Seeing the City as Nature: How Forest City Recognition Relates to Subjective Well-Being Through Perceived Naturalness in Sustainable Urban Development

How people perceive their urban environment is often more closely related to well-being than the environment’s objective characteristics. Yet the cognitive antecedents of environmental perception remain underexplored. This study examined whether residents’ awareness of Shenzhen’s national Forest City designation is associated with subjective well-being (SWB) through perceived naturalness. A cross-sectional survey of 308 Shenzhen residents measured Forest City recognition, perceived naturalness, life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. Residents who recognized the Forest City designation reported higher perceived naturalness, life satisfaction, positive affect, and overall SWB than those with lower recognition; the two groups did not differ in negative affect or affect balance. Structural equation modeling indicated that the association between recognition and SWB operated indirectly through perceived naturalness, with the direct path nonsignificant and the model accounting for 71% of the variance in SWB. Multiple regression confirmed that Forest City recognition was the strongest predictor of perceived naturalness after controlling for sociodemographic and behavioral covariates. These findings suggest that policy-related knowledge may serve as a cognitive antecedent of environmental perception and that the well-being outcomes of urban greening may depend partly on whether residents are aware of their city’s green identity. The results are relevant to SDG 3 and SDG 11, indicating that inclusive sustainability communication may help distribute well-being benefits equitably across urban populations.