Beyond one-size-fits-all urban greening: Socio-cognitive drivers of flora-planting priorities in Vietnamese public parks

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2026

Department

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Abstract

Urban planting projects are increasingly promoted as cost-effective interventions to enhance ecological resilience and human well-being in rapidly urbanizing cities. Yet limited empirical evidence exists on how urban residents prioritize different planting attributes and how these priorities vary across socio-demographic, motivational, and cultural contexts—particularly in Southeast Asia. Drawing on Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT) and the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF), this study examines how urban residents in Vietnam prioritize five key aspects of public park flora-planting projects: quantity, variety, aesthetics, spatial location, and utilities. Using survey data from 535 urban residents across Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam, we estimate five Bayesian multilevel models and reveal pronounced heterogeneity in preferences. Education is positively associated with prioritizing flora variety and aesthetics but negatively associated with utilities, whereas income shows the positive association with utilities, highlighting divergent roles of cultural and economic capital. Relaxation-oriented park users prioritize quantity, aesthetics, and location while de-emphasizing utilities, whereas socially and pragmatically oriented users emphasize variety, spatial distribution, and utilities. Utilities display a stable baseline demand across regions, while aesthetic preferences vary culturally, with suggestive evidence of stronger aesthetic prioritization in Central Vietnam. Overall, aesthetic considerations are prioritized more frequently than utilities, indicating a potential—but unevenly stratified—transition toward an eco-surplus culture. These findings demonstrate that urban greening preferences are context-dependent, motivation-driven configurations rather than uniform demands, underscoring the need for pluralistic and zoned park-planning strategies that accommodate diverse human–nature relationships.

Publication Title

Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

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