Research of the Influence Mechanisms of Green Infrastructure on Walking Physical Activities in Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration, China

Walking physical activities can improve people’s health, for which exploring the influence mechanisms of green infrastructure on walking physical activities is important to the creation of healthy urban environment. This paper focuses on the relationship between green infrastructure in Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan urban agglomeration of China and the frequency and intensity of walking physical activities. The research first identified the elements of green infrastructure (i.e. hubs, links, and sites) and studied the spatial distribution of walking trajectories, then constructed the indicator system from perspectives of the internal environment, external environment, and landscape pattern of green infrastructure in the urban agglomeration, and employ the multiple linear regression model to analyze the influence mechanisms of green infrastructure on the frequency and intensity of walking physical activities. The results suggest that the walking physical activities mostly overlapped with the links and sites, and the indicators impact residents’ walking physical activities differently. Housing density, housing price, public toilet density, urban plaza density, bus stop density, percentage of green spaces, large patch index, and aggregation index all have significant correlations with both the frequency and intensity; land use mix, average daily temperature, and percentage of water body area only have significant correlations with intensity; and, path density only has a significant correlation with frequency. Based on the findings, this paper proposed suggestions for urban construction and renovation in aspects of internal environment, external environment, and landscape pattern, respectively, aiming to improve the cities’ walking environment, and boost the social and ecological values of green infrastructures in the urban agglomeration.