Low Residents’ Satisfaction with Wetland Leisure Demand in Typical Urban Areas of the Semi-Arid Region in Western China: Spatial Variations and Their Causes

Abstract

Wetlands, as a crucial component of urban green spaces, provide important leisure services for residents. Construction of wetlands has increased with the rapid urban expansion and population growth in China over recent decades, especially in semi-arid regions with scarce water resources. However, the residents’ satisfaction with wetland leisure demand remains unclear. This study evaluated the residents’ satisfaction with wetland leisure demand by a framework of physical calculation, taking Yinchuan City, the capital city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in the semi-arid region of Western China as a case study area. Spatial variations in residents’ satisfaction and their causes were revealed by a supply–demand relationship between the population capacity of wetlands and the total population of communities under a framework of physical calculation. The results indicated that 4.22% of the study area, which covered 7.38% of the total population, was fully satisfied with wetland leisure demand. Residents’ satisfaction in the urban area as a whole is low at 0.49, with a concentric distribution pattern increasing as the distance from the central urban area increases. The high population density and scanty wetlands mainly induced a relative-low residents’ satisfaction in the central urban area, accounting for 12.02% of the area and 32.70% of the population. Meanwhile, a relative-high residents’ satisfaction in the outer ring of the central urban area accounting for 59.10% of the area and 20.63% of the population was primarily due to the adequate capacity of wetlands. Medium residents’ satisfaction was mainly attributed to the road network density, which partially transferred local wetland leisure demand to adjacent areas. Wetland constructions and internal structural optimization to improve the capacity for leisure in densely populated central urban areas could provide a feasible path to alleviate unbalanced conditions. These results could deepen the understanding of supply–demand dynamics in the wetland leisure service and provide valuable information for optimizing wetland allocation in urban construction in semi-arid regions.