The sense of community revisited in Hankow, China: Combining the impacts of perceptual factors and built environment attributes

Abstract

There is a growing awareness of the benefits of a sense of community (SoC) in the urban context. However, the current conceptual framework primarily focuses on testing the direct effects of individual-level predictors on SoC, while the cross-community variations have not been fully elucidated. Combining the built environment attributes (primarily urban amenities and street greenery) with cross-sectional survey data (n = 786) from 24 communities in Hankow, China, this paper utilizes the two level hierarchical linear model to examine the multivariate effects of the individual-level perceptual factors on SoC and capture the moderating influence of the community-level built environment attributes. According to the result, the three perceptual factors on the individual level were positively associated with SoC. Street greenery presented a direct and positive influence on the average SoC score across communities and reduced the positive effect of perceived environment quality on SoC. Some particular categories of urban amenities appear to enhance the positive effect of perceived environment quality on SoC, while some of them reduce the positive effect of safety on SoC. Our investigation enriches the conceptual framework of the existing literature. Based on the findings, specific policy implications were made accordingly.