The effects of the natural visual-aural attributes of urban green spaces on human behavior and emotional response

Abstract

IntroductionNature-based solutions (NBS) have been used to address a wide range of urban environmental challenges, an important aspect of which is to improve human health and well-being. However, most relevant studies focus either on what positive influences nature may have or on identifying what natural factors can have these benefits. Few have investigated the sensory composition of nature and the effects of nature in different sensory aspects on human health. Setting out from the multi-sensory perspective, this study aims to explore human behavior and emotional response from visual and aural contact with urban nature.MethodsTaking Jiangjia Art Garden in Chengdu as an example, natural attributes such as its visual (landscape) and aural (sound source) characteristics as well as people’s activities (behavioral responses) were measured by on-site mapping analysis. This was done while a questionnaire-based survey was conducted to investigate people’s emotional responses regarding their overall satisfaction, pleasantness, calm, and agreeableness.ResultsThe results indicated that nature-dominated visual landscapes such as grassland, waterscapes, and woodlands, as well as natural sounds such as bird sounds, chirp sounds, and wind sounds were found to be positively correlated to the vitality of activities and people’s emotional status. Regarding behavioral responses, it was shown that grasslands and woodlands are more likely to be attractive places for recreation, and the vitality measured became extremely high when these two were paired with lakes. As for the emotional responses, people’s perceived overall satisfaction, calm, and agreeableness were equally reflected in their behavioral patterns, suggesting a strong relationship with natural factors.DiscussionThe research findings were visually presented in behavior and emotional maps to provide direct cues of informing the future design of high-quality urban green spaces and promoting the application of aural-visual experience in the design of urban nature areas.

Predicting and Visualizing Human Soundscape Perception in Large-Scale Urban Green Spaces: A Case Study of the Chengdu Outer Ring Ecological Zone

“…In addition to aural aspects, environmental visual attributes can also influence soundscape perception [19]. The influences of visually perceived naturalness [20], waterscape [21], aesthetics [22], openness [23], layering and order [24], the visibility of noise sources [25], crowding [26], and maintenance level [27] have been proven in various contexts, such as urban forests [28], urban parks [29], urban public spaces, university campuses [30], and neighborhoods [31]. These indicators can generally be classified into perception type and physical type [32].…”

“…The perception type is normally measured and analyzed as qualitative indicators, while the physical type can be described both qualitatively and quantitatively. In a study of Chinese urban parks, the composition of landscape elements was calculated as percentages and considered an important factor in modeling soundscape perceptions [25]. Subjective soundscape attitudes were found to be directly influenced by visual indicators that physically described urban streets, including the street width, building height, and street width to building height in a study conducted with the help of 3D virtual reality [33].…”