title: Does awareness effect the restorative function and perception of street trees?
abstract: Urban streetscapes are outdoor areas in which the general public can appreciate green landscapes and engage in outdoor activities along the street. This study tested the extent to which the degree of awareness of urban street trees impacts attention restoration and perceived restorativeness. We manipulated the degree of awareness of street trees. Participants were placed into four groups and shown different images: (a) streetscapes with absolutely no trees; (b) streetscapes with flashes of trees in which participants had minimal awareness of the content; (c) streetscapes with trees; and (d) streetscapes with trees to which participants were told to pay attention. We compared the performance of 138 individuals on measures of attention and their evaluations of perceived restorativeness. Two main findings emerged. First, streetscapes with trees improved the performance of participants on attentional tests even without their awareness of the trees. Second, participants who had raised awareness of street trees performed best on the attentional test and rated the streetscapes as being more restorative. These findings enhance our knowledge about the role of an individual's awareness of restorative elements and have implications for designers and individuals who are at risk of attentional fatigue.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Healthy Landscape and Healthy People, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ying-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Landscape Section, Urban and Rural Development Bureau, Taoyuan County Government Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL, USA.
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Program of Landscape and Recreation, National Chung Hsing University Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Po-Ju
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Healthy Landscape and Healthy People, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chang
keywords: DSBT; attention restoration; manipulation on awareness degree; perceived restorativeness