The influence of visual and auditory environments in parks on visitors' landscape preference, emotional state, and perceived restorativeness

This study investigated the integrated effects of visual and auditory environments in urban parks on visitors' perceived restorativeness, emotional states, and landscape preferences. Using a survey of 861 visitors in five Chinese urban parks and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the research revealed that most natural visual and auditory factors directly benefit perceived restorativeness, emotional state, and preference. Specific features like trees and water sounds indirectly impact restoration through preference and emotion mediation. Moderating effects of landscape features and sound types on emotion and perceived restorativeness were also observed. Bird songs, particularly, showed a significant positive relationship with all three outcome variables, closely tied to acoustic quality indicators. These findings offer valuable insights for urban park design.

Wenbo Li, Yang Liu