Influencing Factors in Visual Preference Assessment of Redeveloped Urban Villages in China: A Case Study of Guangdong Province

Abstract

The urban village represents a particular problem in urban design and renewal in China. Many cities in China have started the redevelopment of urban villages. Based on the investigation of four urban village redevelopment projects in Guangdong Province, China from 2010 to 2020, building façades, plant landscape, roads, and municipal public facility variety were taken as physical factors in this study. Urban village residents with different demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, income, family size, and urban village-native status, were selected as respondents, and the influence of the considered village physical factors on the visual preference assessments performed by the respondents was analyzed by means of photo stimulation. The results show that all four village factors exerted a certain influence on the respondents’ visual preference assessment. Redeveloped urban villages presenting repaired and decorated building façades, various species of plants, resurfaced roads, and medium municipal public facility variety were favored by the respondents. Urban village residents with different demographic characteristics also provided different visual preference assessments of different physical factors of the redeveloped urban villages.