Effects of public space recreational service configurations on psychophysiological restoration: A virtual experiment

Urban public spaces are increasingly recognized as important settings for psychophysiological restoration, which refers to recovery from stress as reflected in changes in psychological states and physiological responses. However, existing research has focused mainly on individual dimensions of recreational environment, recreational facilities, or management services, whereas multidimensional configurations of public space recreational service (PSRS) remain insufficiently examined. Using a typical community park recreational zone in Shanghai as the prototype, 28 PSRS configuration scenarios were constructed. A total of 210 participants were included, and physiological measures of cardiac activity, skin conductance, and brain activity were collected, together with self-reported positive and negative affect and ratings of how restorative each scenario was. Linear mixed models showed that psychophysiological restoration responses differed across PSRS configuration scenarios. Within the tested range, greater water coverage was consistently associated with brain activity indicative of greater relaxation, greater improvement in positive affect, and higher ratings of how restorative the scenarios were. The proportion of greenery visible at eye level and the proportion of activity space showed different directions of association across restoration outcomes. Correlation analysis identified weak but statistically significant correlations between greater improvements in positive affect and more favorable heart rate variability responses, and between greater reductions in negative affect and greater reductions in skin conductance. These findings indicate that PSRS configurations are associated with different psychophysiological restoration outcomes, providing preliminary empirical evidence to inform restoration-oriented design and management of community park recreational zones.