Factors influencing residents' access to and use of country parks in Shanghai, China

A new type of green space country park has been established in mega cities in China to deal with the challenges of the shortage of green space in built-up areas, and to meet the increasing demands of residents for amenities of nature accompanying rapid urbanization. This paper identifies the determinants of the accessibility and the use of country parks. Data from a total of 795 questionnaires administered in Shanghai, with the help of the local governments, is used for the analysis. The results from the Logit model shows that the size of the area, natural landscape and the uniqueness of the country parks are the main factors underscoring demand. Residents with younger ages, married couples, and people with higher education play a significant role in the use of the country parks. However, gender, income and travel time to country parks are insignificant in determining demand. We conclude that country parks can provide residents a cost-effective source of green space. Our findings have important implications for the planning of country parks and can be applied to other high-density cities which are experiencing similar pace of urban expansions.