Anna Conniff

The Application of Visual Environmental Economics in the Study of Public Preference and Urban Greenspace

Urban greenspace has consistently been argued to be of great importance to the wellbeing, health, and daily lives of residents and users. This paper reports results from a study that combined the visualisation of public results from a study that combined the visualisation of public greenspace with environmental economics, and that aimed to develop a method by which realistic computer models of sites could be used within preference studies. As part of a methodology that employed contingent rating to establish the values placed on specific greenspace sites, three-dimensional computer models were used to produce visualisations of particular environmental conditions. Of particular importance to the study was the influence of variables including lighting, season, time of day, and weather on the perception of respondents. This study followed previous work that established a suitable approach to the modelling and testing of entirely moveable physical variables within the built environment. As such, the study has established firmly that computer-generated visualisations are appropriate for use within environmental economic surveys, and that there is potential for a holistic range of attributes to be included in such studies.

Walking participants through a virtual model: how we got there and its implications

Keywords Cognition x Perception x Desktop virtual environments x Active navigation vs. passive observation Background to project In the context of urban redesign and public participation, this research aims to establish what differences are afforded between active navigation of a desktop computer model of the built environment, compared to passive observation of a walkthrough of that same model. The motivation for the research is to establish an improved method for architects and urban designers seeking to convey design ideas to their audience. Findings from the research literature on whether active navigation of desktop virtual environments offers advantages over passive observation are equivocal in many areas. For example, there are contradictory findings in relation to wayfinding, spatial orientation and scene recognition (e.g. Wilson 1999; Christou and Bulthoff 1999; Gaunet et al. 2001). However, there is greater agreement on the issue of memory for spatial layout, with researchers confirming that this is enhanced with active navigation compared to passive observation (e.g. Brooks et al. 1999; Foreman et al. 2005). Within architecture, there is evidence to suggest that the presentation of moving images (in, for example, a walkthrough) does lead to better understanding of design proposals, but at present the viewer is precisely that, a viewer of a predetermined display. In the research described here we have incorporated 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) models into a computer game engine in order to give people the ability to actively navigate themselves through an architectural model that would previously only have been accessible to them in the form of a predetermined walkthrough. We designed a between subjects experiment to

Development of a virtual heritage model to enable a comparison of active navigation with passive observation

In the context of urban redesign and public participation, this research project is investigating whether active exploration of a desktop virtual model of an urban environment leads to better understanding and perception than passive observation of a walkthrough of that same model. The results from the experimental study will potentially have implications for how architects and planners present their design ideas to clients and the public in the future. This paper also provides an overview of a methodology used to design, programme and enable a fully interactive virtual model of an existing built environment using the unreal runtime engine. The method emerged from a study of heritage values within the built environment, which included an assessment of the heritage values associated with the tradition of timber grass-roofed buildings and narrow passageways that make up the old town centre of Torshavn known as Tinganes

The Influences of Actual and Perceived Familiarity on Environmental Preferences for the Design of a Proposed Urban Square

People gain actual familiarity through direct experience of environments, but environments we have never visited can still seem familiar. To date, few academic studies have investigated this phenomenon of perceived familiarity. This paper discusses the concept of perceived familiarity and environmental preference from the perspective of people who may be asked to make judgements of future urban designs as part of the planning process. A sample of local and nonlocal people were asked to rate images of two versions (existing environment and proposed redesign) of an urban square on scales of preference and perceived familiarity. Results showed that the mean ratings for the proposed design were similar for both local and non-local samples. However, we found a clearly discernible difference in the way psychological antecedents are associated with environmental preference. For nonlocals, preference for the existing design is significantly associated with preference for the proposed design, but for local people this is not the case. In addition, for non-locals perceived familiarity of the proposed design is associated with perceived familiarity of the existing environment, but for the local sample this is not the case. Implications for public participation processes in urban design, as well as limitations and future lines of research, are discussed.