The Impacts of Perception Criteria on Aesthetic Response to Urban Streets: A Case Study in Downtown Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

Man-environment relations- more specifically the aesthetic response of people to certain qualities of their environment- is a significant research area for urban design, as such studies provide for a solid ground for urban design criteria. The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception criteria that have greater impact for satisfactory streets. For this, a web-based 'virtual tour' was used to elicit response to scenes of three urban streets in downtown Ankara, Turkey; each one exhibiting a range of different characteristics. The 70 subjects who participated in the study were selected from undergraduate student population. Our analysis resulted in categorizing variables of perception according to their relationship with aesthetic response to urban streets and to find out criteria that mostly effect sense of aesthetics toward urban streets. Findings of the study are significant as they can show urban planners and designers criteria for designing streets to reinforce the satisfaction derived from urban streets.

Keywords

• Street,Aesthetic Response,Perception Criteria

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