A Study on the Public Design Evaluation Items for User Satisfaction Analysis

Abstract

(Background and Purpose) Recent trends indicate that there are studies being conducted on the evaluation of public space along with interest in the user needs and psychological environments; however, the realistic restrictions of these studies, being conducted from a policy perspective by regional autonomous governments, indicate that these studies are focused on the quantitative growth from the standpoint of the physical environment, rather than on the qualitative growth. This leads to the demand for public design that also considers the psychological aspects, along with recognizing the importance of user-focused ex-post evaluation. Based on such perceptions, this study aims to propose public design evaluation items that analyze user satisfaction. (Method) This study aims to focus on the analysis of previous literature through literature analysis, as well as on empirical analysis through surveys. In Chapter 2, previous literature on public design will be examined, and theoretical contemplation will be carried out. In Chapter 3, main items and factors for public design evaluation will be deduced through leading previous literature on the public design evaluation methods and items. Chapter 4 conducts satisfaction surveys targeting users of public space, and focuses on empirical analysis. Through this analysis, evaluation items will be verified based on the analysis of public design elements which the users demand. In Chapter 5, the study results and their implications are organized based on the studies conducted in the prior chapters. (Results) Satisfaction levels were analyzed on a total of 9 items for public design evaluation items and the results are as follows. First, reliability analysis was conduced prior to analyzing satisfaction, and the reliability assessment for the measurement tools utilized indicated that the reliability of all evaluation items was over 0.6, statistically verifying that this research is reliable. Specifically, for general users, scenery-related items showed the highest reliability at 0.819. Second, the item with highest satisfaction was found to be publicness. It was followed by regional identity, pleasantness, scenery, and usability. On the other hand, sustainability exhibited the lowest satisfaction among the 9 items. This can be interpreted as the target space being a leading symbolic space that includes publicness in this region. (Conclusions) The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, in public spaces, user-focused spatial construction that includes natural elements is very important. This indicates that natural elements influence psychological aspects. Second, spatial planning that focuses on pleasantness is required in public space planning. Analyzing satisfaction has shown proof that users are aware of the importance of the psychological environment in public spaces through pleasantness. Third, in an urban environment, public space that allows for community revitalization is very important. By providing spaces wherein a variety of communities can be formed in the regional community, it could be found that users were bestowed with identities as members of the society. In the future, based on this study, we expect that follow-on studies will be conducted on more objective and systematic public design evaluations that actively reflect user needs.