Assessment on the expectation for outdoor usage and its influencing factors

Abstract

A vital question of how citizens expect to use outdoor environment is not fully addressed. This study aims to contribute to it through providing evidence in terms of the influencing and influenced factors of outdoor usage expectation (OUE). Three potential influencing aspects: current locations, the duration of indoor-stay and location-specific thermal sensation are investigated, while thermal sensitivity being the influenced factor. Remote data collection is adopted via online survey along with the meteorological data obtained from local weather bureaus and the EAR5 (ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation) database. Totally 868samples are collected. This study, which targeting at the middle-aged and the elderly, provides quantitative evidence that the expectation of pursuing livable outdoor environment is the basic requirement of human nature. Specifically, variance of current location and the duration of indoor-stay show significant influences on OUE. Firstly, citizens have higher expectation of using the outdoor spaces when they currently stay outdoors and feeling satisfied. Secondly, the expectation notes an obvious increase along with the growing duration of indoor-stay. Thirdly, the effect of current thermal sensation on OUE is limited and it varies in locations. Vice versa, the OUE shows obvious influence on the thermal sensitivity of outdoor thermal environment. People who expect to use the outdoor environment showed the least thermal sensitivity, 42.3% weaker than those who do not expect to use. The findings help providing further understanding of citizens' outdoor thermal expectation and their thermal responses during the post-pandemic period.