Evaluation of Emotional Attachment Characteristics of Small-Scale Urban Vitality Space Based on Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution, Integrating Entropy Weight Method and Grey Relation Analysis

Abstract

The research and design of urban vitality spaces is recognized as an important part of current urban construction and development, especially for China’s first-tier cities at the background of stock renewal. Aiming to address the lack of quantitative methods for research and evaluation of the emotional attachment between people and the built environment in small-scale urban vitality spaces, a new method that can quantify emotional attachment data into comprehensive vitality evaluation results is proposed here. Five representative vibrant urban renewal complexes in China were chosen to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. The method includes three steps. First, an evaluation index system of emotional attachment in small-scale urban vitality spaces was created, including 14 indicators from three aspects: attachment degree, attachment dimension, and attachment intensity to specific built environment characteristics. Second, the indicators obtained were preliminarily processed and the correlation analysis was carried out using SPSS to provide support and interpretation for subsequent evaluation. Third, the results of multiple indicators were organized through the improved technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), integrating the entropy weight method (EW) and the grey relation analysis method (GRA) to produce an attachment evaluation result for the five complexes. This study demonstrates that small-scale built environment characteristics can effectively promote urban vitality by as people establish multidimensional emotional attachment with them. Physical material characteristics can deepen people’s emotional attachment and promote spatial vitality by retaining and renovating historical material and structure or intervening in emerging forms that reflect current trends. Social and interactive characteristics are closely correlated with material characteristics, but their influence on urban vitality changes dynamically with time and the surrounding environment. Additionally, the construction and application of the methodology is scrutinized in order to provide new ideas for the design, research, and evaluation of small-scale urban vitality spaces.