Exploring Urban Experiences: Two Case Studies

Abstract

The purpose of the two exploratory studies presented in this paper was to examine the relations between formal representations of an urban environment and subjective responses. In Study 1, we examined how geometrical features were related to environmental appraisal of an urban square. We mapped movement trajectories and activities on the square during different times of the day and used semantic differential scales to capture experiences at 22 predefined locations that contained different fields of views/isovist characteristics. At each of those locations, 25 individuals rated their subjective impressions of the space. We found that the trajectories and activity observations and the environmental appraisal ratings were partially linked to formal spatial measures derived from visibility graph and axial line analysis; i.e., larger views were related to ratings of publicness, insecurity, and openness. In Study 2, we conducted a virtual-reality study with 45 participants, who rated six viewpoints along a virtual street that (again) differed in its isovist characteristics, as well as in social density. For this aim, we systematically controlled three conditions: no people/control group, and 2) low social density, and 3) medium social density. Participants filled-in an environmental appraisal rating scale, which we again linked to formal characteristics of the space. Here, perceived spatial density correlated with isovist area, perimeter, and occlusivity; and compactness correlated with interest. Together, our two exploratory studies add insight to the relations between urban structures and subjective evaluations and indicate potentially interesting avenues for further research in the space syntax community and urban experience research.