Tourist Health Responses to Therapeutic Landscapes in Urbanizing Contexts

Qing Feng, Ruwen Tan (), Han Yang and Bingqian Wei
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Qing Feng: School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
Ruwen Tan: School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
Han Yang: School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China
Bingqian Wei: School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-24

Abstract: Urbanization drives spatial restructuring that transforms landscapes to prioritize human health. Grounded in therapeutic landscape theory and tourism involvement theory, this study employs PLS-SEM and CMV to examine how landscapes affect individual health amid urbanization. Key findings reveal the following: (1) A model of urbanization for tourists’ perceived health confirms urbanization enhances health perceptions via therapeutic landscapes. (2) Therapeutic landscape perceptions exert an indirect effect on health perception through the mediating variable of tourism involvement, where tourism psychological involvement demonstrates a complete mediating effect, while tourism behavioral involvement exhibits a partial mediating role. (3) High urbanization exerts a more pronounced positive influence on natural and social landscapes compared to symbolic landscapes. Notably, elevated urbanization levels significantly strengthen the positive association between natural/social landscapes and perceived health benefits. Under low urbanization, health perception does not demonstrate significant enhancement with elevated landscape perception. This study fills a critical research gap by quantitatively investigating, from a micro-scale perspective, how therapeutic landscapes enhance tourists’ health within urbanization contexts in Eastern settings. Furthermore, it extends the theoretical framework of tourism involvement in health tourism contexts, advances tourism and leisure research, and provides scientific support for sustainable tourism development and tourists’ well-being enhancement.

Keywords: urbanization; therapeutic landscape theory; tourism involvement; health; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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