Exploration of a Rural Street Environment: The Difference in Sight between Villagers and Tourists

Abstract

This paper takes Nanlizhuang Village, Hebei Province, China, as the object and aims at improving the design of the street-space environment. The real scene of the rural streets is used as the stimulus material, and the difference in eye-movement data between villagers and tourists in the real environment is explored based on eye-tracking technology. This difference is taken as the guiding content for rural space design, and an optimized design strategy is put forward. It is found that visual attractiveness is not only affected by the visual rate of greenery but also closely related to changes in spatial enclosures. The combination of low walls and greenery is conducive to the formation of impression symbols in the village; the collective memory of indigenous villagers is also a major reason for changes in visual gravity. The experiment proves the feasibility of using real scenes as rural street design strategies through eye-tracking technology.