Health-related elements in green space branding in Hong Kong

A green city image of urban green spaces can provide positive benefits such as a stronger local identity, better socio-cultural ecosystem services, and ultimately the creation of a green city brand that attracts tourism and investment. This paper studies how urban green spaces can become a green brand that encompasses health-related elements. The health-related elements form part of the Green Brand Hexagon (GBH), as proposed in previous studies, and are tested with a sample of Hong Kong citizens (n = 301). The empirical results confirm the interrelation between these attributes and other GBH elements. The interrelation reveals a moderate association between the health-related elements and other green brand elements through regression model formulation. The findings suggest an extension of the health promotion value of the green spaces to the brand elements, focusing on the quality and the landscape aesthetic function of urban green spaces. While the effort of the public sector is highly recognized by the citizens, there should be an opportunity to thematize and brand the green city attributes to the public so that some of the problems of environmental gentrification and socio-environmental disconnection can be alleviated.