist satisfaction and loyalty^[63]. Guijin Ding et al. also found that tourists' safety sense can affect their impression of the destination^[51]. Based on these findings, this study proposed Hypothesis Four (H4) and Hypothesis Five (H5) as tourism safety has a significant positive effect on market impact and tourism safety has a significant positive effect on recreational attractiveness, respectively.

Integrated management includes management system, staffing, service attitude, and implementation effect, which reflect the overall management level of scenic spots. Jie Cheng noted that a well-established tourism management mechanism is conducive to providing tourists with high-quality tourism products, a healthy tourism environment, and recreational services^[53]. Ranea Mohammed Qaddhat et al. revealed the positive impact of tourism management on tourism experience and tourists' satisfaction^[64]. As a result, Hypothesis Six (H6) and Hypothesis Seven (H7) were presented as integrated management has a significant positive effect on excursion service and integrated management has a significant positive effect on recreational attractiveness, respectively.

Natural resource conservation includes water quality of aquascapes, air quality, noise control, vegetation landscape coverage, and the harmony of buildings and facilities, focusing on specific protection measures and effects. Zhixia Mao et al. suggested that the quality of landscape resources and recreational facilities in urban parks directly influence their recreational attractiveness^[1]. Jianying Ma et al. also noted that natural landscapes such as geological landforms, animal resources, forest environments, and aquascapes are usually considered in tourism resource evaluations^[65]. Accordingly, the following hypotheses were proposed: Hypothesis Eight (H8) as natural resource conservation has a significant positive effect on landscape resource value, Hypothesis Nine (H9) as natural resource conservation has a significant positive effect on market impact, and Hypothesis Ten (H10) as natural resource conservation significantly enhances recreational attractiveness.

Landscape resource value includes ornamental and aesthetic value, historical and cultural value, scientific value, uniqueness, scale, and integrity. A survey in Spanish mountains discovered that landscape is a crucial resource for tourists to experience and perceive tourist destinations^[66]. Viktorija Grigaliunaite et al. stated that the aesthetic and ornamental values can significantly affect tourist satisfaction^[54]. Hypothesis Eleven (H11) and Hypothesis Twelve (H12) were therefore developed as landscape resource value has a significant positive effect on market impact and landscape resource value has a significant positive effect on recreational attractiveness, respectively.

According to the research by Yumi Park et al. on the impact of tourism on Jeju Island, destination image influences tourist satisfaction and future behavior^[67]. Another research, by establishing a theoretical model of destination image and tourist loyalty, found that tourists' perceived destination image affects their satisfaction and willingness to revisit^[43]. Consequently, Hypothesis Thirteen (H13) was suggested as market impact has a significant positive impact on recreational attractiveness.

Finally, this study proposed a hypothetical model for the UMP recreational attractiveness (Fig. 3).

4 Data Analyses

4.1 Quantitative Data Analysis

The questionnaire results (Fig. 4) showed that 47.4% of the participants were males and 52.6% were females; all participants were over 18 years old, with the majority of participants aged 45 ~ 59 years (43.6%), followed by those aged 25 ~ 44 years (32.8 %); the visit frequency statistics demonstrated that over 70% of the participants had visited Fudao Park at least twice and were familiar with the park. Moreover, most participants had an education level above high school, ensuring they were able to understand the questionnaire content and provide valid evaluations.

The SEM test involved measurement model and structural model analyses.

1) Measurement model analysis. First, CFA was used to assess the consistency and reliability of questionnaire responses^[68]. Second, the accuracy of questionnaire was assessed using validity test^[69]. Third, the structural validity test, i.e., goodness-of-fit test, was used to evaluate the fitness of the measurement model. The results indicate that the measurement model was verified to have good reliability and validity.

2) Structural model analysis. Referring to the existing studies^{[70] [71]}, this research used AMOS software to fit the structural model, which is well established and popular for SEM data analysis^[71]. It estimates the parameters and goodness-of-fit indexes of the structural model by maximum likelihood estimation, which in turn determines whether the hypothesized model is valid. The reliability, validity, and fit of the structural model were all well, indicating that these seven factors had significant positive effects on UMP recreational attractiveness.

4.2 Qualitative Data Analysis

In this study, textual analysis was employed to explore and interpret the responses to the semi-structured question of the questionnaire. Word frequency analysis is an essential part of textual analysis, which involves measuring and statistically analyzing the frequency of each word to identify common words, keywords, and themes in the data. First, through data cleaning to filter out irrelevant information, 548 pieces of comments remained. Second, Jieba software^[72] combined with manual verification was used for text cleaning and segmentation. Third, the word frequency analysis was visualized using word clouds generated through Micro-Word Cloud software, where the font size indicates the frequency of word occurrence, highlighting the factors for UMP recreational attractiveness to the public^[73].

5 Results

5.1 Influencing Paths and Coefficients Between Latent Variables in the SEM

The final SEM of UMP recreational attractiveness is shown in Fig. 5, and the influencing paths and coefficients between the potential variables are presented in Table2. These results revealed that all hypothesis except H4 were valid.

5.2 Overall Influencing Coefficients of the Factors on Recreational Attractiveness

Table 3 lists the factors influencing the UMP recreational attractiveness in descending order of impact strength. Natural resource conservation had the highest influencing coefficient on recreational attractiveness (0.28), followed by landscape resource value (0.22) and market impact (0.19), while tourism safety had the lowest influence (0.12).

5.3 Textual Analysis of the Semi-Structured Question

The top 15 high-frequency words are listed in Table 4 and the word cloud for high-frequency words is shown in Fig. 6. The results indicated that "parking," "facility/setting," "service," and "landscape," were the most frequently mentioned words. The top 15 high-frequency words were further organized, summarized, classified, and coded into several dimensions. The four dimensions with the highest word frequency were tourism transport, excursion service, landscape resource value, and market impact. These were the factors that tourists were most concerned about and that influenced their recreational experiences the most.

6 Discussion

6.1 Findings From the SEM of UMP Recreational Attractiveness

6.1.1 Invalid Hypotheses in the SEM

Among the hypotheses proposed in this study, only H4 was not confirmed, whereas previous studies^{[51] [64]} found that tourism safety effected tourists' overall impression of the destination. The main reason for this discrepancy may be that Fudao Park is located in the city center, which is well policed, and the steel walkway in the park appears to be very sturdy and safe, leading tourists to be less concerned about safety.

6.1.2 Influencing Factors of UMP Recreational Attractiveness

The test results of the seven factors affecting UMP recreational attractiveness (i.e., tourism transport, excursion service, tourism safety, integrated management, natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, and market impact) verify that the Standard can effectively guide the enhancement of recreational attractiveness. In addition, previous related studies have paid limited attention to UMP and its influencing factors such as market impact and tourism safety^{[1] [74]}. These findings can provide a theoretical and comprehensive framework for evaluating UMP recreational attractiveness.

In terms of overall influence, the coefficient of natural resource conservation was the highest, followed by landscape resource value. It indicates that natural resource conservation and landscape resource value of the UMPs are the two most attractive factors for visitors. These provide insights for enhancing recreational attractiveness of UMPs.

6.1.3 Influencing Mechanisms Between Latent Variables

The results of the study indicated that there are interactions between the latent variables. Among them, natural resource conservation had high coefficients on market impact and landscape resource value (0.32 and 0.30, respectively). This suggests that natural resource conservation measures, such as improving water and air quality, maintaining vegetation integrity, and constructing low-impact architecture, can enhance the landscape value and market impact of UMPs. The influencing coefficient of landscape resource value on market impact was 0.25, showing that ornamental and aesthetic values and landscape features are directly correlated with market impact, such as popularity and reputation.

6.2 Public Concerns About UMP Recreational Attractiveness

According to the textual analysis results, tourism transport was the primary concern of the public. Participants suggested increasing the number of entrances and parking lots, optimizing guiding system, and enhancing accessibility would improve Fudao Park's recreational attractiveness. Upgrading park service facilities was the second priority. Participants recommended park managers to provide service facilities such as direct drinking water, vending machines, and leisure pavilions. Improving cultural and natural landscape resources was also an emphasized concern. Participants noted that Fudao Park lacks a distinctive cultural landscape, thus enriching the landscape with regional and cultural characteristics were expected. Lastly, participants also recommended increasing promotional activities to further outline the image of the park. These opinions indicate that the factors tourists are most concerned about are tourism transport, excursion service, landscape resource value, and market impact, which is consistent with the SEM findings.

6.3 Application Implications

Based on the above analysis results, this study proposes design strategies and management suggestions to strengthen UMP recreational attractiveness.

1) Natural resource conservation and landscape resource value are the two most significant factors influencing UMP recreational attractiveness. Design strategies for natural resource conservation include minimizing damage to the mountains and pristine ecosystems during park planning and construction; preserving existing trees to maintain vegetation integrity and avoid exposing the mountain; and utilizing sponge technology to purify and improve aquascape quality through the combination of mountains, aquascape resources, and vegetation to form a mountain sponge system. Besides, constructing park architecture in a low-impact way, such as adapting to the topography, using environmentally friendly materials, and rebuilding the harmony between buildings and surrounding environment.

Strategies to enhance landscape resource value include improving biodiversity by creating habitats for birds and other animals; introducing characteristic landscapes and experiential landscapes to enhance ornamental and recreational values through detailed design in vegetation composition, micro-topography, circulations, buildings, water features, etc.; adding regional symbols and cultural elements to improve thematic features to ensure the harmony and unity of natural and artificial landscapes; and developing overlooked resources by, for example, analyzing view corridors and establishing cityscape viewing platforms.

2) Market impact is the third essential factor influencing tourists' recreational experiences in the UMP. To strengthen market impact, park managers should take the following measures: set up distinctive themed activities based on theme, culture, and seasonality, such as outdoor sports, recreational activities, botanical research, and night tours; expand publicity channels using social media and new media to enhance visibility; and participate in design competitions, exhibitions, and other opportunities for broader networks to expand the influence of the park.

3) The findings demonstrate that tourism transport plays a role as significant as excursion service in affecting UMP recreational attractiveness. For improving tourism transport, both internal and external accessibility should be enhanced: to upgrade external accessibility, park guides and entrance signs should be clear and synchronized with navigation or interpretation systems; the area and number of parking lots must be increased, and parking towers can be introduced when limited spaces are available; tour routes can be arranged by shuttle buses as far as possible to ensure a smooth travel experience; and steel-framed walkways and viewing platforms can be constructed, besides Fudao Park, with successful examples like Marina Park in Singapore and Hongqiao Park in Shenzhen, China.

To increase excursion service, strategies for park design and management include improving supporting facilities (e.g., tourist service centers, medical aid stations, navigation systems) and age-friendly facilities for senior visitors (e.g., barrier-free access, anti-slip and moderate slope, handrails). Park service staff should receive regular training to improve service quality, and feedback channels whereby management staff can collect tourists' opinions and address deficiencies should be enhanced.

6.4 Limitations and Prospects

There are some limitations in this study. First, the general applicability of the SEM constructed has yet to be tested, although Fudao Park, as a typical and representative UMP, has topographical advantages and provides rich ecosystem services. Further research can utilize this theoretical model to assess the recreational attractiveness of other UMPs or different urban park types. Second, regarding the age distribution of participants, the user group aged 18 ~ 24 years accounted for the smallest proportion. It may be due to the fact that this group is mainly composed of university students or those in the early stages of their careers, who have less leisure time, prefer fragmented recreational activities or more stimulating pursuits, and may find UMPs less appealing^[75]. The user group aged 45 ~ 59 years has the largest share of the population, as senior adults tend to have a greater interest in mountain recreation and fitness. Future research, design, and management for UMPs should pay more attention to the needs and preferences of such user group. Furthermore, the current model was built based on survey data, and cross-validation using multiple data sources can improve the reliability of the results. For example, social media data can be used for cross-validation based on thematic analysis in future studies.

7 Conclusions

UMPs are essential green recreational spaces for the public due to their topographical advantages and unique ecological resources that provide a wealth of recreational services. This study conducted an empirical research on Fudao Park in Fuzhou by establishing a SEM for evaluating UMP recreational attractiveness based on a questionnaire survey. The research results provide evaluation and practical recommendations for improving UMP design and management.

In terms of theoretical contribution, integrating the impact of mountain environment on public recreational experience and using the Standard as the initial framework, a multi-dimensional evaluation system was developed. Based on the use of SEM, influencing mechanisms of UMP recreational attractiveness were explored, including influence factors, paths, and coefficients. The findings confirmed that the seven factors—tourism transport, excursion service, tourism safety, integrated management, natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, and market impact—all play a positive role in enhancing UMP recreational attractiveness. Among them, natural resource conservation and landscape resource value affect the most. The framework constructed in this study can provide insights into and an effective approach for the research combining policies and empirical studies worldwide.

In terms of practical contribution, this study proposes design strategies and management recommendations for UMPs, particularly focusing on natural resource conservation, landscape resource value, tourism transport, market impact, and excursion service. These recommendations aim to enhance recreational tourism, support sustainable development, and inform landscape planning for UMPs.

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