Evaluation and Optimization of Activity Spaces in Urban Comprehensive Parks in Shenzhen Based on Older Adults’ Behaviour and Perception

Given China’s increasingly severe population ageing, urban comprehensive parks are important places for older adults’ daily activities. Improving their quality directly affects the physical and mental health of older adults. Most previous studies have explored spatial optimisation strategies from a single dimension, focusing either on behaviour or on perception; studies on simultaneous improvements in behavioural and perceptual levels across functional space types remain limited. This study selects 40 activity spaces from four urban comprehensive parks in Shenzhen as samples. It systematically analyses differences in older adults’ behavioural patterns and perceptual experiences across six types of functional spaces. Based on the results, a comprehensive behaviour–perception evaluation model is developed to identify optimisation priorities for different space types. Furthermore, generalised linear regression models are employed to explore the relationships between environmental elements and older adults’ behaviours and perceptions, from which targeted optimisation strategies are derived. First, significant differences are observed among six functional space types in older adults’ concentrated leisure behaviour, dispersed exercise behaviour, concentrated exercise behaviour, and safety, while the remaining indicators are relatively balanced. Second, the evaluation model classifies the 40 samples into four space types, including high behavioural level–high perceptual level, high behavioural level–low perceptual level, low behavioural level–high perceptual level, and low behavioural level–low perceptual level. Third, 12 environmental elements, including area, degree of greenery, and leisure facilities, are associated with older adults’ behavioural and perceptual levels in urban comprehensive parks. Fourth, optimisation strategies are proposed for problem spaces with low behavioural or perceptual levels across the six functional space types, including behavioural strategies such as expanding activity spaces and avoiding excessive plant density, as well as perceptual strategies such as improving plant landscape layering and balancing spatial colour combinations. This study develops a quantitative evaluation and spatial optimisation framework guided by older adults’ behaviour and perception, providing theoretical support and practical insights for the sustainable improvement of urban comprehensive park quality.