Research article

A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOUNDSCAPE PERCEPTIONS OF URBAN POCKET PARK USERS AND THE ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH RESTORATIVE BENEFITS

Yanlong Guo1,2, XueMei Jiang1*, Denghang Chen3, Han Zhang4

Online First: January 30, 2023


As urban population increases and urban land resources decrease, pocket parks have gradually become the best choice for urban residents to take outdoor recreation. Although international research on soundscape perception in pocket parks is relatively comprehensive and specific, the impact on residents' physical and mental health varies due to different value cultures, uneven urban development, and inconsistent economic levels. This study was derived from evidence of soundscape perception in urban pocket parks in Hefei, China. Six pocket parks in Hefei city were selected by sampling from September 1 to September 5, 2022, and hypotheses were made between the three dimensions of soundscape perception, restorative evaluation, and health benefits to construct an index system and questionnaire combining soundscape perception and mental health. The questionnaires were distributed online inside the pocket parks and 431 valid questionnaires were collected. SPSSAU software was used for data statistics and analysis, and the Cronbach's α of the variables ranged from 0.755-0.844, respectively, with strong reliability. The study concluded that (1) soundscape perception has no direct effect on health benefit assessment but can have an indirect effect through restorative evaluation. (2) Consistency, compatibility, attractiveness, and distance can all effectively reflect the soundscape restorative evaluation. Among them, consistency has the greatest influence on restorative evaluation, and the rest are compatibility, attractiveness and distance in order. (3) The explanatory power of soundscape perception for restorative evaluation is higher than that for health benefit assessment. In addition, the sound of human activity in soundscape perception was the most important latent variable. (4) Soundscape perception had a significant positive effect on restorative evaluation, and restorative evaluation had a significant positive effect on health benefit assessment.

Keywords

Pocket Park; Soundscape; Sound perception Restorative; Health benefit assessment