AUTHOR=Zhang Wenguang , Jing Qinlei , Lu Ji 

TITLE=The influence of public environmental concern on the rural living environment in China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1496017

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2024.1496017

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=Background: Despite China's economic growth, rural living environments have often lagged behind. While public participation is gaining importance in environmental governance, the magnitude and mechanism of its impact remain understudied.
Purpose: This research investigates the relationship between public environmental concerns and the rural living environment in China and explores how public concerns impact living conditions. 
Methodology: Using panel data from 245 prefecture-level cities (2012-2021), we employed the entropy method to measure rural living environment scores and used fixed-effect models to analyze the relationship between public concern and the living environment.
Results: The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between strong public environmental concerns and improved rural living environments. Further analysis suggests that local government environmental attention acts as a partial mediator in this relationship.
Conclusion: This study reveals that public participation can influence government policies, ultimately leading to positive environmental outcomes. Promoting public participation in environmental governance is crucial for improving the rural living environment.