Environmental Perceptions and Older Adults’ Continued Usage Intention Toward Community Green Open Spaces: The Mediating Roles of Outdoor Activity Motivation and Perceived Emotional Healing

With the accelerating ageing of the population in China, understanding older adults’ intention to continue using Community Green Open Space (CGOS) and the associated psychological pathways is of great importance for age-friendly community planning. However, existing studies have primarily focused on objective environmental attributes of green spaces, while insufficient attention has been paid to older adults’ subjective environmental perceptions and the psychological pathways linking these perceptions to continued usage intention. Guided by the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework, this study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 older adults aged 60 years and above in Shijiazhuang, China, and the data were analyzed using Grounded Theory. The five core themes identified from the interviews were conceptually mapped into five environmental perception constructs: Visibility of Green Facilities (VGF), Green Structural Diversity (GSD), Perceived Green Accessibility (PGA), Green Interactive Experience (GIE), and Perceived Green Usability (PGU). In the quantitative phase, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed using 752 valid questionnaires to examine the direct associations between these constructs and Continued Usage Intention (CUI), as well as the indirect associations through Outdoor Activity Motivation (OAM) and Perceived Emotional Healing (PEH). The results indicate that all five environmental perception constructs were positively associated with older adults’ continued usage intention. Statistically significant indirect associations through Outdoor Activity Motivation were observed for Visibility of Green Facilities, Perceived Green Accessibility, Green Interactive Experience, and Perceived Green Usability, but not for Green Structural Diversity. Statistically significant indirect associations through Perceived Emotional Healing were observed for Visibility of Green Facilities, Green Structural Diversity, Green Interactive Experience, and Perceived Green Usability, but not for Perceived Green Accessibility. These findings suggest that motivational activation and emotional restoration represent two complementary psychological pathways linking environmental perceptions with older adults’ continued usage intention. This study reveals the psychological pathways underlying the relationship between CGOS environmental perceptions and older adults’ continued usage intention, providing theoretical insights and practical references for the planning optimization and age-friendly design of Community Green Open Space within the context of healthy ageing.