PhD defence: Peng Ding

Study sites with various combinations of spatial characteristics were selected to include different spatial and visual relationships between public playgrounds and their surrounding public spaces for public life. An on-site survey using a questionnaire and public life observation using a digital camera were conducted to collect data on people’s public life at the study sites. The collected data was quantitatively analysed to determine whether adults’ sensory experience of playing children is pleasant, and to assess the different degrees of adults’ sensory attention toward playing children at study sites with different spatial characteristics. The collected data was also spatially analysed to make reasonable explanations concerning the different degrees of adults’ sensory attention at different study sites by openly involving various influence factors. This was an effort to explore a true picture of people’s passive experience of public life in urban public spaces.

Overall, this study concluded that playing children overwhelmingly create a pleasant experience for adults in the studied urban public spaces. Besides the spatial characteristics of urban public spaces, several non-spatial influence factors can also explain different degrees of adults’ sensory attention toward playing children in the studied urban public spaces.

The exploration of adults’ sensory experience of and sensory attention toward playing children can help us understand people’s passive experience of public life in urban public spaces. This understanding could provide insights for urban designers, urban planners, and city authorities, who seek to improve the quality of public life in the regeneration of urban public spaces.