Perceptual difference of urban public spaces between design professionals and ‘laypersons’: Evidence, health implications and ready-made urban design templates

Urban Public Spaces (UPS) are important arenas for human interaction and social activities, and ensuring their quality and functionality is crucial for a successful urban design with public health benefits. However, mostly for insufficient public participation, user experiences of UPS are usually not what the designers were expecting. Therefore, the urgent need to investigate the difference in UPS perception between design professionals and ‘laypersons’, that is, non-professional users, has been increasingly highlighted. In this paper, we utilize Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) and physiological measurement tools to obtain empirical observations on the psychological and physiological responses, as well as environmental preferences on UPS of the two groups, compare their perceptual similarities and differences, and consequently analyze the influencing factors and potential mechanisms. We find that the environmental perception of the two groups do differ, with design professionals showing a higher degree of ‘intolerance’ in the quality rating of UPS, and being more sensitive to scene features related to necessary than spontaneous and social activities. The findings reveal structural differences for the two groups in the mechanisms by which environmental features trigger perceptual differences, thus providing new support for designers to prepare ready-made UPS design templates that are evidence-based.