New buildings continue to be constructed in historic districts as urbanization accelerates. This leads to incongruities between historic and modern buildings, as well as degradation of the historic landscape. As a means of resolving these problems, this study uses the expert scoring method to solicit opinions from relevant experts through anonymous methods for architectural samples and establishes two groups of architectural images that have been screened for objective color attribute analysis. Comparing the architectural color codes on site was conducted using the Chinese Architectural Color Card based on the Munsell color system. Furthermore, questionnaires were used to measure the differences in visual comfort between different building types by asking the subjects to rate architectural colors when viewing architectural images. This study will also combine the advantages of measurement and analysis of objective objects with the study of human perceptual experience in order to enhance its practicality. In general, the buildings in the West Nanjing Road Historic Landscape District are painted in warm yellow, and the public is aware of its comforting color. Both historical and modern buildings in the historic district are mostly of medium and high brightness, and both use low-purity colors for the main body of their structures. Despite some differences between people of different genders, ages, and literacy levels, all of them agree on the main tone of warm yellow color in architectural colors.

Building façade color plays a key role in shaping urban image, enhancing urban vitality, and optimizing citizens’ living experience. Moreover, colors can influence people’s perception of space, but the multiple interrelationships between color elements and users’ color evaluation and visual perception have not yet been thoroughly studied. In order to explore the relationships between color elements and visual perception and subjective comfort, this study discusses the matching relationship between color and the comfort of a residential building façade from three levels of color hue, lightness, and saturation by combining eye movement technology and a subjective evaluation. Taking Anshan San Village in Shanghai as the research object, the relationship model between color elements, visual perception, and subjective comfort is established through correlation analysis, linear regression, and multifactor regression analysis, and the correlation between single elements and multiple elements is explored from multi-dimensional perspectives. It aims to assess the operability of eye movement data as a measure of the visual comfort with the residential building façade color through multiple indicators and to explore and establish a new correlation assessment framework between the three attributes of façade color and users’ visual comfort. The results show that (1) highly saturated façade colors significantly increase cognitive load and decrease color evaluation. (2) Brightness has a non-linear relationship with visual perception and subjective evaluation, either too high or too low a brightness value will cause visual fatigue and thus reduce the color evaluation, and when the brightness is maintained at 40–80%, there will be a better color experience. (3) Warm tones such as red, orange, and yellow can strengthen the color perception to enhance the color evaluation of the façade; among cold tones, cyan and purple can also strengthen the visual perception of the color of the façade to enhance the color evaluation. After validation, the proposed new color comfort assessment method is feasible and comprehensive, and we hope it can provide a reference for the planning of old residential buildings and communities in the future.

Architectural colors significantly influence urban culture, city imagery, regional vitality, and residential experiences. Previous studies have demonstrated that appropriate architectural colors can enhance urban vitality, but research on multicolored buildings remains limited. This study examines the relationship between hue, color variations, and visual quality by cross-verifying eye-tracking physiological indicators with subjective assessments. Using digital models of old residential buildings in Shanghai’s Yangpu District, different color combinations were applied to explore real-world architectural color impacts. Results showed that blue and green combinations reduced visual pressure and created a calming space, while purple combinations were rated highly in both visual perception and subjective evaluations. Brightness differences notably influenced visual quality more than hue differences. However, larger hue variations, when paired with suitable brightness and saturation contrasts, also achieved better visual evaluations. This study fills a research gap by providing mathematical support for color combinations in architectural design, improving visual comfort and enhancing urban vitality.

The wealth of published data are valuable because, in addition to contributing to the advancement of scientific, technical, and policy knowledge, they can also provide critical information and guidance regarding published content, subject changes, and trends that demand greater attention. In the 21st century, digital technologies play an increasingly important role in “data capture”, “building management”, “virtual reconstruction”, and “building restoration”. The indispensable role of digital technology in addressing “data capture”, “building management”, “virtual reconstruction”, and “building restoration” has resulted in the publication of several high-quality publications. In this study, we retrieve textual data from Web of Science and mine the content of the documentary data using COOC, VOSviewer, CiteNetwork, and academic influence evaluation (AIE) software to gain insights into the prospects and opportunities for historic architecture and digitization research. The results indicate that greater progress has been made in research on the use of digital technologies for the conservation of historic buildings from 2019 to 2023, but cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional, and cross-border collaboration should be enhanced. The research frontiers identified indicate that photogrammetry, 3D modeling, point cloud, and deep learning will require sustained attention in the near future. Additionally, computational analyses of academic influence reveal that Italian institutions and authors have dominated research in this field in recent years. A new strategy and framework for data-driven bibliometric analysis involving historical architecture and digitization techniques are presented in this study. Based on general bibliometric methods, this study innovatively explores the scientific knowledge base and knowledge flow of highly cited articles, provides comprehensive evaluation indicators such as H-index, G-index, P-index, and Z-index for high-impact journals, institutions, and authors, and proposes a COOC-based idea to address the consistency of data sources among multiple software.

Historic districts, as important spatial units that carry urban cultural memory and everyday social life, play a crucial role in shaping residents’ spatial identity, emotional attachment, and perceptual experience. Although quantitative research on built environments and perception has advanced considerably in recent years, the mechanisms through which perception is formed in historic districts, particularly the nonlinear threshold effects and perceptual trade-off patterns that arise under conditions of high-density and mixed land use, remain insufficiently examined. To address this gap, this study develops an analytical framework that integrates spatial attributes with multidimensional subjective perceptions. Focusing on six historic districts in central Shanghai, the study combines micro-scale environmental indicators extracted from street-view imagery, POI data, and public perceptual evaluations and employs an XGBoost model to identify the nonlinear response patterns, threshold effects, and perceptual trade-offs across seven perceptual dimensions. The results show that natural elements such as visual greenery and sky openness generate significant threshold-based enhancement effects, and once reaching a certain level of visibility, they substantially increase positive perceptions including beauty, safety, and cleanliness. By contrast, commercial and traffic-related facilities exhibit dual and competing perceptual influences. Moderate densities enhance liveliness, whereas high concentrations tend to induce perceptual fatigue and intensify negative emotional responses. Overall, perceptual quality in historic districts does not arise from linear accumulation but is shaped by dynamic perceptual trade-offs among natural features, functional elements, and cultural symbolism. Overall, the study reveals the coupling mechanism between spatial renewal and perceptual experience amid the pressures of urban modernization. It also demonstrates that increasing visible greenery (e.g., planting street trees, incorporating micro-green spaces, improving façade greening), enhancing street openness (e.g., optimizing view corridors, reducing visual obstruction, implementing moderate setback adjustments), guiding a moderate mix and spatial distribution of commercial and service functions, and strengthening the perceptibility of cultural landscape elements (e.g., façade restoration, streetscape coordination, and improved signage systems) are concrete and effective planning and design actions for improving landscape quality and enhancing the experiential quality of historic districts.