Abstract
In daily living environments, an individual’s different state of mind influences their spatial perception. The current study, based on Attention Restoration Theory, aimed to explore differences in the health utility of nature according to individual differences in spatial perception. It focused on Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul, South Korea. Cognitive mapping and the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) were used to assess two groups’ different perceived spatial ranges and the restorative effect of the environment. After gathering data, two groups were defined: one describing only the internal area of the research site (composed of green materials), and the other illustrating the external area of the site, including buildings and roads. The former had higher overall PRS, Being Away, Fascination, and Compatibility scores. The latter had higher scores only on the Coherence subscale. These results illustrate that the frequency of nature visits and time spent traveling influence the two groups’ attentional restoration, which has great implications for highly stressful urban environments.
Highlights
Urban parks have been good places for enhancing physical health because they encourage the use of outdoor fitness facilities and promote various activities [1,2,3,4,5,6]
There were group differences in the spatial perception of sites’ attractiveness, and these were affected by visit frequency and time spent on the site
The lower the visit frequency, the higher the scores of the internal group compared to the external group
Summary
Urban parks have been good places for enhancing physical health because they encourage the use of outdoor fitness facilities and promote various activities [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Attention restoration theory (ART) explains the restoration of mental fatigue by virtue of exposure to the elements of nature [8,9,11] This theory supports the belief that people use urban parks because they provide mentally valuable experiences. TThheessee eeffffeeccttss ccaann bbee mmeeaassuurreedd bbyy ccooggnniittiivvee mmaappppiinngg,, wwhhiicchh sshhoowwss llooccaattiioonnaall iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn aanndd ssuubbjjeeccttiivvee ppeerrcceeppttiioonn ooff ssppaaccee [[3344]]. CChheeoonnggggyyeecchheeoonn,, iinn cceennttrraall SSeeoouull,, hhaass rreellaattiivveellyy mmoorree eelleemmeennttss ooff nnaattuurree ((ttrreeeess,, sshhrruubbss,, ssttrreeaamm aanndd nnaattuurraall rroocckkss)) tthhaann ddooeess tthhee hhiigghhllyy mmooddeerrnniizzeedd aarreeaa nneeaarrbbyy,, wwhhiicchh iiss eenncclloosseedd bbyy ttaallll bbuuiillddiinnggss. Previous studies have measured the degree of attentional restoration using photographs, video, imagination, and surveys of real settings [14,15,17,18]. CCooggnnitiitvivee mmaappss ooff tthhee ttwwoo ggrroouuppss ((iinntteerrnnaall ddeessccrriippttiioonn sshhoowwss tthhee iinnssiiddee ooff ssiittee ‘‘CChheeoonnggggyyeecchheeoonn’’ ccoonnttaaiinniinngg wwaatteerr,, ttrreeeess,, aanndd ssoo oonn;; eexxtteerrnnaall ddeessccrriippttiioonn hhaavvee bbuuiillddiinnggss,, aaddjjaacceenntt rrooaaddss sshhoowwiinngg uurrbbaann ssccaallee))
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