Spatio-Temporal Variations and Determinants of Residents’ Leisure Participation in China

Despite the importance of leisure on life quality, limited research has investigated the spatial and temporal changes and constraining factors of residents’ leisure participation in developing countries. Based on nationwide data from China General Social Survey (N = 40,908), this study used a fuzzy set approach and global spatial autocorrelation to analyse the spatial variations of residents’ leisure participation index (RLPI) in China from 2010 to 2017. Then, the determinants of spatial differentiation of RLPI were discussed based on the Geodetector method. Results show that (1) traditional media activities have always been the primary leisure activity for residents, whereas online leisure has the fastest growth during the research period. (2) The RLPI in China presents the geographical characteristics of ‘high in the east, medium in the middle and northwest, and low in the southwest’. (3) Family conditions are the most influential factor of RLPI spatial disparities, followed by leisure facilities, economic development, leisure time, and transportation. The findings provide insights into the understanding of regional disparity of leisure participation and shed light on improving leisure engagement in developing countries.