Measuring public’s risk acceptability of urban underground space in China: a planned behaviour approach

Research on the public’s risk acceptability of urban underground space is scarce under the halo of development achievements of urban underground space. This research combines the psychological cognition paradigm and risk characteristics to construct a model and scale for the public’s risk acceptability of urban underground space in the Chinese context based on the theory of planned behaviour. We empirically analyse the realistic level and discuss planning strategies for future urban underground space. The results show that the public’s risk acceptability of urban underground space can be measured using 14 items and four dimensions: benefit perception, fairness and trust, public participation, and technological acceptance. All four dimensions show significant positive correlations with risk acceptability. Some demographic characteristics show significant differences in risk acceptability and dimensions. The Chinese public’s risk acceptability of urban underground space has a significantly positive spatial autocorrelation. The risk acceptability score has a spatial distribution similar to that of the per capita GDP. These findings preliminarily elucidate the public’s cognitive mechanism and characteristics of the risk acceptability and can provide a decision-making reference for government and urban planning departments to harmoniously develop urban underground space.