Scale Development for Environmental Perception of Public Space

Field experiment on the effect of musical street performance/busking on public space perception as mediated by street audience experience

Street performance or busking is common in public spaces. The literature highlights two psychological issues: the effect of street performance on public space perception and the complexity of the appreciation of street performance, regarded as street audience experience (SAE). The present study aims at verifying the effect of street performance on public space perception, while examining SAE as a mediator of this effect. We conducted a between-subjects field experiment (a quasi-experiment; N = 292) in Hong Kong. Participants assessed a public space without (control) or with (experimental) musical busking on essentialism, anti-essentialism, sonic restorativeness, and overall liking. In the experimental condition, unengaged passersby and engaged audience further evaluated SAE factors of emotion, intellect, novelty, place, interaction, and technique, and outcomes of overall satisfaction and donation worth. The public space with busking was perceived as significantly more sonically restorative. Engaged audience perceived the space as significantly more essentialist, anti-essentialist, sonically restorative, and likeable. Engaged audience also experienced more positive SAE and outcome variables. SAE fully mediated the effects of street performance on public space perception and outcome variables, respectively. These findings support the positive impact of street performance, which may enhance city inhabitants' well-being.

Status of age-friendly city indicators in Iran cities: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

The global phenomena of an increasing older population within the total population and the rise in urban older residents have prompted numerous studies on the indicators of an age-friendly city in various Iranian cities. The insights obtained from these studies can aid policymakers in promoting social justice for older adults. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the status of age-friendly city indicators across different cities in Iran.

METHOD/DESIGN

A systematic review was conducted by searching for studies in Persian and English databases until March 2024, including Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect, using keywords such as "age-friendly", "elderly-friendly", "cities", "older adults", "aging", "elderly", "indicators", "components", "criteria", "features", "characteristics", "indexes", "Iran", and "urban space", along with their MeSH equivalents, employing "AND" and "OR" operators. Additionally, Persian databases such as Magiran and SID were extensively searched using keywords like "elderly-friendly", "city", "urban spaces", "Iran", "indicators", "components", "features", and "criteria". The references of the final articles were also examined to ensure search accuracy. The results from the studies on the indicators of an age-friendly city were reviewed, summarized, and ultimately reported.

RESULTS

The initial search yielded 2857 articles, of which 34 were included in the systematic review. Only two studies addressed the indicators based on the needs of the older adults, with the majority reporting unfavorable urban conditions for the older adults. Despite these unfavorable conditions, the index of open spaces and buildings received the highest rank among the examined indicators. However, two indicators-respect for older adults, social acceptance, civic participation, and employment- did not perform well in any study.

CONCLUSION

The findings indicated that Iran failed to meet the required standards for age-friendly cities. Therefore, it is recommended that policymakers in the field of geriatric health take measures to identify and mitigate environmental risk factors for older adults.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This systematic review was registered on the Prospero database with the number CRD42023475657 on date 8 November 2023.

Differentiating busking from begging: A psychological approach

Despite the research support that street performance is generally a beneficial element to public space, the legitimacy of street performance remains controversial. One critical issue is that busking is often confused with begging. With a psychological perspective, the present research examines the distinction of busking from begging. Two studies approached the problem from the viewpoints of street performers and passersby, respectively. Study 1 (N = 188) surveyed street performers on their reasons for street performance and reasons for why donations to street performance should be acceptable. The respondents could articulate various features of street performance along which busking could be similar to and yet distinguishable from begging. Study 2 (N = 189) experimentally compared busking and begging in how they could affect people's perception of public space. Relative to public space with begging, public space with busking was perceived as significantly more comforting, more active, less prone to crimes, and overall more likeable. These descriptive (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) findings help to clarify the difference between busking and begging: Street performance is not merely an act of soliciting donations in public space, but it also possesses artistic and entertaining qualities that can in turn make public space more favorable. The current findings can inform the policy making and regulations of street performance. Moreover, since the present research was conducted in Hong Kong, it contributes a cultural perspective to the literature on street performance.

Effect of Street Performance (Busking) on the Environmental Perception of Public Space

This is the first experimental study testing the effect of street performance (aka busking) on the subjective environmental perception of public space. It is generally believed that street performance can enhance people’s experience of public space, but studies advocating such a view have not used a control group to explicitly verify the effect of street performance. In response to this methodological limitation, we conducted two studies using experimental design. Study 1 (N = 748) was an online computer-based study where research participants evaluated the extent to which the presence vs. absence of street performance could change their perception of public space. Study 2 (N = 162) was a between-group quasi-experiment in an actual public space where people physically present in the space evaluated the perception of the space with vs. without street performance. Overall, we found converging results that street performance could make public space more visitable, more restorative, and more preferable. The current findings not only fill in a gap in the literature on street performance, but they also inform the policy making and regulations of street performance.