Relationships between residents’ ratings of place attachment and the restorative potential of natural and urban park settings

Abstract

Recent studies have supported the proposition that place attachment positively contributes to psychological restoration. However, fewer studies have been conducted regarding the relationships between place attachment and restorative components within China. This study explores residents’ ratings of urban parks and natural settings for restorative potential and its four components in relation to two constructs of place attachment, place dependence and identity. We conducted a cross-regional comparative study using Fuzhouese and Macanese urban park setting images and natural images as stimuli, with local inhabitants as respondents. Respondents were asked to rate three groups of images in terms of familiarity, preference, place dependence, place identity, sense of being away, extent, fascination, compatibility, and restorative potential. The results showed that both Fuzhouese and Macanese respondents assigned higher ratings in all categories for familiar urban park settings compared to unfamiliar ones. Respondents’ ratings of the restorative potential of natural settings and their familiar urban park settings were equivalent. In addition, both place dependence and place identity played significant and positive roles in contributing to the respondents’ views of the restorative potential for familiar urban park settings. However, for natural settings, only place identity positively contributed to restorative potential. The results illustrate the significant role of local urban parks in enhancing residents’ place attachment and providing psychological restoration. This finding can offer insight and impetus for landscape designers working in restorative environmental design.