绿色空间对老年人心理健康的影响机制研究——以天津老旧小区为例

Influence Mechanism of Green Space on Older Adults’ Mental Health:Taking Old Residential Area of Tianjin as an Example

健康老龄化背景下,建成环境与老年群体心理健康的关系逐渐受到学界各方关注。通过天津市中心城区16个典型老旧小区627位老人的调查问卷以及现场审计、遥感影像等多源数据,研究利用多级回归模型、中介效应模型、倾向值匹配法,探讨中国特定城市居住背景下绿色空间影响老年人心理健康的路径与机制。结果发现老年人心理健康受个人层面与邻里层面两方面因素影响。其中邻里层面绿色空间的覆盖度、功能以及景观植被对老年人心理健康产生正向影响,并且体力活动以及社会凝聚力起到中介作用。研究为绿色空间对老年人心理健康有益的潜在假设提供了证据,并且建议通过有针对性的城市更新规划与老旧小区改造措施促进老年心理健康。

Under the background of healthy aging,the relationship between the built environment and health of older adults has gradually attracted attention from all academic circles.Through multi-source data such as social survey questionnaires from 627 older adults,on-site audits and remote sensing images of 16 typical old residential communities in the central area of Tianjin,this study has used the multilevel regression model,mediation effect model and propensity score matching method to explore the mechanism of green space affecting older adults’ mental health.This paper hypothesizes that the influence mechanism of green space on the mental health of the elderly is divided into three paths:First,green space has a direct impact on older adults’ mental health;second,green space improves older adults’ mental health by enhancing social cohesion;Third,green spaces improve older adults’ mental health by promoting physical activity.Results show that there is spatial heterogeneity in the older adults’ mental health at the neighborhood level.Neighborhood-level factors explain 17% of the overall difference in the mental health of the elderly.The role of the external environment cannot be ignored.At the 5% significant level,green space coverage and function are positively correlated with older adults’ mental health,while landscape vegetation has a positive correlation at the 1% significant level.The propensity score matching method was used to verify that the green space coverage,function and landscape which were still significantly correlated with older adults’ mental health,and there was no interference from the self-selection mechanism.It is indicated that under the background of rapid urbanization,the green space in the old community with a long history and a relatively compact shape can still maintain the older adults’ mental health positive association.Social cohesion and physical activity have a mediating effect on the effect of green space on the mental health of the elderly.The proportion,function,and vegetation landscape of green space are positively correlated with the physical activity and social cohesion respectively.Physical activity and social cohesion are also positively correlated with older adults’ mental health.Green space can directly or indirectly promote older people’s mental health.However,the relationship between green space accessibility and mental health is not strong,and it may be due to the layout constraints of old residential communities that close-range environmental exposure cannot have a differential impact on mental health.At the level of individual factors,older adults’ mental health was associated with self-reported general health and socioeconomic attributes,including gender,education,income,and type of residence.This paper has demonstrated the direct influence of the quantity and quality of green space in old residential areas on mental health and verified the mediating effect of social cohesion and physical activity.Not only can green spaces promote mental health in older adults,but also they can encourage physical activity and increase meaningful social cohesion among older adults.It is recommended to integrate and utilize the stock resources of old residential areas and construct green spaces with complex functions.Specifically,it is to configure fitness facilities that adapt to different intensities of physical activity and create multiple types of leisure space aim at the improvement of the functional affordability,viewing and recognition of green space.The study provides evidence for a potential hypothesis that green spaces are beneficial to older adults’ mental health and recommends targeted urban renewal planning and old residential community renovation measures to improve public health.