ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
This article is part of the Research TopicPhysical Activity in Urban Areas: Where and When?View all 11 articles
How Perceived Environmental Quality Influences Physical Activity in Urban Green Spaces? A Moderated Mediation Model
Provisionally accepted
- 1Yibin University, Yibin, China
- 2Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China
- 3Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- 4Xi'an Physical Education University, Xi'an, China
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Objective: This study aims to examine how residents' perceptions of urban green space environments influence their physical activity levels. Specifically, it investigates the mediating role of perceived restorativeness and the moderating role of spatial accessibility. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 307 residents in Chengdu, China. Structured questionnaires were used to measure perceived environmental quality, perceived restorativeness, spatial accessibility, and physical activity level. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and model fit assessments were performed in AMOS 24.0 to evaluate the reliability and validity of the measurement model. Mediation and moderation analyses were subsequently conducted in SPSS 26.0 using the PROCESS macro to test the indirect and interaction effects. Results: Perceived environmental quality was positively associated with residents' physical activity levels (β = 0.707, p < 0.001). Perceived restorativeness partially mediated this relationship (β = 0.229, p < 0.001). Moreover, spatial accessibility significantly moderated the association (β = 0.185, p < 0.001), with a stronger relationship observed under higher accessibility conditions. Conclusion: This study highlights the roles of psychological and spatial factors in understanding urban green space–related physical activity. Enhancing environmental quality, accessibility, and restorative characteristics of green spaces may help create conditions that are more conducive to residents' engagement in physical activity and overall well-being.
Keywords: urban green space, physical activity, perceived environmental quality, perceivedrestorativeness, Spatial accessibility, moderated mediation
Received: 21 Jul 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin, Zhao, Ma, Zhang, Luo and La. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiujie Ma
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