Students’ Intention of Visiting Urban Green Spaces after the COVID-19 Lockdown in China

• Main Authors: Jiayi Liu, Zhikai Peng, Xiaoxi Cai, You Peng, Jiang Li, Tao Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: COVID-19; theory of planned behavior; perceived knowledge; risk perception; structural equation modeling; urban green space
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8601

This study addresses students’ perceptions of using urban green spaces (UGSs) after the easing of COVID-19 lockdown in China. We questioned whether they are still mindful of the risks from the outdoor gathering, or conversely, starting to learn the restoration benefits from the green spaces. Online self-reported surveys were distributed to the Chinese students aging from 14 to 30 who study in Hunan and Jiangsu Provinces, China. We finally obtained 608 complete and valid questionnaire forms from all participants. Their intentions of visiting UGSs were investigated based on the extended theory of planned behavior model. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized psychological model. The results have shown good estimation performance on risk perception and perceived knowledge to explain the variances in their attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavior control. Among these three endogenous variables, the perceived behavior control owns the greatest and positive influence on the behavioral intention, inferring that controllability is crucial for students to make decisions of visiting green spaces in a post-pandemic context.