The Influence Mechanism of the Community Subjectively Built Environment on the Physical and Mental Health of Older Adults

Lingyi Xu, Huiran Han (), Chengfeng Yang and Qingfang Liu
Additional contact information
Lingyi Xu: School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, No. 189 Huajinnan Street, Yijiang District, Wuhu 241002, China
Huiran Han: School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, No. 189 Huajinnan Street, Yijiang District, Wuhu 241002, China
Chengfeng Yang: School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, No. 189 Huajinnan Street, Yijiang District, Wuhu 241002, China
Qingfang Liu: Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: In order to clarify the mechanism by which subjectively built environments impact the physical and mental health of older adults and promote the construction of “healthy aging” and “healthy cities,” this study develops a structural equation model based on questionnaire data from older adults in Hefei and constructs a mechanism of a “community subjectively built environment—physical and mental health” with leisure physical activities and social interaction activities as mediators. The results indicate that the specific combination of subjectively built environmental factors such as community safety and security, internal supportive living facilities, a green environment, a walking environment, and a degree of beautification significantly impacts the physical and mental health of older adults. Leisure physical activity and social interaction activities play different roles in mediation, forming two sets of action mechanisms: “community-built environment—leisure physical activity—physical health” and “community-built environment—social interaction activity—physical and mental health.”

Keywords: subjectively built environment; physical and mental health; mediating effect; residential self-selection; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/13211/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/13211/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:13211-:d:1231916

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().