1 Introduction
Analogous to “green spaces” in discussions of environmental health and therapeutic landscapes, blue spaces were described as “health-enabling places and spaces, where water is at the center of a range of environments with identifiable potential for promoting human well-being”
[1]. Recent studies have increasingly highlighted the therapeutic benefits of blue spaces, demonstrating a positive correlation between coastal proximity and indicators of general health, mental well-being, and physical activity
[2–
4]. Moreover, experimental research on natural and built environments consistently identifies coastal urban spaces as among the most preferred locations for relaxation
[5], which additionally are highly valued by local residents for enhancing both individual and family well-being
[6].
While various theories help explain the relationship between coastal urban spaces, health, and well-being, the Attention Restoration Theory (ART)
[7] provides a particularly effective framework for understanding this connection. The ART posits that natural environments can alleviate urban stress and facilitate recovery from mental fatigue caused by information overload, environmental stressors, and high ambient noise levels in urban settings
[7–
9]. Empirical evidence suggests that, among different natural environments, coastal visits are associated with the highest levels of psychological restoration
[10]. Beyond visual aesthetics, the soundscape plays a significant role in sensory perception at the coast
[11]. The term “soundscape” refers to the aural environment as it is perceived, experienced, and interpreted by individuals in a given context
[12]. Unlike traditional perspectives that frame environmental sounds primarily in terms of noise pollution (e.g., traffic noise), soundscapes are increasingly recognized as valuable environmental resources that contribute to well-being. Perceived soundscape restorativeness (PSR) has emerged as an important area of study
[13], highlighting the role of sound environments in promoting mental health.
Based on the four theoretical components that characterize a restorative environment as outlined in ART—Fascination, Being-away (including Being-away-to and Being-away-from), Compatibility, and Extent (including Coherence and Scope)—the Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS) was developed to assess psychological restoration within a soundscape context
[14]. According to PRSS evaluations based on these theoretical components, the dominance of natural sounds has been found to have stronger restorative effects
[15–
16]. PSR is associated with a “high-quality” sound environment, a concept that has been explored through various soundscape descriptors to understand which overall soundscape evaluations may have restorative effects. In addition to soundscape research, sound characteristics have increasingly been recognized as crucial elements that can affect the therapeutic potential of various environments
[17–
18]. A recent study conducted in coastal environments found that both perceived holistic soundscapes and sound types influence restorativeness across emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions
[19]. However, restorative environments differ in the levels of each component
[14], which in turn affects the overall PSR of the environment. The influence of sound characteristics on each PRSS component in coastal environments remains underexplored.
The therapeutic significance and multidimensional experiences associated with coastal urban spaces underscore the need to enhance or promote their restorative capacity. However, this goal is often contested by different visitor groups with varying interests. Moreover, focusing on well-being presents challenges in explaining and measuring the perception of subjective experiences, which may differ significantly among individuals
[20–
21]. Although recent research has systematically examined the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on the PSR in urban green spaces
[22–
24], there has been limited consideration of how sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics interact and influence the PSR in coastal urban spaces.
Therefore, this study emphasizes that the PSR of an environment is influenced by individuals’ perceptions of the PRSS components, and empirically investigates the PSR in coastal urban spaces through an in situ survey conducted in a coastal environment, addressing two primary research questions: 1) Are there differences in PSR with respect to the theoretical components among individuals and sound characteristics? And 2) how do sociodemographic characteristics, behavioral patterns, dominant sounds, and holistic soundscape evaluations influence the PSR of coastal urban spaces across theoretical components?
2 Methodology
2.1 Study Area
Dalian, a livable city situated along China’s northern coastline, has been renowned for its coast. A sea-fronting area in the city was selected as the study area, which is typical of coastal urban spaces found in China and other Asian countries, encompassing a central square and its surrounding recreational open spaces. The environmental advantages of coastal landscapes have made it a highly popular destination for recreation. The study area has complex soundscape, incorporating natural, anthropogenic, and mechanical sounds
[25].
Regarding the environmental advantages of landscapes in the coastal zone
[26], the study area also has the best climate conditions compared to other coastal areas in the city. Furthermore, surrounded by open spaces, mountains and water bodies, it has become a highly popular destination for recreation.
2.2 Questionnaire Design
Based on the research questions, the field questionnaire was structured into five sections: sociodemographic information, behavioral patterns (i.e., visit purpose, frequency, activity intensity, and duration), identification of dominant sounds, holistic soundscape evaluation, and PRSS responses.
The standard for soundscapes by International Organization for Standardization has emphasized that evaluating a sound environment requires the identification of individual sounds, where the identification of subjectively dominant sounds plays a crucial role in improving a given soundscape
[27]. Therefore, the section of identification of dominant sounds was structured to address two key aspects: the types of sounds that can be heard and the perceived dominance of these sounds
[28]. Each respondent was asked to report the three most prominent sound sources they perceived in the coastal environment in the dominance order.
The section of holistic soundscape evaluation included questions on sound appropriateness, subjective loudness, and acoustic comfort, using a five-point scale
[29–
30] with 1 represents highly negative response and 5 represents highly positive response
①. The inclusion of these soundscape descriptors as indicators for holistic soundscape evaluation was based on two primary reasons: 1) sound appropriateness, subjective loudness, and acoustic comfort provide more objective and accurate measures of perceptual attributes compared with other sound affective quality indicators, and 2) these descriptors are more comprehensible to a broader range of interviewees, regardless of their occupation or educational background, allowing for more effective and reliable responses.
① To maintain consistency in scoring, responses to negatively framed items were adjusted so that higher PRSS scores consistently indicated a more positive restorative experience before data analysis.
The last section was designed to assess residents’ PSR by measuring all “FACE” components: Fascination (F), Being-away-to (A1), Being-away-from (A2), Compatibility (C), Coherence (E1), and Scope (E2)
[31]. Corresponding to each item, the participants were asked, “How do you experience and agree with the statement?” Their PSR experiences were reported with a five-point scale: 1 means “not at all” and 5 means “completely.”
2.3 Data Collection
Face-to-face interviews were conducted to gain in-depth insights into participants’ real understanding and perceptions of the sound environment. The field survey was carried out by a research team under supervision between 14:00 and 17:00, when intensified crowd activity level was observed in the study area throughout daytime
[32], during May and June—a period when outdoor activities are popular due to the favorable climate in Northeast China. Random sampling was employed on both weekdays and weekends to minimize biases arising from daily variations in visitation patterns.
Prior to the questionnaire survey, interviewers conducted a series of soundwalks to identify and select four survey zones with representative landscape features (i.e., memorial space, recreational space, sidewalk, and playground) and dominant sounds (Fig. 1). At each selected site, ambient sound levels were measured and recorded five times using BSWA801 sound level meter at the height of 1.5 m. Each measuring time lasted 1 min, with every 10 s recorded once
[33]. The average measured A-weighted SPLs at the corresponding locations was calculated in Table 1. Then, a brief introduction was provided to randomly invited participants at each location, during which the study’s purpose was explained, and the participants’ habitual residence was verified
[34], in order to ensure that only local residents (excluding tourists) were included in the formal questionnaire survey. Since an appropriate
LAeq (the average level of environmental noise) threshold was required for soundscape quality evaluation, questionnaires collected at locations where ambient sound levels exceeded the threshold (73 dBA) were excluded from the database
[28]. A total of 230 questionnaires were distributed, of which 201 were valid, yielding an effective response rate of 87%.
Figure 2 shows the demographic information of the participants. They were approximately balanced across different occupations, with administrative staff representing the largest group (27%). Most participants have received senior middle school education, while as many as 25% of the participants had at least college education. In terms of gender ratio, the male (60%) was higher than the female (40%). These distributions of the samplings were consistent with the report of typical urban residents’ outdoor activities during the survey seasons in China
[35]. Corresponding to the valid questionnaires, the average measured
LAeq at the surveyed locations ranged from 60.83 to 69.14 dBA. This range represents typical
LAeq values for assessing soundscape quality in urban open spaces.
The reliability of the samples was assessed using mean PRSS scores for each restorative component (Table 2). The Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.716 to 0.906, indicating strong internal consistency. Additionally, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (
KMO) measure of sampling adequacy ranged from 0.6 to 0.8, with Bartlett’s test of sphericity yielding significant results (
p < 0.01), confirming the validity of the database. These results indicated that the collected data were sufficiently reliable for further analysis
[36–
37].
2.4 Data Analyses
The data analyses aimed to examine in detail the influence of individual factors (demographics and behavioral patterns) and sound-related factors (dominant sounds and holistic soundscape evaluations) on the PSR. First, the normality of each component was assessed using histograms, normality plots, and probability–probability (P–P) plots. The asymptotic normality of these variables were also verified based on descriptive statistics analysis of skewness (−1.007 ≤
S ≤ 0.207) and kurtosis (−1.342 ≤
K ≤ 0.957)
[28], with absolute values lower than 10 and 3, respectively.
Second, to determine whether specific individual and sound characteristics influenced different restorative components, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post hoc tests was mainly conducted.
Third, to further explore the significance of various factors, categorical regression analysis (CATREG) was applied, offering a comprehensive evaluation of the most influential variables. The CATREG model has greater applicability and flexibility in handling complex datasets containing categorical variables and enables the measurement of the relative importance of explanatory variables which were connected with various individual and sound characteristics
[38].
Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to examine PRSS item evaluations in conjunction with individual and sound-related variables. This approach allowed for an in-depth discussion on the characterization of the soundscape restoration potential of coastal blue spaces, extending the traditional PRSS framework.
3 Results
3.1 PSR Considering Sociodemographic Factors
The influence of sociodemographic characteristics (independent variables) on restorative scores (dependent variables) was analyzed using one-way ANOVA, followed by LSD/Duncan post hoc tests for occupation and education level, and independent-sample t-tests for gender. The null hypothesis stated that there were no significant differences in mean scores across occupations, education levels, and gender. As shown in Table 3, the analysis of one-way ANOVA led to the rejection of the null hypothesis for both occupation and education level (p < 0.05).
As illustrated in Fig. 3, while higher mean scores were observed for Fascination, Being-away-to, and Being-away-from, ranging from 3.79 to 4.09 (approximately “very much”), compared with Compatibility, Coherence, and Scope, ranging from 3.00 to 3.61 (above “somewhat”), significant differences in PSR emerged between various occupational groups. Specifically, administrative staff reported significantly lower F-scores than teachers/doctors (4.11 ± 0.42 vs. 4.44 ± 0.28). Similarly, freelancers/housewives had significantly lower scores for Being-away-from and Coherence compared with administrative staff. Additionally, teachers/doctors exhibited significantly higher PSR scores across Fascination, Being-away-to, Being-away-from, Compatibility, and Coherence than freelancers/housewives (4.15 ± 0.32 vs. 3.49 ± 0.40). A notable disparity was also found between workers and teachers/doctors for Scope (2.47 ± 0.67 vs. 3.31 ± 0.74). Across all components, teachers/doctors consistently reported the highest PSR scores, whereas workers and freelancers/housewives tended to report lower scores.
Figure 4 highlights the significant differences in PSR across education levels, particularly between individuals with an elementary school education and those with a college degree or higher (3.31 ± 0.28 vs. 4.03 ± 0.30) for Fascination, Being-away-from, and Compatibility. Additionally, individuals with only an elementary school education exhibited significantly lower scores in Fascination and Being-away-from compared with those with junior and senior middle school education. These findings suggest that individuals with lower education levels tend to experience lower PSR than those with higher education levels. To examine whether restoration scores followed a specific trend upon education level, curve estimation analyses were conducted separately for each component. Linear regression models (0.78 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.87, p < 0.05) demonstrated a strong positive relationship between education level and restoration scores for Being-away-to and Being-away-from (Figs. 4-2, 4-3). These results indicate that individuals with higher education levels are more likely to perceive greater psychological restoration, particularly in terms of being-away experiences.
3.2 PSR Considering Behavioural Factors
As shown in Table 4, the analysis of one-way ANOVA led to the rejection of the null hypothesis for different behavioural patterns (p < 0.05). The results of the mean differences in restoration scores suggest that behavioral patterns significantly influence PSR.
The comparisons in PSR and the identification of specific significant differences based on visit duration, purpose, frequency, and activity intensity were presented as Table 5. Regarding visit duration, significantly higher restoration scores were observed when the visit lasted at least one hour. Notably, significant differences emerged between visits lasting 30 ~ 60 min and those lasting 1 ~ 3 h (3.40 ± 0.40 vs. 3.98 ± 0.35) for Fascination, Being-away-to, Being-away-from, and Compatibility, suggesting that longer visits contribute to enhanced psychological restoration. In terms of visit purpose, participants who engaged in fitness-related activities reported significantly lower scores than those whose motivations were related to mental relaxation, sightseeing, or social gatherings (3.45 ± 0.37 vs. 3.81 ± 0.40) for Being-away-from, Compatibility, and Coherence. Interestingly, high-intensity activities sometimes led to significantly higher scores compared with lower-intensity activities. Specifically, significant differences were observed between high- and relatively high-intensity activities for Fascination and Compatibility, as well as between high- and relatively low-intensity activities for Being-away-from. Additionally, as expected, the lowest-intensity activities resulted in significantly higher scores. For instance, restoration scores for Fascination, Compatibility, and Coherence were significantly higher in low-intensity activities compared with relatively high-intensity activities (3.95 ± 0.36 vs. 3.52 ± 0.39), while for Being-away-to, significantly higher scores were found in low-intensity compared with relatively low-intensity activities (3.93 ± 0.30 vs. 3.07 ± 0.47). Regarding visit frequency, notable differences were identified when the highest visit frequency (almost every week) was considered. Individuals who visited nearly every week reported significantly lower scores compared with those who visited every month or so, every two to six months, seldom, or for the first time (2.85 ± 0.25 vs. 3.60 ± 0.48) for Fascination, Compatibility, Coherence, and Scope. These scores corresponded to evaluations ranging from “somewhat” to “very much, ” suggesting that less frequent visits may enhance the perception of psychological restoration in coastal environments.
To examine potential trends between behavioral variables and restoration scores, curve estimation analyses were conducted for each component. Regarding visit duration, a positive linear relationship was observed for Fascination (YFascination = 0.151XDuration+ 3.582, p = 0.006) and Compatibility (YCompatibility = 0.118XDuration+ 3.112, p = 0.035). In contrast, negative linear relationships were identified between activity intensity and restoration scores for Compatibility (YCompatibility = −0.108XActivity+ 3.827, p = 0.003), Coherence (YCoherence = −0.103XActivity+ 3.921, p = 0.012), and Scope (YScope = −0.166XActivity+ 3.484, p = 0.016). Additionally, a positive linear relationship was found between visit frequency and coherence (YCoherence = 0.113XFrequency+ 3.272, p = 0.043). These findings indicate that as visit duration increases and both visit frequency and physical activity intensity decrease, the perceived restorative potential of the Fascination, Compatibility, Coherence, and Scope tends to improve.
3.3 PSR Considering Dominant Sound Sources
Before analyzing the influence of dominant sounds on PSR, the predominant sound sources at the coast were identified and quantified. Figure 5 presents six dominant sounds perceived within the study area: natural sounds (sea waves, seagulls, and wind), anthropogenic sounds (human-related sound and music), and mechanical sounds (traffic noise). Among these, sea waves were the most frequently identified dominant sound, accounting for 73% of the total identification. When sea waves were perceived as the first dominant sound, the average restoration score was 3.81—approaching the “very much” level on the PRSS—aligning with expectations regarding the positive effect of natural sounds. This predominance suggested that the coastal sound environment offers a perceptual shift away from artificial, everyday noise. Interestingly, when wind was identified as the first dominant sound, the highest restoration score of 4.05 was recorded, exceeding the “very much” threshold for PSR, though wind was the least frequently identified dominant sound (16%). This heightened PSR may be linked to acoustic comfort, as wind-dominated environments were rated highest in terms of comfort (with an average score of 4.75, corresponding to “very comfortable”). Conversely, lower restoration scores were associated with anthropogenic and mechanical sounds. When human-related or music sounds were perceived as the first dominant sounds, the average score was 3.60, while mechanical sounds (traffic noise) resulted in the lowest average score of 3.38.
One-way ANOVA and post hoc tests confirmed that dominant sound types had significant effects on PSR components (p < 0.05) (Fig. 6). Notably, the restoration scores for traffic noise were significantly lower than those for natural sounds when sea waves or wind dominated the soundscape (3.38 ± 0.38 vs. 4.17 ± 0.32) and were also lower than those for anthropogenic sounds such as human speech and music for Fascination (3.55 ± 0.57 vs. 4.16 ± 0.31). Additionally, human-related and music sounds resulted in significantly lower scores than wind-dominated soundscapes for Compatibility (3.50 ± 0.34 vs. 4.33 ± 0.24). Among natural sounds, sea waves and wind were the most effective in promoting PSR, as their restoration scores were significantly higher than those of seagulls for Compatibility (3.97 ± 0.30 vs. 3.32 ± 0.38). These findings reinforced the restorative potential of natural coastal soundscapes, particularly when dominated by sea waves and wind, while highlighting the comparatively lower restorative effects of anthropogenic and mechanical sounds.
3.4 PSR Considering Holistic Soundscape Evaluations With Interactively Determinants
Appropriateness, subjective loudness, and acoustic comfort were evaluated to characterize the overall coastal sound environment. Interestingly, negative relationships between holistic soundscape evaluations and PSR scores were presented in Fig. 5, suggesting that higher PSR was associated with lower subjective ratings. Note that PSR scores were higher when sea waves and wind were the predominant sounds, despite lower levels of appropriateness and subjective loudness. Figure 7 presents the estimated mean scores for each component as influenced by holistic soundscape evaluations, with PSR reflected in the median scores of the box plots. The distribution of holistic soundscape evaluations revealed that the coastal sound environment was generally perceived as ranging from “neither noisy nor quiet” to “very noisy” in terms of subjective loudness, while acoustic comfort ranged from “neither uncomfortable nor comfortable” to “very comfortable.” This suggested that local residents may have become accustomed to the relatively noisy coastal environment while still perceiving it as acoustically comfortable
[30]. Additionally, median PSR scores were observed to increase as acoustic comfort ratings decreased for Being-away-to (Fig. 7-2), Being-away-from (Fig. 7-3), and Compatibility (Fig. 7-4). These findings could highlight the complex interplay between individuals and sound characteristics with PSR in coastal environments.
To examine the effects of appropriateness, subjective loudness, and acoustic comfort on PSR, a CATREG analysis was conducted (Table 6). Notably, holistic soundscape evaluations were significantly effective in determining all the components (p < 0.05). Compared with appropriateness, subjective loudness and acoustic comfort were more crucial soundscape indicators.
To further account for the combined effects of sociodemographic and behavioral factors, holistic soundscape evaluations, and dominant sounds on PSR under individual and sound characteristics interactions, an additional CATREG analysis was conducted (Table 7). Comparatively, sociodemographic and behavioral factors were found to be more influential than sound characteristics, based on their importance index values. Specifically, visit duration and activity intensity were the strongest predictors of Fascination, Being-away-to, Being-away-from, and Compatibility. Meanwhile, holistic soundscape evaluations were more important in determining the Coherence and Scope. Additionally, visit frequency and occupation emerged as significant predictors for Scope. The tolerance value of the key determinants was higher than 0.2, indicating there were no co-linear relationships among the variables. Namely, the individual and sound related determinants were statistically meaningful.
These findings emphasize the importance of considering sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics in predicting the PSR for promoting health benefits in coastal blue spaces. It is worth noting that their influence on the PSR was even greater than that of the sound characteristics themselves. Therefore, a comprehensive approach that integrates sociodemographic, behavioral, and sound factors—tailored to specific restorative components—can help optimize the PSR in coastal blue spaces.
3.5 Characterization of PSR in Coastal Urban Spaces
Fascination, Being-away-to, Compatibility, Coherence, and Scope have been identified as the most suitable components for assessing the PSR when applied
in situ within a specific environmental context
[14]. This aligns with the findings of the present study, which further demonstrate that the PSR is influenced by a combination of sociodemographic, behavioral, dominant sound, and holistic soundscape factors. Theoretically, high scores across all PSR components are essential for fostering prolonged and effective psychological restoration, whereas low scores in any component may diminish the therapeutic potential of the environment. Therefore, it is also crucial to understand how PSR components contribute to the variance in PSR within coastal blue spaces. Such insights can aid in characterizing therapeutic landscape and identifying the key components that facilitate psychological restoration in terms of coastal soundscape.
To this end, a series of PRSS evaluations were analyzed incorporating a combined assessment of individual and sound characteristics. The varimax rotated principal component analysis was employed to extract the orthogonal. With a criterion factor of eigenvalue > 1, 11 components were identified (Fig. 8). As shown in Table 8 (highlighted), 73.45% of the total variance were explained by the corresponding factors, representing a relatively high explanatory power, compared with previous environmental restorativeness studies, which have reported explained variance ranging from 33% to 70%
[14,
39].
Note that factor 1 (12.98%) was most representative of Fascination, confirming its role as the primary driver of psychological restoration. Factor 2 (9.95%) was associated with Coherence, which can be understood as a key environmental affordance shaped by the unique coastal soundscape. Factors 3 (7.84%) and 4 (7.79%) corresponded to the restorative components of Being-away-to and Being-away-from, respectively. These findings highlight the necessity of supporting multi-dimensional functions within coastal environments to foster a sense of escape from daily stressors for a diverse range of visitors. Beyond the primary restorative components, factors 5 ~ 11 collectively explained 34.89% of the total variance, accounting for nearly half of the PSR variance. Factor 5 (7.61%) was associated with holistic soundscape indicators, suggesting that overall soundscape quality plays a mediating role in the restorative experience. Namely, this finding suggested that holistic soundscape evaluations act as a bridge between key restorative components and individual characteristics. Factors 6 ~ 11 (27.28%) were linked to visitor demographics and visit behaviors, indicating that these factors explained a comparable portion of the variance in PSR. Notably, the restorative component of compatibility (Factors 7 and 8) was almost entirely mediated by individual characteristics, suggesting that personal behaviors interactively shape the perception of sound environment for psychological restoration. These results suggest a balanced contribution of PRSS, soundscape characteristics, and individual factors in predicting the PSR in coastal environments. The strong influence of individual behaviors features the importance of fostering connections between local communities and coastal environments to enhance psychological restoration. These insights highlight the need for a coordinated and optimized approach to developing therapeutic coastal urban spaces, ensuring that they effectively support diverse user needs while maintaining public health benefits.
4 Discussion
4.1 Theoretical Components of PSR in Coastal Urban Spaces
In this study, five reorganized theoretical components were identified, providing a robust framework for characterizing PSR (Table 8). Component 1 (12.98%) was associated with all PRSS items related to Fascination, making it the most influential driver of the PSR in coastal settings. Fascination reflects an environment’s capacity to effortlessly capture attention. The coastal soundscape is not experienced in isolation; visual aesthetics, the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the coastline, the vast seascape, and the presence of engaging functional spaces all contribute to fostering Fascination. These multisensory restorative elements encourage prolonged engagement, enhancing the restorative experience. Component 2 (9.95%) was strongly associated with Coherence, which refers to the sense of being immersed in a “whole other world.” In this context, the built environment in coastal urban spaces should provide a harmonious soundscape that aligns with the natural environment. The effectiveness of this harmony as a mediating factor between specific soundscape qualities of holistic soundscape evaluations and the PSR should be carefully considered (Table 7). Components 3 and 4 (15.63%) corresponded to the restorative components of Being-away-to and Being-away-from. The concept of Being away reflects an environment’s ability to create a sense of distance from daily stressors and obligations, regardless of individual life circumstances or professional responsibilities. The findings of this study indicate that individuals with higher education levels and those employed in administrative, teaching, and medical professions reported significantly greater psychological restoration through being-away in blue spaces (Figs. 3 and 4). Previous research has shown that such individuals often prefer natural environments due to their ecological interests
[40]. For the general public, extending visit duration (Table 5) and incorporating social and cultural experiences
[39] may enhance perceptions of being away. Component 5 (9.43%) was linked to Compatibility, which reflects the degree to which an environment supports an individual’s intended activities and meets environmental demands
[41–
42]. As indicated in Table 7, the interaction between public activities and the coastal soundscape plays a considerable role in determining Compatibility. Notably, higher restoration of Compatibility was appeared when low-intensity activities were connected with infrequent visits or when high-intensity activities were associated with frequent visits (Table 5). These findings suggest that visitors may experience greater restoration by utilizing different areas of the coast to minimize disturbances from other users. Consequently, the strategic design of functional systems within coastal environments—accounting for spatial (both physical and multisensory of seascape) and temporal (geological, seasonal, daily, and hourly) theoretical components—could shape restorative experiences by catering to diverse user needs.
4.2 Limitations and Prospects
4.2.1 Reflections of Field Investigation
PSR can be evaluated through either in situ surveys, or laboratory experiments. To prioritize the authenticity of the real coastal environment and ensure that the results reflect the general population with diverse sociodemographic and behavioral backgrounds, the present study relied on in situ investigation. However, as with any in situ study, certain limitations are inevitable.
For example, explanatory variables related to designed sound environments could not be fully integrated into the study. This research confirmed that holistic soundscape evaluations were correlated with the PSR, revealing that higher psychological restoration could be experienced with lower holistic soundscape evaluations (Figs. 5, 7). Nonetheless, according to ART, it would be expected that individuals would benefit from a quieter, more comfortable sound environment to clear their minds of daily cognitive “noise” and engage more deeply in restoration processes such as reflection
[8,
40]. Given that limited studies have specifically applied this theory to coastal urban space contexts, the current evidence on the impact of varying soundscapes is still inconclusive. Hence, it would be beneficial to analyze further effects of target variables (e.g., varied holistic soundscape evaluations, different spatial types) in experimental conditions, which has a great advantage in sufficiently applying changes to a soundscape, though this study has found that the influence of the sociodemographic and behavioural factors on the PSR could be even greater than that of the sound characteristics themselves.
4.2.2 Limitations and Further Research
First, as illustrated in 4.2.1, further research is needed to explore the effects of the target variables in controlled experimental settings, which would allow for more precise manipulation of the sound environment.
Second, although the findings of this study provide valuable insights into the variance explained in PSR, there are likely other specific landscape characteristics such as visual elements
[43–
44], internal bodily sensations
[45], and sense of place
[46–
48] should be considered to fully account for the remaining variability, which were not examined in detailed in the presented study. Moreover, it is necessary to investigate additional characteristics in the preferences for the temperate environments of the coastal zone
[5,
26] and nature-based settings
[34,
44], as these can all simultaneously contribute to an optimization of the therapeutic landscapes. Investigating how these factors interact with the soundscape would also provide a more comprehensive understanding of PSR in such perceptual environments.
5 Conclusions
This empirical study investigated the role of individual and sound characteristics in interactively determining the PSR based on theoretical components—Fascination, Being-away-from and Being-away-to, Compatibility, and Coherence and Scope—through field questionnaire survey. The key findings are summarized as follows:
1) PSR significantly varied across occupations and education levels. Across all the PSR components, teachers/doctors consistently reported the highest restoration scores, and individuals with lower education levels tend to experience significantly lower PSR than those with high education levels.
2) PSR significantly varied according to behavioural patterns including visit purpose, duration, frequency, and activity intensity. Visitors motivated by mental restoration who stayed longer and engaged in lower-intensity activities with less frequent visits, or those who visited more frequently with higher-intensity activities, experienced higher PSR.
3) PSR significantly varied among different dominant sound types—natural, anthropogenic, and mechanical sounds—in relation to the PSR components. Significantly higher PSR was associated with the dominance of natural sounds such as sea waves or wind, while traffic noise led to significantly lower restoration scores.
4) Holistic soundscape evaluations were associated with all the PSR components. However, when combined interactions of individual and sound characteristics were considered, individual factors were also associated with all the components, and had greater influence than the sound characteristics in determining Fascination, Being-away-from and Being-away-to, and Compatibility, as indicated by the PSR prediction model.
5) Incorporating the PRSS with all PSR components, alongside individual and sound characteristics, a relatively robust structure was revealed that reflects the functioning of reorganized PSR components—Fascination, Coherence and Scope, Being-away-to and Being-away-from, sound characteristics, Compatibility, and individual demographics and behaviors. This framework covers the essential factors influencing psychological restoration in coastal soundscapes, with approximately half of the variance attributable to individual and sound characteristics. The variance explained by these factors reached 73.45%, which is a relatively high amount of explained variance compared with previous environmental restorativeness studies.
This study provides valuable empirical insights for promoting therapeutic landscapes by examining the functions, perceptions, and interactions within coastal built environments. It also enhances the understanding of and offers practical guidance for optimizing soundscapes in coastal blue spaces with public health benefits for psychological restoration.
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