Biophilic Experience in High-Rise Residential Areas in China: Factor Structure and Validity of a Scale

The United Nations formulated the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, highlighting the significant role of natural environments and green spaces in urban sustainability. Natural environments not only provide physical sustenance but also contribute to a sense of relaxation, comfort, and happiness through the physical and emotional connection between humans and nature [1,2,3]. However, rapid urbanization has led to the increasing popularity of high-rise and high-density residential areas in cities [4,5,6,7], resulting in the isolation of urban living spaces from nature, deteriorating ecological conditions [8,9], and various urban issues such as high stress levels and fast-paced lifestyles [10]. Therefore, under the dual requirements of limited space and efficient living, creating high-quality residential environments to meet human beings’ inherent affiliation with nature (biophilia) [11] and drive lifestyle changes becomes crucial for enhancing their health and well-being in urban settings [12,13,14,15,16]. Although there have been biophilic residential design system frameworks proposed from the designers’ perspective [17,18,19], there is currently no suitable assessment tool available to determine which environmental features effectively support healthy living and meet residents’ biophilic preferences. This paper describes the development of the Biophilic Experience in High-Rise Residential Areas Scale (BornA), a space environment assessment tool based on residents’ perceptions and behaviors.

Existing measurement tools for biophilia mainly fall into two categories: nature connectedness scales and restorative environment scales. The commonly used nature connectedness scales include the Inclusion of Nature in the Self Scale (INS) [20], Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) [21], and Nature Relatedness Scale (NR) [22]. INS measures the degree to which an individual incorporates nature into their self-concept. CNS assesses how much an individual feels they belong to nature and are equal to the organisms within it. NR evaluates an individual’s appreciation, tolerance, and understanding of the interconnectedness between humans and nature. The commonly used restorative environment scales include the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) [23] and the Restorative Components Scale (RCS) [24]. The dimensions of PRS align with the four environmental characteristics identified by Attention Restoration Theory, namely being away, fascination, extent, and compatibility. RCS further divides the “being away” dimension into novelty and escape based on PRS. The development ideas and specific contents of these scales provide references for the development of a high-rise residential area space environment assessment scale based on residents’ biophilic experiences.

When individuals’ biophilia needs are met, they experience psychological benefits known as nature connectedness (NC) [21,22]. The degree of NC reflects the intensity of one’s affiliation with nature [25,26] and serves as an important predictor of health and well-being [27,28,29]. Residents’ NC is influenced by two categories of factors: environmental experiences and environmental exposures. The former refers to the experiences within and around residential spaces, including perceptible natural elements, biodiversity, familiarity, multisensory experiences, and indirect forms of engagement. The latter pertains to behavioral activities in the residential environment, such as walking or engaging in physical exercise in natural surroundings near residential areas, as well as interacting with the natural environment through activities like gardening (Table 1). However, despite the proven health-promoting effects of many factors, the comprehensive impact of residential spatial environments on residents’ NC remains unclear, and previous studies have paid limited attention to high-rise, high-density residential environments.

Based on Environment–Behavior Studies, this study developed the BornA scale consisting of 18 factors that evaluates the biophilic experience of high-rise residential environments according to residents’ perceptions and behaviors. During the BornA scale assessment, participants scored each of the 18 factors on a Likert scale, and the final score is the sum of the Likert scores. This scale adopts a people-oriented approach [70], enabling respondents to extract effective factors from their daily living environment and behavioral activities. As such, respondents’ evaluations and factor extractions are based on two principles: first, to consider the overall sensory experience provided by the spatial environment from the user’s perspective rather than evaluating individual elements from an observer’s perspective; second, to extract behavioral perceptions from the spatial environment based on daily life scenarios, rather than based on static spatial division. This approach can fully leverage respondents’ subjectivity to conduct in-depth research into the spatial environments without any predefined boundaries [71] and guide the relevant strategy formulation for residential environmental design.

The analysis of the 18 measurement items revealed that the multisensory experience of various natural elements is the most crucial factor in enhancing people’s affinity for nature. This may be attributed to the ability of different senses to stimulate corresponding neurons and the interconnected neural networks forming a multi-channel neural structure, thus enabling a more comprehensive and profound perception of the spatial environment [72,73]. In addition, the adequacy of vegetation greening in terms of quantity, aesthetic design, and vitality emerges as a significant aspect influencing people’s perceptions. This aligns with the four characteristics of restorative environments: being away, extent, fascination, and compatibility [74]. Furthermore, the emphasis on humanistic care and individual exercise indicates the importance of natural spaces providing residents with comfortable activity areas, aiming to increase exposure to nature and promote proactive health by attracting residents’ daily behavioral activities [46,47].

The 18-item BornA scale developed in this study demonstrated robust psychometric properties. Factor analysis revealed that the scale comprised five factors with satisfactory internal consistency. The correlation between the measure of NC assessed by the INS scale provided further evidence for the external validity of the BornA scale. Based on these findings, a theoretical framework was proposed in which the intermediate factors of the natural landscape, natural interaction, cultural identity, neighborhood communication, and individual space interacted with each other, influencing different components of residents’ affinity for nature in their living environment. From the perspective of environmental perception, pleasant natural landscapes and well-designed cultural identity can enhance residents’ intimacy [75] and sense of belonging [76] with the natural environment, optimizing the design quality of spatial environments. This aligns with the research indicating that perceptions of natural residential environments enhance NC. Firstly, the dimension of natural landscapes is the most significant factor in the biophilic environment, serving as a key trigger for residents’ ecological emotions [77]. Natural landscapes that align with aesthetic preferences evoke a love for nature in individuals [78], with individual environmental perceptions often seen as the beginning of natural experience and exploration behaviors [79]. Secondly, the dimension of cultural identity, while meeting the biophilic design attribute of connecting with the environment, history, and culture [66], can shape community identity and emotional connections [35], thereby strengthening local attachment [80]. From the perspective of behavioral activities, residents engaging in natural interactions, neighborhood interactions, and personal activities in a favorable natural spatial environment further enhance the deep emotional connection between people and nature [33]. These findings are consistent with research indicating that residential behavioral activities can enhance NC. Natural interactions not only satisfy human curiosity and exploration of nature [81] but also create rich and meaningful activity experiences for residents [82]; engaging in close interactions with nature in the neighborhood promotes community cohesion and harmonious neighborly relationships [51], reinforcing the formation of community consciousness; and engaging in individual activities such as exercise, walking, and rest in the natural environment can promote nature connection by increasing the frequency and duration of contact with nature [46]. Compared to existing biophilic residential frameworks [17,18], our study utilizes the degree of nature connection as a quantitative indicator, effectively ensuring the validity of the scale; relative to biophilic frameworks in other regions [83,84], our study, set against the backdrop of traditional Chinese culture and high population density, emphasizes the cultural and neighborhood values of the natural environment, which is of significant importance for the role of biophilic environments in promoting health.

The natural landscape factor in the BornA scale includes six elements: vegetation quantity, visual hierarchy, color matching, types of natural elements, multisensory experience, and natural vitality, indicating that the quantity and quality of natural elements and their combined environment form the foundation of biophilic environmental perception. According to evolutionary theory, human judgments of the functional aspects of the natural environment have been internalized as preferences for the natural environment [2]. Therefore, natural landscapes that align with environmental preferences trigger biophilic environmental perceptions by satisfying human biophilic tendencies [3]. Simultaneously, engaging in interactive activities with nature provides individuals with a sense of relaxation and pleasure [75,82]. The natural landscape factor and the natural interaction factor together constitute the two most influential factors affecting individual biophilic experiences. Furthermore, cultural identity and neighborhood interactions have a significant impact on residents’ perceptions of healthy living. Familiarity, consistency, and human care align with the Utilitarian, Humanistic, and Moralistic values in the biophilic value system [3], while a natural neighborhood environment fosters a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for interpersonal communication, promoting positive social relationships [85]. Both factors can enhance residents’ sense of belonging and neighborhood cohesion [86,87]. Finally, a biophilic environment provides favorable physical spaces for engaging in physical activities, facilitating residents’ physical and mental well-being through the promotion of positive behavioral patterns [76,77]. Of particular importance, the five intermediate factors and the 18 measurement items identified in this study reveal how individuals process environmental information through perception, cognition, and behavior to achieve a sense of intimacy and connection with nature [88]. This provides evidence of how residents experience the natural environment in high-rise, high-density residential areas, explains the role of natural factors in residents’ healthy lifestyles, and contributes to research and development of healthy living environments.