Spatial Orientation of Visualization and Street Preference

Description: Urban planners and designers seek feedback from the public on plans before implementing them. The feedback should help create places that users like. This study sought to find out if the form of the representation (plan vs. elevation) affected public reaction to plan. Research suggests that the form of representation can affect what people's understanding and preference for a space. For street design, the study sought to find out if the display form affected preference for walkable versus car-oriented designs. I expected that people would more likely prefer a walkable street to car-oriented designs. I expected that people would more likely prefer a walkable to street to car-oriented street if presented at eye-level rather than bird's-eye view. Using Qualtrics, I conducted an online survey of 149 individuals ages 18-60. Qualtrics assigned them at random to either bird's eye views, eye-level views, or both views. The survey had them use a sliding scale to show preference between each of three pairs of walkable and car-oriented street designs. Qualtrics randomized the other of the streets across participants. I used a repeated measure analysis of variance with representation (eye-level vs. bit0eye view) and the two kings of streets (walkable vs. car-oriented) was the between subject variable. The analyses agreed in part with my expectations, and suggested ways to reduce bias in gauging public reactions to plans.