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Experiencing urban forests for mitigation of negative emotions of people exposed to seasonal PM2.5 in Northeast China

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Abstract

Experiencing urban green and blue spaces (GBSs) can be a nature-based solution to improve mental well-being and cope with negative moods for people exposed to PM2.5 pollution. In this study, a total of 1257 photos were collected to recognize their posted emotions of Sina Weibo users from 38 parks in 22 cities in Northeast China in 2021, when atmospheric PM2.5 and landscape metrics were evaluated for GBSs of each park. Autumn and winter had heavy atmospheric PM2.5 pollutions in resource-dependent cities of Liaoning. Net positive emotions (happy minus sad scores) decreased in larger green spaces. The perception of blue space countered the presentation of sadness only for a limited period over four seasons. High elevation decreased the level of happiness presented in winter. Overall, this study confirms that visiting large urban green spaces at low elevations can benefit the perception of positive sentiments for people exposed to PM2.5 in autumn. For planning urban forests in Northeast China, more green spaces should be constructed in cities in southern Jilin province to alleviate air PM2.5 pollution and gain better well-being of local people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry College, Beihua University, Jilin, 132103, People’s Republic of China

    Jie Zhang, Zhi Yang, Zhihui Xu & Tengfei Hui

  2. Department of Human Resources Management, School of Business and Management, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, People’s Republic of China

    Yuxiang Sun

  3. Environment and Resources College, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian, 116600, People’s Republic of China

    Peng Guo

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  1. Jie Zhang
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  2. Zhi Yang
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  4. Zhihui Xu
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  5. Tengfei Hui
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Correspondence to Zhi Yang or Peng Guo.

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Project funding: This research was funded by the Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province (20190303126SF), the Project of Beihua University (320121060), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771695 and 31971464), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (0919/140124).

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Corresponding editor: Yu Lei

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Zhang, J., Yang, Z., Sun, Y. et al. Experiencing urban forests for mitigation of negative emotions of people exposed to seasonal PM2.5 in Northeast China. J. For. Res. 34, 1245–1261 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-022-01595-x

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