Healthy Multi-Age Spaces: Comparing the Relationships Between Green Space Quality and Social Interaction Among the Elderly, Children, and the General Population

Urban green spaces have emerged as a key outdoor natural space supporting social interaction since the pandemic and lockdowns, and particularly benefit the health and well-being of the elderly and children amid global population aging. However, the challenges of socialization among multi-age groups and the influence of green space quality on these interactions remain insufficiently understood. To create healthy multi-age spaces, this study aimed to compare the associations between urban green space quality and social interaction among the elderly, children, and the general population. To achieve this, we adopted a UAV vision method, integrating the SOSIP protocol with a vision-based behavioral recognition model to capture outdoor social interactions across multiple age groups. Multilevel regression models were applied to analyze the hierarchical data structure and assess the contributions of different green space quality indicators, including green space size, facility, amenity, aesthetic features, maintenance and cleanliness, incivility, and overall quality. The findings indicated that overall green space quality is the most significant contributor in promoting social interaction, while maintenance and cleanliness appeared equally important to children and the general population. The presence of facilities and a larger green space size encourage informal encounters and facilitate collective activities only among the general population. However, aesthetic features and the number of amenities had limited effects on the social interactions of multi-age groups. These results suggest that how green space quality influences social interaction varies among different age groups. Accordingly, targeted green space quality enhancement strategies are proposed to support the planning of sustainable, healthy multi-age spaces that could balance the needs of both the elderly and younger populations.