Which built environment factors promote urban residents' climate change adaptive behaviors? Multi-group application of an exploratory framework via adaptive motivations' mediation

As climate change poses an increasingly severe threat to human society, understanding the adaptive behaviors of residents is essential for developing effective urban adaptation strategies. However, significant uncertainties remain regarding how policy measures can effectively encourage individual adaptive behaviors, particularly within the interdisciplinary context of urban planning, a key domain of climate adaptation. To this end, an exploratory framework is developed to identify neighborhood built environment factors that influence adaptive behaviors, based on an analysis of the mediating effects of four adaptive motivations (M_Inertia, M_Alarm, M_Fight, M_Exhaustion). Using remote sensing imagery, OpenStreetMap data, and survey responses, the study conducts an empirical analysis in Harbin, China, focusing on three vulnerable groups: the elderly, low-income residents, and individuals in poor health. Results show that M_Alarm and M_Fight promote adaptive responses; M_Exhaustion drives maladaptive responses; and M_Inertia can intensify both. Built environment factors—including vegetation coverage, floor area ratio, road network density, and accessibility to commercial service facilities—exert an indirect impact on the behaviors of the general population through the four motivations. Additionally, the accessibility of parks can influence the adaptive behaviors of groups with poor health; the accessibility of emergency shelters can impact low-income groups; and the accessibility of medical facilities can affect both the elderly groups and groups with poor health. The proposed framework can provide support for identifying urban planning factors that influence residents' climate change adaptive behaviors, and contribute to promoting public participation in climate actions and the sustainable transformation of lifestyles.