Sustainable infrastructure and community tourism involvement in the mediating metropolis: the roles of perceived value, climate change mitigation and trust in government

Purpose A decade of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment has dramatically reconfigured the urban landscape of Almaty, Kazakhstan. While the physical transformation is evident, the socio-ecological sustainability of these infrastructure projects and their capacity to foster genuine community involvement remain critically unexamined. This study moves beyond technical assessments to investigate the social and perceptual mechanisms through which sustainable infrastructure practices influence residents' tourism involvement. Specifically, to understand constraints on community agency, the study examines the mediating roles of perceived value of the built environment and climate change mitigation, and the moderating effect of trust in government. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in Social Exchange Theory, the present research employed a quantitative research design. Data were collected from 380 urban residents of Almaty using a snowball sampling technique to reach a community directly experiencing BRI-driven urban transformation. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling , which allowed for the simultaneous analysis of direct, mediating, and moderating effects within the complex model. Findings The results confirm a strong and positive relationship between sustainable infrastructure practices and residents' tourism involvement. Both the perceived value of the built environment of infrastructure construction and climate change mitigation served as significant parallel mediators. Furthermore, trust in government significantly moderated and strengthened this relationship. Notably, infrastructure-driven climate change mitigation also raises environmental awareness, which further motivates involvement. Originality/value We propose a novel “mediating metropolis” model that frames urban infrastructure as an intermediary of community power. It is the first study to empirically test a unified framework in which perceived built environment value and climate mitigation serve as mediators, with trust in government as the essential moderator. This provides an actionable blueprint for creating sustainable, socially supported infrastructure.