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Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 16573

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Dr. Bogusława Baran-Zgłobicka

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Guest Editor

Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Kraśnicka Av. 2d, 20-718 Lublin, Poland
Interests: spatial planning; management of rural areas; tourism and leisure; geoturism; landscape ecology; land use changes
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human wellbeing means an individual’s subjective sense of satisfaction with the mental, physical, and social conditions of their life. The concept of wellbeing encompasses a comprehensive approach to people and satisfying their various needs, including a sense of safety, self-realization, ability to cope with stress, development of mental resilience, and sense of happiness and satisfaction with life. Wellbeing is an outcome of our individual personality traits and traits acquired through upbringing and education, life experiences, as well as family and professional circumstances. Our wellbeing also depends on the environment where we live, work, and rest. We function in geographical space, and hence, environmental factors and the condition of the natural environment are of tremendous importance in this case. On the other hand, anthropogenic pressure modifies these conditions and causes local degradation and, in extreme cases, global changes. Understanding the impact of external factors is particularly important in the context of contemporary changes in the environment. Sustainable development assumes a balance between the development of the economy and humanity, and nature. It can be achieved by appropriately influencing socioeconomic conditions and managing environmental resources. This Special Issue will be primarily dedicated to the results of research on sustainable development, planning, and management of spaces that have a fundamental impact on human wellbeing. This Special Issue welcomes papers focusing on topics including (but not limited to) the following: the space of everyday life (urban and rural, including public space and green areas, regeneration and renewal); the space of leisure and recreation (assets and challenges in the development of space for tourism, including space in health resorts, sustainable tourism, agritourism); spaces of high natural and cultural value (conservation threats and challenges); evaluation and valuation of space (ecosystem services); and assessment of the quality of space (state and threats).

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Sustainability

Dr. Bogusława Baran-Zgłobicka
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

spatial planning
ecosystem services
areas of high natural value
green areas
public space
health resorts
sustainable tourism
recreation and leisure
quality of the natural environment
environmental management

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3862 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Heterogeneity and Influencing Factors of High-Grade Tourist Attractions in the Tibetan Plateau

by Shanshan Shi, Mi Li, Ziqiang Li and Jianchao Xi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4650; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054650 - 6 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1318

Abstract

The construction of the world tourism destination on the Tibetan Plateau is inseparable from the traditional tourist attractions, which are significant landscape ecological units. Based on the data of high-grade tourist attractions on the Tibetan Plateau, the spatial heterogeneity and influence factors are studied employing the Standard Deviation Ellipse (SDE), Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), spatial autocorrelation (SA), and modified tourism gravity model methods. The results show that: (1) the overall spatial distribution characteristic of high-grade tourist attractions is in the direction of northeast-southwest, with solid centripetal force, and the center of gravity of the ellipse is in Yushu City. (2) The spatial heterogeneity of the kernel density distribution is remarkable, clustered in the southeastern half of the plateau, showing a double nucleus-driven and strip-connected pattern. The distribution among cities has a hierarchical heterogeneity, and the two capital cities of Xining and Lhasa play a crucial role. (3) The high-grade tourist attractions are spatially dependent, with evident characteristics of large dispersion and small clustering, and the spatial association type is mainly negative. (4) This paper verifies the significant single-factor mechanism affecting the spatial distribution from supportive and intrinsic dimensions with natural environmental base, tourism resource endowment, socio-economic development, transportation location constraints, and spatial tourism linkages. Finally, the article provides suggestions for the high-quality development of high-grade tourist attractions on the Tibetan Plateau. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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26 pages, 5687 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wetland Park Planning and Management Based on the Valuation of Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Tieling Lotus Lake National Wetland Park (LLNWP), China

by Lu Yang, Zhi Zhang, Weikang Zhang, Tong Zhang, Huan Meng, Hongwei Yan, Yue Shen, Zeqian Li and Xiaotian Ma

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 2939; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20042939 - 8 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2925

Abstract

The valuation of wetland ecosystem services and the construction of environmental landscapes are generally recognized as contributing to the sustainable development of human wellbeing. The valuation of ecosystem services plays an important role in planning for the recovery of degraded wetlands and in urban wetland park management; however, the role of the valuation of ecosystem services is always ignored. To bring more intuitive awareness to the importance of the ecological functions of wetlands and to rationally plan wetland parks, the Lotus Lake National Wetland Park (LLNWP), an urban wetland park in Northeast China, was selected as the study area. We referred to the millennium ecosystem assessment (MA) method and calculated the valuation of this park using the market value, benefit transfer, shadow engineering, carbon tax, and travel cost. ArcGIS was used for remote sensing interpretation. The research results were as follows. LLNWP was classified under seven types of land-use. The functions of the ecosystem services included provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services, and their total value in LLNWP was 11.68×10⁸ CNY. Regarding the per-unit area value of the ecological service functions of different land types, it was found that forest swamp > herbaceous swamp > artificial wetland > permanent river > floodplain wetland. Combined with the characteristics of the functions of its ecosystem’s services, LLNWP was divided into ecological and socio-cultural functions. Then, according to the main service functions of the different land types, we propose that the space in LLNWP can be reused, and proposal planning and management suggestions can be made with the aim of preserving the basic functions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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Graphical abstract

21 pages, 11420 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Evaluation and Assessment of Ecosystem Service Spatial Differentiation at Different Scales in Mountainous Areas around the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region, China

by Hui Yang, Jiansheng Cao and Xianglong Hou

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1639; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021639 - 16 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1489

Abstract

Ecosystem services are closely related to human wellbeing—which refers to the basic material conditions required to maintain high standards of quality of life, of health, and of safety and security, as well as good social relationships, and freedom of choice and action—and have a high potential value. The adequate valuation of ecosystem service values (ESV) is now an urgent need for the implementation of policy measures such as ecosystem asset management, ecological compensation and paid use of ecosystem services. Based on the method of ecosystem value equivalent factor per unit area, in this paper we investigated the variability of total ESV spatial distribution and regional differences in the value of 11 ecosystem service types provided by ecosystems in the mountainous areas of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region at different spatial scales and discussed the relationship between ESV and land use land cover (LULC). The results show that the total ESVs in 2015 and 2020 in the mountainous areas of BTH region were 5671 × 10⁸ CNY and 6381 × 10⁸ CNY, respectively. The change trend of each ecosystem service value from 2015 to 2020 was dominated by an increase of water supply service, and the maintenance of soil and nutrient cycle services in the mountainous area of BTH and the Yanshan Mountain (YSM). The change patterns of the value of ecosystem service categories in the Taihang Moutain (THM) and Bashang region (BSR) are dominated by an increase in the value of maintained soil and water supply services and a decrease in the value of regulating services. The calculation of ESV can be made more accurate by considering climate and vegetation conditions at the region, ecosystem, county or township scales rather than at grid scale, as, for calculating the interannual variation of total ESV, the spatial scale variability is large. The assessment of ESVs is important from the point of view of planning the use of the environment, of spatial planning, and of nature conservation. The ecosystem service of woodland and water bodies are more prominent compared with other land-use types and construction land and bare land provide the lowest value of service. There is some similarity between the value changes of ecosystem service categories and the distribution of LULC types. This study strengthens the understanding of the spatial scales of different ESV in mountain areas, which is beneficial to ecosystem management policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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20 pages, 1194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Klaudia Przybysz and Agnieszka Stanimir

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 15325; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192215325 - 19 Nov 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2378

Abstract

Significant changes are taking place in the structure of tourism participants. Due to the ageing of societies, the tourism sector has to respond to the increasing tourist activity of seniors. The main aim of our research was the recognition of the needs of senior tourists from selected regions of Poland, considering their health and financial situation as well as their physical activity. The study shows how to combine the knowledge of assumptions of active ageing with the actual views of senior tourists on tourism and active leisure. An additional objective was to determine the reasons why seniors gave up tourism and to compare the reasons why seniors from selected regions of Poland and seniors from other European countries did not participate in tourism. Based on Eurostat data, we identify the most common reasons for people not participating in tourism who are over 65 years of age. In 2020, we surveyed seniors. The respondents for the sample were selected as 65 years and older. In order to compare countries due to exclusion and non-participation of seniors in tourism, the results classification was used. To analyse the touristic behaviours of Polish seniors, we used correspondence analysis. As indicated by analysing the reasons for the non-participation of Europeans aged 65 and over in tourism, in most countries, financial and health reasons are ranked first or second in 2016 and 2019. In a survey of Polish seniors, except for the financial reasons responsible for non-participation in tourism, an additional obstacle was the language barrier in foreign tourism. The analysis of physical and tourist activity showed that non-participation in tourism is associated with low physical activity. Women reported that they were satisfied with their financial independence and most often used the opportunity of short-term tourism. The people who are fully or largely involved in organising their trips also willingly change their locations during their next travels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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14 pages, 16890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrated Sustainable Development of Culture into Tourist Map Design: A Case from Foshan, China

by Liting Zhou, Fei Ouyang, Yan Sun, Wentao Chen, Yiyong Li and Ruyu Zhao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14191; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114191 - 30 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2133

Abstract

As the fourth pillar of sustainable development, culture is widely recognized as contributing to human wellbeing. The distinctive culture of cities is an important driving force for attracting visitors to destinations for tourism consumption. Since historical cities have important cultural and historical values, the design of their tourist maps needs not only geographic positioning and artistic aesthetics, but also a systematic design method to present the connotation of regional cultures, so as to enhance the local cultural identity of hosts and the cultural cognition of visitors, and to drive the local tourism economy, improve the regional environment, promote cultural transmission and inheritance with the help of tourist map design in terms of cultural sustainability, which ultimately achieves sustainable development of human wellbeing. Taking Foshan, a national historical city, as an example, combined with the cultural gene and the cultural hierarchy theory, this study analyzes and summarizes the regional culture of Foshan from three aspects: material cultural gene, intangible cultural gene and spiritual cultural gene. This study also comprehensively presents the geographical information and historical or humanistic characteristics of the city through direct translation, narrative translation, and metaphor translation, which provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the integration of regional cultures into tourist map design. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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24 pages, 6151 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Social Factors as Major Determinants of Rural Development Variation for Predicting Epidemic Vulnerability: A Lesson for the Future

by Małgorzata Dudzińska, Marta Gwiaździńska-Goraj and Aleksandra Jezierska-Thöle

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 13977; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113977 - 27 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1921

Abstract

There have been changes in social attitudes in recent years. These changes have been a consequence of a new societal view of the common good, which manifests itself in social responsibility for a clean and healthy environment. The outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has highlighted the socio-spatial variation across regions and countries. The epidemic necessitated restrictive measures by state authorities. In the initial period in many countries, the actions of the authorities were identical throughout the country. This was mainly due to a lack of information about the differentiation of areas in relation to the epidemic risk. The aim of the research was to present a model for classifying rural areas taking into account vulnerability to epidemic threats. The model takes into account demographic, social, economic and spatial-environmental development factors. A total of 33 indicators based on public statistics that can be used to determine the area’s vulnerability to epidemic threats were identified. The study showed that for Poland, 11 indicators are statistically significant to the developed classification model. The study found that social factors were vital in determining an area’s vulnerability to epidemic threats. We include factors such as average number of persons per one apartment, village centers (number), events (number), number of people per facility (cultural center, community center, club, community hall), residents of nursing homes per 1000 inhabitants, and the number of children in pre-school education establishments per 1000 children aged 3–5 years. The research area was rural areas in Poland. The results of the classification and the methods used should be made available as a resource for crisis management. This will enable a better response to threats from other epidemics in the future, and will influence the remodeling of the environment and social behavior to reduce risks at this risk, which has a significant impact on sustainable development in rural areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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28 pages, 2700 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Revitalization of the Waterfront Park Based on Industrial Heritage Using Post-Occupancy Evaluation—A Case Study of Shanghai (China)

by Qiao Zhang, Jooho Lee, Bin Jiang and Gunwoo Kim

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9107; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159107 - 26 Jul 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3006

Abstract

With the rapid development of urban construction, the waterfront industrial heritage park has played an active role in shaping the city’s image, regional economic development and environmental improvement, and the continuation of the city’s waterfront history. The waterfront park based on industrial heritage using post-occupancy evaluation will help improve the sustainable management, maintenance, and design level of the project in the future. However, there is insufficient research on the waterfront industrial heritage park using post-occupancy evaluation. This paper takes Shanghai Houtan Park and Xuhui Binjiang Park, the representative industrial heritage parks in China, as the research objects. Through field investigation and nearly 200 questionnaires and interviews regarding user behavior, the importance of design elements (place characteristics, natural environmental characteristics, usability characteristics, and administrative characteristics) and the correlation of satisfaction help us to understand the use of the two parks and analyze and organize the survey data, carrying out the analysis of the questionnaire results using frequency analysis, IPA analysis, t-test, variance analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The research results include: (1) Both parks are mainly used by people in their twenties and forties, and the trail received the highest utilization rate as the main facility, while the visitor center in charge of guiding functions had the lowest utilization rate. (2) While Houtan Park received high satisfaction with natural environmental characteristics, it was found that Xu Hui Binjiang Park had relatively high satisfaction with the place and usability characteristics. (3) The natural environmental characteristics of Houtan Park have a positive impact on overall satisfaction and return visit satisfaction. Site characteristics and utilization characteristics of Xuhui Binjiang Industrial Park have a positive impact on overall satisfaction, while usability characteristics have a positive impact on return visit satisfaction. Finally, according to the questions and suggestions raised by users, an optimization strategy is proposed for the renewal of the park, and it is hoped that it can provide suggestions for the reconstruction and design of similar Chinese waterfront industrial heritage parks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development of Key Areas for Human Wellbeing)

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