Page 44 - JCAU-6-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Utilization of rural heritage

Figure 2. Schematic of GVI, SVI, R&PVI, and CVI extraction for panoramic images of the sample site, taking SP 11 and SP15 as examples. Source: Photos
and drawings by the authors

These two indicators reflect the extent to which artificial such as loud noises, the measurements would be restarted
structures have replaced the natural environment and the accordingly. Finally, 156 stress data points from tourists
intensity of anthropogenic activities. were collected (Figure 4).
The visual environment data obtained from the In the third phase, physical environmental data
panoramic photographs are presented in Figure 3, collection of the SP was performed. The Kestrel NK-5500
illustrating the calculation results. The average values of handheld meteorological instrument (Nielsen-Kellerman,
the visual environment data for all SPs in Jinggang’s public USA) (precision: T ≤ ±1°C, WS ≤ ±0.1 m/s, RH ≤ ±3%)
a
space follow the order of magnitude: CVI > GVI > R&PVI was used to measure and record T , RH, and average
a
> SVI. Thus, it is evident that humanistic architectural WS. The AWA6228 multifunction sound level meter
landscapes dominate Jinggang historic town, with natural (noise analyzer) (Aihua, China) was used to measure and
landscapes serving as supplementary elements. record the equivalent sound pressure level (ESPL). The
In the second phase of the study, stress data of tourists measurements were conducted from September 15 to 25,
at the sample sites were collected. In psychology, stress 2023, during early fall in Jingang. Conditions during this
refers to the perception of mental constraints and tensions, period included clear skies, suitable temperatures, reduced
with stress being used to characterize changes in subjects’ precipitation, low cloud cover, and a moderate number
subconscious cognitions and emotions. Higher test values of tourists. To eliminate the influence of meteorological
indicate greater perceived constraints and tensions within factors, measurements were exclusively taken on sunny
a given space, emphasizing the need for space optimization days. While one of the authors collected LS data from
(Grahn & Stigsdotter, 2004). The TruRelax technology tourists, another author performed the measurement of
™
integrated into Huawei Bracelet 8 (Huawei, China) enables T , RH, WS, and ESPL using the handheld meteorological
a
real-time heart rate variability monitoring, facilitating instrument and sound level meter, acquiring 156 sets of
stress assessment (Huawei, 2023a). The measured data are physical environment data (Figure 5).
used to characterize the level of stress (LS) in the study. The In the fourth phase of this study, data analysis was
specific steps were as follows: Six tourists were randomly conducted as follows:
selected from the sample sites. First, the participants were (i) The average value of each spatial data was calculated
informed about their involvement in a survey on spatial for each SP. To eliminate the influence of scale on the
environmental perception to alleviate any nervousness. data, data standardization was performed.
Second, to minimize errors resulting from prior physical (ii) LS, T , RH, ESPL, WS, GVI, SVI, R&PVI, and CVI
a
activities and enhance experimental efficiency, the tourists were considered as variables, and Pearson correlation
were instructed to pause and appreciate the landscape for analyses were used to investigate their correlation.
at least 3 min before starting the experiment. Subsequently, The correlation coefficient (γ) was used to indicate the
they were provided with Huawei Bracelet 8 devices and wore strength of the correlation (Encalada et al., 2017).
them during the study. After calibrating using the Huawei (iii) Considering the potential for high multicollinearity
Health app, the pressure values in the current environment (Berry & Feldman, 1985), variables with γ < −0.85 or γ >
were recorded. In case of sudden environmental changes, 0.85 were subject to careful examination. The variance

Volume 6 Issue 3 (2024) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.2481