Nature-Based Sports Venue Design and Users’ Revisit Intention: The Sequential Mediating Roles of Perceived Restorativeness and Place Attachment

With increasing interest in nature-based and biophilic built environments, understanding how users perceive natural characteristics embedded in sports venues and how these perceptions are associated with psychological experiences and behavioural intentions has become an important research topic. However, limited studies have examined the psychological mechanisms through which perceived nature-based characteristics of sports venue design are related to users’ revisit intention. Based on restorative environment theory and place attachment theory, this study investigates the relationship between nature-based sports venue design and revisit intention from a user-perceived built environment perspective, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of perceived restorativeness and place attachment. A questionnaire survey was conducted among university students in Shandong Province, China, and 623 valid responses were obtained. Structural equation modelling and bootstrap analysis were employed to examine the proposed relationships. The results showed that perceived nature-based sports venue design characteristics were positively associated with revisit intention, perceived restorativeness, and place attachment. Perceived restorativeness was positively associated with both place attachment and revisit intention, while place attachment was positively associated with revisit intention. Furthermore, mediation analysis indicated that perceived restorativeness and place attachment separately mediated the relationship between perceived nature-based sports venue design characteristics and revisit intention, and together formed a sequential mediation pathway. These findings suggest that nature-based characteristics embedded within sports venues may support users’ restorative experiences and emotional connections with places, which are associated with continued engagement with sports spaces. This study provides user-centred evidence for built environment design and sports venue planning by highlighting the potential importance of natural lighting, spatial openness, visual connections with nature, and restorative spatial experiences.