Investigating the influence of street environment characteristics on perceived restoration benefits:A case study in Shenzhen

Nowadays,crowded environment and high-speed life pace are likely to bring mental stress and fatigue to citizens.How to apply achievements of the restorative environment into urban planning and environmental design has received more attention in recent years.Earlier research does not provide detailed information about the specific components of the physical environment that support restoration.This study explores which characteristics of the street environment and psychological factors of the street environment have an impact on subjective restoration.The streets were sampled from Shenzhen.Each street was represented by a single photo.The photo was quantified in terms of the different objective street components and also rated on psychological variables related to restoration.The rating on the psychological variables,being away,fascination,coherence,scope,the likelihood of restoration,and preference were provided by people of various ages and occupations.The results show that:1)the proportion of natural elements have the greatest impact on street restoration benefits and preference,and its impact is robust;2)the two characteristics of street safety and quiet are important to street restoration benefits and preferences;3)fascination and being away have a greater impact on restorative benefits of streets,followed by coherence,and the scope of the street has no significant effect on restorative benefits.The study could provide evidence for policy-makers and urban design and planning interventions.