Applying the Concept of Perceived Restoration to the Case of Cheonggyecheon Stream Park in Seoul, Korea

Moohan Kim,Tae-Hyoung Gim,Jong-Sang Sung

doi:10.3390/su9081368

Moohan Kim, Tae-Hyoung Gim + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su9081368

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Abstract

Studies on perceived restoration have focused on the differences between natural and artificial environments, whereas studies on what makes people select a particular restorative environment are limited. Using the location of Cheonggyecheon Stream Park in the urban center of Seoul, South Korea, this study tests whether people self-select locations based on individual and environmental characteristics. Empirical testing was conducted on 268 responses on a visitor survey that was developed based on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale. The major findings were that visitors’ characteristics such as gender, age, number of companions, visit frequency, and travel mode affect their selection of a particular setting, and that the chosen setting subsequently influences three dimensions of the Scale: being away, fascination, and coherence. These findings suggest that both individual and environmental characteristics should be considered in the creation of an effective perceived restorative environment in an urban center.

Highlights

The natural environment in urban areas can be enhanced by building parks and maintaining green spaces and streams through conservation
Using the setting of Cheonggyecheon Stream Park, a built environment in the urban center of Seoul, South Korea, this study aims to examine how environmental and individual characteristics affect the selection of a perceived restorative environment
Analyses of empirical data yielded by this survey found that while the perceived restorative environment is associated with personal characteristics, the environmental characteristics of a place influence people’s selections

Summary

Introduction

The natural environment in urban areas can be enhanced by building parks and maintaining green spaces and streams through conservation (or restoration). It is relatively easy to obtain consensus on the development or conservation of a natural environment compared to the development of other types of urban structures, as a reaction to urbanization [1]. This is because humans inherently yearn for and feel comfortable in nature [2]. Urban parks are representative of the natural urban environment, and they have considerable value for public health That is, they provide physical and mental health value for their users [4,5,6]. The benefit of physical health is provided by physical activities (including, but not limited to, those from the use of exercise facilities) [7,8,9] and that of mental health is offered mainly by being in and viewing nature [10,11]

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