Can multiple pathways link urban residential greenspace to subjective well-being among middle-aged and older Chinese adults?

In recent years, there is a growing interest in the benefits of green spaces on individuals’ subjective well-being in developed countries; however, few studies have examined the underlying mechanisms for these benefits and differentiated the cognitive from the emotional component of subjective well-being, especially in the rapidly urbanizing and ageing China. This study aims to disentangle bio-socio-behavioural pathways linking greenery surrounding residential spaces to subjective well-being among middle-aged and older adults in eight Chinese cities using data from the World Health Organisation’s Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (WHO-SAGE). We employ multilevel structural equation modelling to estimate the mediating roles of physical activity, air pollution, and neighbourhood social cohesion in the relationships between residential greenery and the tripartite components of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect). Results indicate that residential greenery is positively associated with life satisfaction and is not significantly directly related to either positive or negative affect. Results further suggest that middle-aged and older adults living in greener neighbourhoods experience a higher level of life satisfaction due to the enhancement of neighbourhood social cohesion and the mitigation of air pollution, but not the encouragement of physical activity; however, alleviating air pollution enhances their life satisfaction through encouraging physical activity and facilitating social cohesion in serial mediation. Our findings provide a deeper insight into the salutogenic effect of urban green space for middle-aged and older adults and can aid the development of guidelines for enabling ageing in place through land-use planning and landscape architecture.