The impact of urban façade quality on affective feelings

Purpose Much of the current literature on streetscape design emphasizes a need for well-articulated edge conditions to enhance pedestrian-orientation and the reason appears to lie in evolutionary biology: humans have a psychological preference for wall-hugging due to a well-established trait in other species: thigmotaxis. Design/methodology/approach This study seeks to explore the relationship between urban facades and affective feelings through an empirical study, which asks: how do people perceive edge conditions in urban environments? Through a study of affect relative to edge conditions, greater insight can be generated as to the human experience in the built environment. We conducted a laboratory experiment with 76 subjects who each viewed 40 images of urban facades and rated each based on their emotional reaction. Findings Each subject also completed two validated individual trait difference measures. We found that those images depicting thigmotaxic facades were more highly rated than other facades. Originality/value High quality edge environment resulted in people feeling more pleasant than low quality edges.