The Influence of the Environmental Factors on Pedestrians’ Emotional Affectivity in the Chang-dong Subway Station Commercial District

Abstract

This study aims to identify the environmental factors that influence pedestrians’ preference for street settings. For this study, the commercial district in the Chang-dong Subway Station area was selected. This mixed-method studyused observation, semi-structured interview, and survey for data collection for which a random sample of 210 participantswas used, including merchants and passersby who had visited the Exit 1 area. Semi-structured interviews were conductedover a 17-day period, from March 30, 2017 to April 15, 2017. Multiple on-site observations were done on different times,weekdays, and weekends. First, six paths were determined based on short survey and image data collected at the site, andthen, three of the six paths were selected for observation: labeled ‘Path 1’ was the route towards the town bus stop, ‘Path3’ was the area where pubs and restaurants were located, and ‘Path 6’ was the main route commuters take. The data werecategorized by gender, age, and merchant/resident status. The factor analysis was conducted according to the emotionalaffectivity keywords named with three factors: Atmospheric Domain, Aesthetic Domain, Volumetric Domain. The analyzeddata were compared with the use rate according to the general characteristics and the walking route with 17 pairs ofpositive and negative keywords of emotional affectivity. In the findings, the correlation between ‘Atmospheric D.’ and‘Aesthetic D.’ appeared very high among the factors. The correlation value of each walkway was the highest in the town busdistance (r= .933, p <.001). In conclusion, the emotional affectivity evaluation method of pedestrians derived from thisresearch would be provided a foundation data that can have a substantial impact on the design stage for urban regeneration.