Association between the time patterns of urban green space visitations and visitor characteristics in a high-density, subtropical city

Only limited research has addressed time patterns regarding visits to urban green spaces (UGSs), whereby less has concentrated on relevant variations across population groups. However, this concerns the effective management and provision of UGSs. This study investigated the time patterns of UGS visits, particularly focusing on the variations across wide-ranging visitor characteristics in Guangzhou, China. An in-person survey in 24 green sites using stratified sampling produced 595 valid questionnaires. Descriptive statistics depicted the general time patterns, while multivariate logistic regression examined the variations across the visitor characteristics. The results indicate that more visits occurred at night and on weekends, whereas hot noon was avoided. The temporal imbalances need to develop strategies to rationally distribute UGS traffic at different times, thus having important implications for UGS management. The visit timing significantly varied with seven visitor characteristics and these variations should be factored into the UGS decision-making process. The findings help promote effective management and targeted planning of UGSs, having significant implications for cities in China and beyond. Several findings concerning visitor characteristics may contribute new insights, but more research is needed. Future studies should consider the effects of UGS attributes and pay more attention to the visit timing of the elderly.