The impact of urban façade quality on affective feelings

Abstract

Purpose: Much of the current literature on streetscape design emphasizes a need for well-articulated edge conditions to enhance pedestrian-orientation and the reason appears to lie in evolutionary biology: humans have a psychological preference for wall-hugging due to a well-established trait in other species: thigmotaxis. Design/methodology/approach: This study seeks to explore the relationship between urban facades and affective feelings through an empirical study, which asks: how do people perceive edge conditions in urban environments? Through a study of affect relative to edge conditions, greater insight can be generated as to the human experience in the built environment. We conducted a laboratory experiment with 76 subjects who each viewed 40 images of urban facades and rated each based on their emotional reaction. Findings: Each subject also completed two validated individual trait difference measures. We found that those images depicting thigmotaxic facades were more highly rated than other facades. Originality/value: High quality edge environment resulted in people feeling more pleasant than low quality edges.