Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic of the article is good and up-to-date. Location characteristics can play an important role in social capital. I congratulate the authors for this work.

- In line 38, the authors have emphasized the integration of social groups. This is against the principles of sustainable development. Racial and ethnic groups create different cultures of the society that increase the cultural and tourism potential.

- Determine the reliability of the questionnaire in general and the main indicators.

- The conclusion is general and does not cover the topic of the article. It is necessary to be more precise. Regions should be examined based on their rank and their relationship with social capital.

- It is recommended to bring scientific and practical suggestions after the conclusion of the article.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

 

Response to Review report 1

The topic of the article is good and up-to-date. Location characteristics can play an important role in social capital. I congratulate the authors for this work.

Response: Dear referee, thank you very much for your positive and encouraging view of our work, which has motivated us further research.

 

- In line 38, the authors have emphasized the integration of social groups. This is against the principles of sustainable development. Racial and ethnic groups create different cultures of the society that increase the cultural and tourism potential.

Response: Thank you for your carefulness. We have corrected it as follows:

We shall increase collaboration between urban social groups by increasing green landscapes, supplying qualified homes, building more sports, recreational and educational spaces, and beautifying the built environments [4].

 

- Determine the reliability of the questionnaire in general and the main indicators.

Response: Thank you. In the revised version, we explained the questionnaire adequately. We added a text as follows:

A total of 1068 people were interviewed and stated their ideas concerning our questions. Our sample community encompassed all genders, ages, and social groups of people, which Table 2 exhibits. The questionnaire’s modification and validity followed the procedure provided by Hinkin [36]. Please see section 2.1. Methods and data in the revised paper, including Table 1 and Table 2. Concerning the reliability of indicators, we have explained in the revision as follows:

Table 1 shows a list of indicators/variables that have been determined based on ideas and experiences of relevant scholars plus our local cognition of the case study places. In other words, we used the ideas of the scholars, that we have mentioned in Table 1 about the general features of the indicators. But we also benefited from our local cognition to localize them. Please also see Table 1.

 

- The conclusion is general and does not cover the topic of the article. It is necessary to be more precise. Regions should be examined based on their rank and their relationship with social capital.

Response: Many thanks for this constructive advice. We have rewritten the conclusion part in the revised paper precisely as follows:

This paper addressed the mutual relations between community places and social capital. It aimed to upgrade urban social capital by improving the quality of public spaces in cities. One research method was introducing 25 monitoring and measuring indicators by reviewing the literature and local knowledge. Another applied method was the development of a questionnaire with structured interviews with 1068 people. It assisted us in asking residents' opinions about the indicators and gathering necessary data about the public spaces and social capital in 12 community places of the Jinshui district in Zhengzhou city. This study analyzed two interconnected dimensions of community spatial resources and social capital by a structural equation model (SEM), which included variables for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CAF). We found various positive correlations

between urban community spaces and social capital concerning the 25 variables in

the 12 communities of the Jinshui district in the city. In more detail, we assessed the absolute and relative fits of the mutual relationships from 0.046 up to

1.832 and 0.910 to 0.932, respectively, but the simplified fitting index

began from 0.731.

The outcomes of this paper were instructions for planning sustainable cities with increasing citizens' satisfaction. The theoretical implications of this study are to determine standards, codes, and regulations in checking the progress of problem-oriented methodology in urban planning and development. Its practical implications improve urban neighborhood social capital since it plays a remarkable role in urban management.

 

 

- It is recommended to bring scientific and practical suggestions after the conclusion of the article

Response: Thank you. We have addressed this recommendation in the section conclusion as upper item as follows:

The outcomes of this paper were instructions for planning sustainable cities with increasing citizens' satisfaction. The theoretical implications of this study are to determine standards, codes, and regulations in checking the progress of problem-oriented methodology in urban planning and development. Its practical implications improve urban neighborhood social capital since it plays a remarkable role in urban management. Please see kindly also section 3.3. Implications

 

Finally, we hope our endeavors to address your constructive comments and suggestions to improve this article will convince you.

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Editors

Dear authors,

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this paper. this study analyzes the interconnection between community place qualification and neighborhood social capital in twelve communities divided into four types in the Jinshui District of Zhengzhou city.

Before considering publishing this paper, this paper needs several improvements.

Abstract:

Line 11: author said “, this paper is the first, which explore the relation-ship between the quality of public spaces and social capital in Zhengzhou.” this statement is too strong.

Author better to explain the important of this study.

Line 20: The outcomes of this paper will assist urban planners and 20 engineers everywhere to design green cities with social satisfaction… grammar error.

This paper lack of literature review and theoretical framework, initial hypothesis development.

Findings: line 294, what is thoughts?

Author needs to explain the R2 value. Direct and indirect effect.

Implications section must be separate to two sections: theoretical implication and practical implication. Written with descriptive paragraphs.

This paper lack of limitations section.

References: Reference must be improved. How many references can proof how deep author understand and master this topic.

This is the first round of review. I am sure that I will provide a second phase review after the author revised this manuscript.

I found a grammar error in the article. the author needs improvement on linguistics.

Author Response

 

Response to Review Report 2

Before considering publishing this paper, this paper needs several improvements.

Abstract:

Line 11: author said “, this paper is the first, which explore the relation-ship between the quality of public spaces and social capital in Zhengzhou.” this statement is too strong.

Author better to explain the important of this study.

Response: Thank you for this comment. We have changed the statement in the revised manuscript as follows:

With a literature review, this innovative paper provides general indicators to assess the relationship between the quality of public spaces and social capital in Zhengzhou. Its innovative feature is when it localizes them with local cognition in analyses.

 

 

Line 20: The outcomes of this paper will assist urban planners and 20 engineers everywhere to design green cities with social satisfaction… grammar error.

Response: Thanks a lot. We have corrected the grammar error in this sentence as follows:

The outcomes of this paper will assist urban planners and engineers in designing green cities with social satisfaction.

 

 

This paper lack of literature review and theoretical framework, initial hypothesis development.

Response: Thank you very much for this comment. We had two options: either add a particular literature review section to the article or follow the format of this journal. For this reason, we have reviewed the literature in the introduction section. After your concern, we have conducted more studies and checked the opinions of Scholars about our initial hypothesis. Aftermath, we have added more citations and references and firmed the theoretical framework. Some of them are as follows:  

Scientists in the USA, Africa, South East Asia, and other corners of the earth have programmed regional ecosystem conservation and climate change adaptation through the Collaboration of people [1-3].

We also checked all citations and references and changed some of them to improve the accuracy of our discussions. Please see the changes in the revised paper in blue color.

 

Findings: line 294, what is thoughts?

Response: Thank you for this comment. We are in common with you that this word is meaningless here. We have corrected it by renaming sections of this part of the article. Please read the changes in the revised paper in blue color.

 

Author needs to explain the R2 value. Direct and indirect effect.

Response:

Many thanks for your suggestion. Please consider that Figure 2 shows our modified SEM, which is a version of the so-called "direct/ indirect effect" of R square value, which is expressed with EFA and CFA of our X1 -X25 and Y1 -Y18 variables in the 12 communities. We applied the Amos 21 software to include a database in the analyses. The model found a correlation between the components of community spaces and social capital elements in the 12 neighborhoods to confirm our hypothesis. It interpreted the R square values into Fitting values reported in Table 7.

 

 

Implications section must be separate to two sections: theoretical implication and practical implication. Written with descriptive paragraphs.

Response: Thank you for the constructive suggestion. We have rewritten the implications section into two separate parts as follows:

• Theoretical implications- Determine standards, codes, and regulations to check the progress of problem-oriented urban planning and development. Building standards are necessary for planning, design, and construction methods. Urban managers should learn and train to respond to the immediate urban service requirements of the residents. For example, every community shall plan and design rain shelter facilities, wider sidewalks, and spaces for sports and leisure activities and put them into practice. To succeed in a better life in better cities, we hope to pursue future research on the required issues introduced in this paper.
• Practical implications- Appoint competent managers with expertise, skills, and capacity to make decisions in difficult situations. Urban management shall lead the communities toward enriching community activities, increasing the diversity of activities based on the activity space, and increasing the emotional public communications. Additionally, improve neighborhood social capital since it plays a remarkable role in the quality of the physical perspectives. It also increases the attractiveness of the built environments. Therefore, a systematically applied project is necessary to upgrade strategic and comprehensive development planning.

 

This paper lack of limitations section.

Response: We have fixed this shortcoming in section 2.2. Research limitations after 2.1. Methods applied:

2.2. Research limitations: Due to personnel, time, and financial limitations, this research is only related to the study area of Jinshui District of Zhengzhou City and the sensitive topic of mutual relation between the quality of urban public spaces and social capital.

 

 

References: Reference must be improved. How many references can proof how deep author understand and master this topic.

Response: According to your advice, we carefully rechecked the references and citations. We changed some of them and added some new ones. We have applied improving changes for use in the revised version of the article.

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

I found a grammar error in the article. the author needs improvement on linguistics.

Response: In the revised version, we have carefully edited the entire article in terms of correctness of proof writing and grammar and clarity of concepts.

 

 

Finally, we hope our endeavors to address your constructive comments and suggestions to improve this article will convince you.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Investigating manuscripts about users' satisfaction is an exciting topic. The authors provide a deep insight into this topic in the case study in China. 

For this manuscript to be improved, some minor comments need to be considered. These comments include making the research more comprehensive, providing more detailed evidence and data, and improving the structure of the paper.

1- The introduction should explain the novelty of this manuscript and be linked to the possibility of its implementation mentioned in the last paragraph of your abstract. 

2- The first paragraph on Page 1 extends to two pages. This is too long to be split into more than one paragraph for better text readability. In the introduction, specific paragraphs should show the topic, the gap in the literature, the research problem, the questions, the aims/purpose, the method, and the added value. 

3- The research method is well written. The minor issue that needs to be added in this context is the supportive reference of using such research methods for the questionnaire analysis. Besides, questionnaire questions need to be included in the text. How the data were collected should also be mentioned. 

4- The discussion section needs to be extended to show the main findings and how these findings are linked to similar studies about people's preferences for using public spaces. The following manuscript can help you in linking your results to prior studies: 

• DOI: 10.3390/su14031699

• DOI: 10.2148/benv.48.3.341

• DOI: 10.3390/su15086743

• DOI: 10.3390/su15086645 

5- Discussing research limitations is also missing from the discussion section. This limitation should be linked with suggested future research. These pieces of future research should be added to the conclusion section. 

Proofreading is needed here. 

Author Response

Response to comments and suggestions of Reviewer 3

For this manuscript to be improved, some minor comments need to be considered. These comments include making the research more comprehensive, providing more detailed evidence and data, and improving the structure of the paper.

Response: Thank you very much for your constructive comments and suggestions. We carefully considered and discussed them. After that, we made several corrections by adding data and references and improving the structure of the article in the sections of introduction, research methods, findings, and conclusion.

1- The introduction should explain the novelty of this manuscript and be linked to the possibility of its implementation mentioned in the last paragraph of your abstract. 

 

Response: Thank you for this comment. We have addressed the novelty of this manuscript in item 2. We have also written about the ways to implement our research goals and link the discussion in the introduction section to the last paragraph of the abstract as follows:

This study aims to provide solutions for improving the quality of community places and increasing social capital through feasible recommendations.

Please refer to the revised version of the manuscript.

 

2- The first paragraph on Page 1 extends to two pages. This is too long to be split into more than one paragraph for better text readability. In the introduction, specific paragraphs should show the topic, the gap in the literature, the research problem, the questions, the aims/purpose, the method, and the added value. 

Response: Thank you. We have edited the paragraph for better readability. We also added the following paragraph to explain the research problem and methodology and its novelty and aims:

The relationship between public spaces and social capital as an indicator of successful urban management is a contemporary problem. Nevertheless, not enough research has been done on it yet. Is there a direct relationship between an urban planning and design project and social capital? Another question is, if it exists, what methods can increase social capital? The importance of this article lies in its innovation that simultaneously, with a comprehensive and general look, analyzes the details of an urban area in case studies. This study aims to provide solutions for improving the quality of public places and increasing social capital. Research methods used are literature review, field studies, and analysis of community spaces' characteristics.

Additionally, the added value and contribution of this study to knowledge in this field have been explained in other parts of the revised paper like section 3. Findings and discussions and section 4. Conclusion. Please see the revised manuscript.

           

3- The research method is well written. The minor issue that needs to be added in this context is the supportive reference of using such research methods for the questionnaire analysis. Besides, questionnaire questions need to be included in the text. How the data were collected should also be mentioned? 

Response: We have introduced supportive references who used our research methods earlier as follows:

Earlier Ariani and recently Si and colleagues have used a questionnaire technique and a structural equation model to analyze the relationship between community places’ variables and social capital by Amos software [36, 37] . . ..

Additionally, we have addressed your comments concerning the research method well in the revised manuscript in the following paragraphs in suitable places:

The questionnaire encompassed questions concerning 25 variables that are presented in Table 1. . .. Table 1 shows a list of indicators/variables that have been determined based on ideas and experiences of relevant scholars plus our local cognition of the case study places. In other words, we used the ideas of the scholars we have mentioned in Table 1 about the general features of the indicators. But we also benefited from our local cognition to localize them. . . The questionnaire has three parts: First, it concerns the socio-economic background of sample respondents in gender, age, community type, marriage, political outlook, education level, family economic status, living condition, family size, and income status. Secondly, it questions the features of community places like community facilities, activities, and regulations. Thirdly, it asked about the indicators of neighborhood social capital such as public trust and social. . . A total of 1068 people were interviewed and stated their ideas concerning our questions. Our sample community encompassed all genders, ages, and social groups of people, which Table 2 exhibits. The questionnaire’s modification and validity followed the procedure provided by Hinkin [38].

4- The discussion section needs to be extended to show the main findings and how these findings are linked to similar studies about people's preferences for using public spaces. The following manuscript can help you in linking your results to prior studies: 

• DOI: 10.3390/su14031699
• DOI: 10.2148/benv.48.3.341
• DOI: 10.3390/su15086743
• DOI: 10.3390/su15086645 

Response: Thank you. We have reorganized and developed section 3. Findings and discussions. We studied the references you suggested and found them helpful. Thus, we further expanded the section with the following paragraph and your recommended references:

Our theoretical exploration showed when urban planners respect people's preferences for using public spaces, the rate of social capital increases. Scholars found environmental features of homes, workplaces, green lands, and transport services correlate with social capital. Additionally, they confirmed the dependency of public satisfaction on the quality of urban planning and design [37-40].

 

5- Discussing research limitations is also missing from the discussion section. This limitation should be linked with suggested future research. These pieces of future research should be added to the conclusion section. 

Response:

We have added a section to the revised paper titled 2.2. Research limitations after 2.1. Methods applied:

Due to personnel, time, and financial limitations, this research is only related to the study area of Jinshui District of Zhengzhou City and the sensitive topic of mutual relation between the quality of urban public spaces and social capital.

We have also fixed this missing you observed by adding the following to the discussion:

Although the limited geographical position of this study, it proved that the results are consistent with our hypothesis.

We also added the following to the conclusion sections:

Owing to the limitations of this research future research should focus on details of the theoretical and practical implications.

Please see the changes in the revised paper in blue color.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Proofreading is needed here.

Response: We have carefully edited the manuscript thoroughly. We have mitigated text in terms of correctness of proofreading, likely grammar error, and well explaining of concepts. Please see the changes in blue color in the revised paper.

 

Finally, we hope our endeavors to address your constructive comments and suggestions to improve this article will convince you.

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

Thank you for revised the paper according to the reviewers comments, however, there are many object may be revised in this manuscript. here is my second review.

 

1.      figure 1 is not necessary, just focus to your research model.

2.      model fit on Structural equation models with AMOS software requires citation. What reference literature did author use in this study?

this study explains the model fit in AMOS well.

T. T. Wijaya and R. Weinhandl, “Factors Influencing Students ’ Continuous Intentions for Using Micro-Lectures in the Post-COVID-19 Period : A Modification of the UTAUT-2 Approach,” Electron., vol. 11, no. 1924, 2022.

3.      author need to add the questionnaires in the appendix. We need to check the questionnaires. the questionnaires also can be valuable for readers.

4.      again, I still find many grammars error in this manuscript. for example, The future tense is less common in academic writing. figure 3, A picture of…

This is the last chance for the author to revise the article and improve the linguistics of this paper.

the author may use proofread services and attach proofread proof certificates.

otherwise, this paper cannot be published

I still find many grammars error in this manuscript. for example, The future tense is less common in academic writing. figure 3, A picture of…

 

the author may use proofread services and attach proofread proof certificates.

 

Author Response

Dear Authors,

Thank you for revised the paper according to the reviewers comments, however, there are many object may be revised in this manuscript. here is my second review.

1. figure 1 is not necessary, just focus to your research model.

Response: We have accepted your comment and deleted the figure. We also corrected the relevant text accordingly.

 

 

2. model fit on Structural equation models with AMOS software requires citation. What reference literature did author use in this study?

this study explains the model fit in AMOS well.

2022. T. Wijaya and R. Weinhandl, “Factors Influencing Students ’ Continuous Intentions for Using Micro-Lectures in the Post-COVID-19 Period : A Modification of the UTAUT-2 Approach,”Electron., vol. 11, no. 1924, 2022.

Response: We did study the model fit on SEM with AMOS in the previous revision as follows.

2. Methods and data

2.1. Methods applied

Earlier Ariani and recently Si and colleagues have used a questionnaire technique and a structural equation model to analyze the relationship between community places’ variables and social capital by Amos software [36, 37].

However, thanks for the reference you suggested. We read the paper and agreed that it is a helpful reference for readers. We have included it in section 2.4. Building the model as follows:

In addition to Ariani and Si mentioned in section 2.1,  Wijaya & Weinhandl Also applied SEM with AMOS. They developed a model to examine the factors affecting students’ attitudes to using micro-lectures in mathematics lessons [39].

 

 

3. author need to add the questionnaires in the appendix. We need to check the questionnaires. the questionnaires also can be valuable for readers.

Response: Alright. We have added the questionnaire as an appendix to the second revised version of this manuscript

4. again, I still find many grammars error in this manuscript. for example, The future tense is less common in academic writing. figure 3, A picture of…

This is the last chance for the author to revise the article and improve the linguistics of this paper.

the author may use proofread services and attach proofread proof certificates.

otherwise, this paper cannot be published

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

I still find many grammars error in this manuscript. for example, The future tense is less common in academic writing. figure 3, A picture of…

 

the author may use proofread services and attach proofread proof certificates.

 Response: We paid attention to linguistics and edited the entire article according to your comment. We rewrote the article thoroughly. We wrote shorter paragraphs and sentences to convey the concepts clearly to the reader. We revised the texts in terms of grammar, tenses, punctuation, and proofreading. In the end, we asked a university colleague whose mother tongue is English to do the last edit on our article. You can see the results in the second revised version of this article.

In the end, we thank you for your accuracy and constructive guidance in revising this article.

With kind regards,

Authors

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

I appreciate your consideration of all comments. The manuscript has been developed, as I can see. 

Good English has been used. The author should, however, take into account the length of the pragarhs. 

Author Response

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I appreciate your consideration of all comments. The manuscript has been developed, as I can see. 

 

Response: We appreciate your time to review the article and write your constructive comments.

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Good English has been used. The author should, however, take into account the length of the pragarhs. 

Response: We paid attention to linguistics and edited the entire article according to your comment. We rewrote the article thoroughly. We wrote shorter paragraphs and sentences to convey the concepts clearly to the reader. We revised the texts in terms of grammar, tenses, punctuation, and proofreading. In the end, we asked a university colleague whose mother tongue is English to do the last edit on our article. You can see the results in the second revised version of this article.

In the end, we thank you for your accuracy and constructive guidance in revising this article.

With kind regards,

Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 3

Reviewer 2 Report

Authors have been revised manuscript well.

Now, manuscript ready to publish.