| Title |
Resident Preference and Multidimensional Psychological Restoration of Urban Waterfront Public Spaces |
| Authors |
완우흔(Wan, Yu-Xin) ; 이민(Lee, Min) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.14774/JKIID.2026.35.4.181 |
| Keywords |
Waterfront public spaces; Spatial preference; Psychological restorative effect; Attention Restoration Theory (ART); Stress Recovery Theory (SRT) |
| Abstract |
This study examined differences in spatial preference and multidimensional psychological restoration between waterfront and non-waterfront public spaces based on visitors’ actual visitation experiences and conducted supplementary analyses considering the physical contexts of six study sites. A total of 301 valid questionnaires collected from users of three waterfront and three non-waterfront public spaces in Nanchang, China, were analyzed using paired-samples t-tests, one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), mixed-design ANOVA, and general linear models (GLM). The results showed that waterfront public spaces scored significantly higher than non-waterfront public spaces in spatial preference, overall psychological restoration, and all four dimensions of psychological restoration: attention restoration, stress relief, emotion regulation, and vitality enhancement. No evidence was found that the relative restoration advantage was significantly greater in any one dimension than in the others. A comparison of the six study sites showed that the three waterfront public spaces, despite differences in spatial type, all provided perceptible water features as well as basic walking and resting conditions, and their evaluation scores were generally higher than those of the non-waterfront spaces. In addition, significant differences in the waterfront?non-waterfront score differences for overall psychological restoration and stress relief were observed among groups defined by visitation frequency to waterfront public spaces. These findings provide empirical evidence for understanding multidimensional psychological restoration in waterfront public spaces and its spatial context. |