Campus Landscape and Built Heritage Conservation Intention: Mediating Roles of Place Identity and Place Dependence—Evidence from the Former Hujiang University Campus

Historic university campuses increasingly face simultaneous demands for functional renewal and heritage conservation amid rapid urbanization. However, the relationship between campus landscape perceptions and students’ built heritage conservation intention, together with the psychological pathways underlying this relationship, remains insufficiently understood. This cross-sectional study examines the association between Campus Landscape and Built Heritage Conservation Intention, focusing on the mediating roles of Place Identity and Place Dependence. Using a multidimensional place-attachment framework, the proposed model was tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) based on 569 student questionnaires collected at the Jungong Road Campus of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (formerly Hujiang University), which contains the Hujiang University modern architectural complex, designated as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in China. Campus Landscape was positively associated with Built Heritage Conservation Intention. Place Identity showed a significant positive indirect association, whereas the indirect association through Place Dependence was not statistically significant. In subgroup analyses, the estimated indirect association through Place Dependence was positive among undergraduates and negative among postgraduates, but it was not statistically significant in either subgroup and should therefore be interpreted as exploratory. These findings highlight the significant indirect association through Place Identity and offer illustrative implications for campus landscape planning that is attentive to place identity and for the conservation of historic campuses in active use.