Urban Exploration Research Articles

Design of Immersive VR Tourism Analysis Model Based on Fuzzy Logic Algorithm

Immersive virtual reality (VR) is a technology that transports users into fully immersive digital environments, often through the use of specialized headsets and sensory equipment. A three-dimensional environment, immersive VR offers users an unparalleled sense of presence and interaction, enabling them to explore and interact with virtual worlds as if they were physically present. This paper develops an effective immersive Virtual Reality (VR) model for tourism. The proposed model uses the fuzzy-based logic rules for tourism in VR for the classification with the Backpropagation Feedforward Neural Network (BFNN). Through the developed model efficacy of BFNN-based algorithms in accurately classifying diverse virtual environments and detecting edges with precision. The analysis of the results stated that the through BFNN model MSE and PSNR value is achieved with the value of 0.007 and 28.9 respectively. With the developed model significant classification is achieved with the BFNN model value for the exploration, cultural heritage, adventure, Urban exploration, and Relaxation. Additionally, comparative analyses demonstrate the superiority of BFNNs over alternative classification models, underscoring their effectiveness in accurately categorizing immersive tourism experiences. These findings stated that the advancement of immersive VR technology also offers practical insights for optimizing computational algorithms in immersive tourism applications. The potential of BFNNs redefine the landscape of immersive VR tourism, delivering captivating and personalized virtual experiences that elevate user engagement and satisfaction to unprecedented levels.

Study on the Activation Strategy of Historical and Cultural Blocks from the Perspective of Smart Cultural Tourism—A Case Study of the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fuzhou City, China

In recent years, as living standards have improved, there has been an increasing demand for spiritual fulfillment. New leisure activities such as visiting exhibitions and urban exploration, as well as immersive tourism, are replacing traditional sightseeing tours. As lifestyles change, so do people’s consumption habits. Located in Fuzhou City, Three Lanes and Seven Alleys is known as “Manchu Architecture Museum” and “half of modern Chinese history”. In the digital age, Three Lanes and Seven Alleys keeps up with the wave of smart cultural travel. Through “Cuocuo Youyu” Mini Program, media facilities in the museum, it uses scientific and technological means to achieve multi-connectivity and enhance tourists’ sense of experience and interactive participation in visiting historical blocks. This paper starts with an analysis of the current digital development status and existing challenges faced by Three Lanes and Seven Alleys before delving into a study of strategies for activating this historical area.

Rooftop Exploration and the Creation of Alternative Spaces in St. Petersburg

ABSTRACT This article investigates the ways in which power relations structure urban public space and privilege certain behaviors, while marginalizing others, and how these structures are resisted by young people through the creation of alternative spaces on the city’s rooftops. It examines the activity of “roofing” in St. Petersburg, a popular youth-culture practice of urban exploration, investigating the factors that have enabled the widespread flourishing of this activity, despite its illegality. The article explores how the rooftops offer a distinctive realm for the youth in modern-day St. Petersburg to defy authority; reestablish their rights to the city; and counteract the escalating social, economic, and political control that has come to define Russia’s public sphere during Putin’s reign.

Právní aspekty URBEXu z pohledu vlastníka nemovitosti v kontextu českého práva

Urban Exploration (URBEX) is a relatively recent leisure activity that is directly related to the exploration of abandoned and unused objects and areas, collectively referred to as brownfields. This survey of modern ruins is conducted for private purposes only, for the purpose of photo-documentation or video-visualization and their sharing within the community or presentation to the public. Due to the fact that the properties visited in this way are owned by other entities and there is often a real risk of damage to property and health, it is necessary to identify those legal aspects of URBEX that normatively regulate the relationship of both parties concerned. The aim of this paper is to define, within the framework of Czech legal standards, the rights and obligations of the property owner, which flow for them in connection with the realization of URBEX on real estate that is his property.

About the published content on each section

About the published content on each section

Engineering the Travel Vlog: A Comparative Study of Travel and Adventure Content on TikTok in West and Douyin in China

This study investigates the differences in travel videos on China's new media platform Douyin and Western new media platform TikTok across multiple aspects. By analyzing a sample of 100 popular travel videos from each platform, the study identifies differences in thematic focus, production techniques, user interaction, and cultural and technological influences. Douyin emphasizes natural scenery and cultural heritage, reflecting Chinese cultural values, whereas TikTok focuses on urban exploration and modern attractions, aligning more with Western preferences for individualism and adventure. In terms of production techniques, Douyin travel influencers prefer using drones and stabilizers for high-quality footage, while TikTok travel influencers favor dynamic, fast-cut editing styles. User interaction on Douyin is community-driven and detailed, whereas on TikTok it is concise and trend-oriented. These findings highlight the roles of culture and technology in shaping content creation and consumption on both platforms, providing insights for content creators and marketers aiming to effectively promote travel on these platforms.

Hidden urban patterns: Existential discovery of urban patterns based on traffic and virtual space

Human mobility is the basis for shaping individual and social relationships. With the advancement of the digital age and smart cities, the use of mobile phone data and the location of users is considered an important tool for collecting urban data, which, due to its purity, can form the basis for studies on human mobility. The existing problem, the lack of proper identification and understanding of human mobility, is the most important factor in the design of the city. This problem is introduced as the starting point of the problems in the city because the beginning of the problems of urban life is related to the beginning of human mobility, and this is necessary for urban life. Therefore, the identification of the pattern of human mobility as urban exploration and the discovery of intra-urban relations play an important role. This study focuses on how traffic indicators and daily trips based on mobile phone data influence the formation of congested places based on human mobility. This mobility is determined based on the generated and recorded trips. The proposed pattern is based on real-time data.

Of Other Dreamlands: Vernacular Adaptation, Urban Exploration, and Alternative Spectacles in China's Abandoned Themed Spaces

AbstractThis article studies social meanings and practices emerging from two abandoned themed spaces in China: disused theme parks and mega‐event sites. Theme parks first appeared in the late 1980s–early 1990s, in the emerging leisure economy and society. In the 1990s–early 2000s, mega‐event urbanism became a driver of China's urban development and a strategy of national and international legitimacy. Since their abandonment and disuse by official owners, themed spaces have become ruinscapes where workers and visitors produce agency through rubble and ruination. These spaces constitute sites of vernacular occupation through farming, urban exploration, or wedding photography. Abandoned mega‐event sites create alternative spectacles of dereliction forming a critique of the original spectacle. Based on urban exploration as an ethnographic method and on fieldwork in Chinese abandoned themed spaces between 2015 and 2019, this article analyses the spatial and social dimensions of abandoned themed spaces in their afterlives as ruins and rubble.

Urban notes. Conscious and participatory drawing

Graphic representation in architecture has been drastically transformed with the arrival of new technologies. In this changing contemporary context, freehand drawing’s role and objectives are being reconsidered as an aesthetic goal and as a pedagogical process. The way we transform our urban spaces is also evolving, with increasingly participatory approaches that include diverse perspectives. In search of alternative, innovative learning methods, this article shows the results of Urban Notes, an elective community activity in which students, associations and neighbourhoods exchange ideas about the place through urban drawing. First, a theoretical background is proposed that supports Urban Notes use as a participatory urban exploration tool, and then recent experiments are described. The results reveal a new form of transdisciplinary learning for schools of architecture and urbanism.

Consumer-Driven Memorialization

Abstract Consumer research has focused on market-mediated efforts to memorialize the past, but this overshadows the issues that arise when consumers, as nonprofessionals, make the past consumable. Consumer-driven memorialization is defined as consumer engagement with traces of the past in memoryscapes of low market-mediation that creates a complex interplay of remembering and forgetting. Based on an ethnographic study of urban exploration, we theorize that consumer-driven memorialization comprises two practices of tracing and trace-making. Tracing involves consumer attempts to recover traces of the past, while trace-making involves consumer attempts to create traces for the future. Consumers enact multiple roles during consumer-driven memorialization: explorers experience the past, archaeologists materialize the past, artists aestheticize the past, and historians narrate the past. The theorization of consumer-driven memorialization offers three contributions. First, the dimensions of consumer-driven memorialization broaden understanding of what constitutes a consumable past in contexts of low market-mediation. Second, we explain how the ideological and material challenges that emerge in consumer-driven memorialization generate a complex interplay between remembering and forgetting. Third, we shed light on how consumer-driven memorialization is inscribed in space.

The integration of digital twin and serious game framework for new normal virtual urban exploration and social interaction

COVID-19 has disconnected humanity, reduced social interaction in physical urban areas, and led to the new normal, which describes the anticipated changes in human life and professionals due to the impact of the pandemic. In addition, as part of digital transformation, the post-pandemic New Normal includes accelerating digital solutions and new standards for virtual urban exploration and planning. This study applies the concept of digital twin and serious game design and uses Minecraft, a game-based platform that inspires creative, inclusive learning through play, for virtual urban exploration and the development of social interaction among participants. Dadaocheng, a historical area of Taipei city, is then studied as a case study with the Geoboxers application to develop the prototype for a co-creation experiment in Minecraft. The prototype development and the results of the experiment are then used in the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) method to evaluate a set of influential criteria proposed in this study through pairwise comparisons by expert panelists. The results of the AHP analysis reveal users' simultaneous preferences for urban planning and social interaction with urban characteristics (22.14%), urban exploration (12.29%), and 3D models (11.97%). Subsequently, the research results showed a need to promote the integration of digital twins and serious game applications as digital tools for urban exploration and social interaction, increasing post-pandemic virtual urban planning and applying new urban design techniques. This study also contributes to the acceleration of digital transformation in urban planning and management.

Former Soviet Military Bases in Poland and Latvia and the Development of Tourist Practices. Study of Selected Cases (Part 2)

The tourist practices those have been developed at the sites of selected former Soviet military bases in Poland (Borne Sulinowo, Kłomino, Pstrąże) and in Latvia (Skrunda1, Karosta in Liepāja, Daugavgrīva fortress) are considered in the submitted article. The catalogue of tourist practices presented in the text includes 1) the urban exploration movement, 2) creating new paths and exploring on foot, 3) establishing and visiting museums and quasi-museums, 4) reality shows with elements of performance, 5) organizing and participating in events – is intended to be open and selective. It contains only the type of practices based on using material military heritage and selected episodes from history to create unique products of tourism, such as the individual character of a site in the context of its past. The focus on tourist practices has been developed in different contexts – Polish and Latvian – illustrates how the post-Soviet material military heritage is used in each of these countries to serve new functions. It also sheds some light on whether (or how) tourist practices contribute to the ‘rehabilitation’ of bases and other post-military facilities in the eyes of the public, reveals the process of negotiating meaning within and in reference to these sites, and indicates how tourist practices affect the materiality of the place. The research has shown that diverse tourist practices are developed in de-militarized zones in both Poland and Latvia; specific patterns of tourist experience are formed there, which do not have anything in common with mass tourism. In any given case, it is the materiality of the post-military space that determines the type of tourist practices developing there. In the context of tourist practices, the material heritage of military bases is presented as something unusual and worth seeing. At the same time, however, military heritage is contemplated and experienced in a tranquil, safe environment, which makes the emerging images and experiences ‘sterilized’, and ultimately far removed from the dangers due to which these bases have been built. Thus, they are detached from their original functions and meanings. Nevertheless, the development of diverse tourist practices indicates that although the military heritage of former Soviet bases has its meaning in the present, it is still contested, ambivalent and inspiring slightly disturbing perceptions of both the past and the future.

Multi-Mode Surface Wave Tomography of a Water-Rich Layer of the Jizhong Depression Using Beamforming at a Dense Array

Urban structure imaging using noise-based techniques has rapidly developed in recent years. Given the complexity of the cross-correlation function in high-frequency signals, here, the beamforming (BF) method was used to analyze one data set taken from a dense array in the Jizhong Depression and obtain multi-mode dispersion curves. Multi-mode surface waves improved inversion stability, reduced non-uniqueness, and yielded a one-dimensional shear wave (S-wave) velocity model. Interpolation yielded a high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) S-wave velocity model for the study area. The model shows that velocity gradually changed in the horizontal direction and greatly increased in the vertical direction, which is largely consistent with changes in the sedimentary environment related to the continuous subsidence of the Jizhong Depression since the Quaternary. A low-velocity anomaly at a depth of ~300–400 m was revealed and determined to be caused by either a deep-buried ancient river course or low-lying area. This study demonstrates the potential of the BF method for processing dense array data sets of urban exploration. The high-resolution 3D S-wave velocity model provides a new reference for studying the Quaternary structure of the Jizhong Depression, as well as groundwater resources, urban infrastructure, and underground spaces.

Byłe sowieckie bazy wojskowe w Polsce i na Łotwie a rozwój praktyk turystycznych. Studium wybranych przypadków (część I)

The tourist practices those have been developed at the sites of selected former Soviet military bases in Poland (Borne Sulinowo, Kłomino, Pstrąże) and in Latvia (Skrunda‑1, Karosta in Liepāja, Daugavgrīva fortress) are considered in the submitted article. The catalogue of tourist practices presented in the text includes 1) the urban exploration movement, 2) creating new paths and exploring on foot, 3) establishing and visiting museums and quasi-museums, 4) reality shows those include elements of performance, 5) organising and participating in events – was intended to be open and selective. It only includes the type of practices based on using material military heritage and selected episodes from history to create unique products of tourism, such as the individual character of a site in the context of its past. The focus on tourist practices has been developed in different contexts – Polish and Latvian – illustrates how the post-Soviet material military heritage is used in each of these countries to serve new functions. It also sheds some light on whether (or how) tourist practices contribute to the ‘rehabilitation’ of bases and other post-military facilities in the eyes of the public, reveals the process of negotiating meaning within and in reference to these sites, and indicates how tourist practices affect the materiality of the place. The research has shown that diverse tourist practices are developed in de-militarized zones in both Poland and Latvia; specific patterns of tourist experience are formed there, which do not have anything in common with mass tourism. In any given case, it is the materiality of the post-military space that determines the type of tourist practices developing there. In the context of tourist practices, the material heritage of military bases is presented as something unusual and worth seeing. At the same time, however, military heritage is contemplated and experienced in a tranquil, safe environment, which makes the emerging images and experiences ‘sterilised’, and ultimately far removed from the dangers due to which these bases have been built. Thus, they are detached from their original functions and meanings. Nevertheless, the development of diverse tourist practices indicates that although the military heritage of former Soviet bases has its meaning in the present, it is still contested, ambivalent and inspiring slightly disturbing perceptions of both the past and the future.

“Urbex and Urban Space”: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Urbex – from urban exploration – is a leisure activity that involves scouting abandoned and/or neglected infrastructure with the aim of touring and sometimes photographing it. Alongside its expansion since 2005, this practice has garnered increasing interest from the academic community thanks to the democratisation of digital photography and social media. My purpose here is to provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific literature on this practice over the past fifteen years, since, to my knowledge, such a study has yet to be conducted or published. I will perform a scoping review and a bibliometric analysis of the fifty-one papers I sourced that deal with “urbex and urban space”. An examination of the formal and fundamental frameworks provided by academic studies, together with an analysis of what these papers bring to this subject, will provide new avenues for research. These avenues are both methodological – inviting researchers to make use of specific tools and turn their attention to specific spaces and groups of people – and theoretical, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary studies and a rethinking of theoretical prisms. Finally, I would like to underscore the importance of urbex for academic study as a means of better understanding cities, urban spaces, and urban societies.

Exploring the Design of a Mixed-Reality 3D Minimap to Enhance Pedestrian Satisfaction in Urban Exploratory Navigation

The development of ubiquitous computing technology and the emergence of XR could provide pedestrian navigation with more options for user interfaces and interactions. In this work, we aim investigate the role of a mixed-reality map interface in urban exploration to enhance pedestrians’ mental satisfaction. We propose a mixed-reality 3D minimap as a part of the navigation interface which pedestrians could refer to and interact during urban exploration. To further explore the different levels of detail of the map interface, we conducted a user study (n = 28, two groups with two tasks). We designed two exploratory activities as experimental tasks with two map modes (a normal one and a simplified one) to discuss the detailed design of the minimap interface. The results indicated that participants showed a positive attitude toward our method. The simplified map mode could result in a lower perceived workload in both tasks while enhancing performance in specific navigation, such as wayfinding. However, we also found that pedestrians’ preference for the level of detail of the minimap interface is dynamic in navigation. Thus, we suggest discussing the different levels of detail further in specific scenarios. Finally, we also summarize some findings observed during user study for inspiring the study of virtual map interface of future mixed-reality navigation for urban exploration in various scenarios.

Blubilds – drawing diagrammatic stains

This project adopts the concept of a dance diagram such as Andy Warhol’s Fox Trot (1962) introduced by Rosalind Krauss in her writing on the relationship of material forces in a diagrammatic structure to create a model of notation with actions and objects derived from Edgelands. Coined by Marion Shoard, Edgelands are post-industrial cityscapes, a typology of abandon, dereliction and decay. Shoard notes these sites are characterized by creative cultural practices of photography and graffiti; urban explorers, parkour. My Blubilds project aimed to challenge these cultural practices of parkour and graffiti to provoke new engagement in those sites. To this end, I apply the concept of Rosalind Krauss’s resistant diagram and gravity I adapted from Formless: A User’s Guide (). Gravity is a force of undoing to remake spaces – and I draw with my body and equipment to facilitate gravity within a dance diagram to create a new space. This contrasts the cultural practices such as Graffiti and parkour and breaks with those existing activities to tag, mark and leave a new trace in Edgelands. Blubilds draw a live embodied diagram, based on the movement patterns found in Edgeland sites, since ‘action’ is to draw a line with the body. Tim Ingold’s approach to drawing informs my perspective that lines of movement that draw (in) place engage with the lived narratives of those places. Ingold suggests that the narratives that make place are created by entangled lines created by movement; furthermore, to ‘draw out’ – as in Douglas phrase – suggests that drawing in place ‘draws-out’ new spaces. Blue is emblematic as a nod to Krauss’s ‘rude noise, the blueprint and the acts of Graffiti’, it becomes Blubilds – a dynamic diagrammatic stain.

Practical factors affecting the application of interactive environmental panorama art in diverse urban exploration: A case study of San Francisco

When touring multicultural cities, planning everything out in advance can enrich the visiting experience. Advances in the internet and computer graphics technology have resulted in the trend of using virtual tourism for trip planning. However, the mere presentation of virtual street views of a geographical location does not highlight its cultural elements and characteristics. The lack of imaginative space and extensive guidance result in the lack of aesthetic artistic visual stimulation and interest. Accordingly, this study developed a novel experience model and an experimental platform where images with panoramic oil painting art styles were used to provide participants with interactive tours that presented different cultural characteristics and elements. This platform enabled the re-creation of crucial scenic urban spots in spherical, panoramic, and three-dimensional spaces, which allowed the participants to explore and experience these spots, aroused their interest, and stimulated their senses. Moreover, timelines were used and the beauty of visual art was highlighted to achieve efficient virtual tourism. A total of 100 students were invited to experience the designed virtual tourism system and fill out questionnaires. After the participants operated the system, statistical analyses were conducted to determine the categories of and the factors that influenced participant assessment. The categories of participant assessment were assessment based on design elements, subjective assessment based on feelings, assessment based on multicultural exploration, and assessment based on system improvement expectations. Moreover, the eight factors influencing participant assessment were immersive presence, ease of use, connectivity of diverse cultures, content appealing, visual pleasure, interesting graphic design, adaptive UI, and UI affordance. A modular design model was used to perform project analyses, design relevant items, and assess the participants’ experiences when visiting multicultural scenic spots. On the basis of the aforementioned steps, conclusions were drawn, and system design recommendations are proposed for platforms offering multicultural experiences.

Looking behind the scenes at dark tourism: a comparison between academic publications and user-generated-content using natural language processing

ABSTRACT Although scholars have discussed the topic of dark tourism from various angles, little is known from tourists’ perspectives. Thus, it remains largely unanswered whether the research agendas in the field of dark tourism also correspond to the reality of tourism or whether relevant topics remain unaddressed. This study uses natural language processing approaches to uncover the differences and similarities in knowledge between tourists and researchers based on academic publications and Instagram posts. The results provide insights into underexplored tourist experiences at various dark places, such as Vienna, Philadelphia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic. The findings also uncover activities rarely considered as a form of dark tourism, such as urban exploration and ghost hunting. By highlighting the differences in perceptions between scholars and tourists, this study points to future research directions and offers insights into what interests tourists to various stakeholders.

The empty city: COVID-19 and the apocalyptic imagination

The year 2020 was accompanied by a new apocalyptic zeitgeist. After the COVID-19 pandemic shattered lifeworlds in many societies around the world, it seemed easy to imagine it to be the end of the world. No image was more evocative of this moment than that of the empty city. Due to the various lockdowns implemented in numerous countries, images of empty cities spread across the media. This paper investigates this image by emphasising the political implications of the apocalyptic imagination. By focusing on those who remain in the public space after the city was emptied, this paper questions whether the image of the empty city simply fuels the fantasies of ‘urban exploration’, as critiques have stated, or if it, rather, paves the way for an open view of the inequalities produced by urban societies today. Therefore, the paper stresses that the remaining people we see in the images of emptied public spaces are mainly those who either have no home to stay inside or work for those who stay inside. Subsequently, it investigates the particular qualities of public spaces pictured during the lockdowns. Imagining cities as empty has been vehemently criticised through the notion of ‘ruin porn’. In contrast to this critique, the paper emphasises that the image of the empty city allows us to see the city with ‘inhuman’ eyes, which leads to a shift in perspective through recognising how little public space is still available when it no longer functions under the imperative of the pre-pandemic status quo. In concluding, the paper reflects on the subversive, or ‘emancipatory’, potential of witnessing the urban void opened up by the pandemic.