This study explored the overall visual elements of arcade buildings and streetscapes from the perspective of tourists and then evaluated their influence on the identity and emotion of places. The scope of the research was to take the arcade building in the port area of Shantou Small Park in Guangdong, China, and apply the eye-tracking experiment method and semantic difference method. This entailed collecting the eye-tracking data of 16 people, implementing 334 questionnaires for evaluation, verifying the correlation between the visual elements and place identity emotions, and then screening out the visual elements that affect place identity through correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that plaque text morphological richness (p = 0.045 < 0.05, and the regression coefficient B = 0.146), the color brightness of plaque text (p = 0.031 < 0.01, and the regression coefficient B = 0.171), window morphological richness (p = 0.038 < 0.05, and the regression coefficient B = 0.106), window color brilliance (p = 0.047 < 0.01, and regression coefficient B = 0.094), and plant color brilliance (p = 0.029 < 0.05, and the regression coefficient B = 0.154) are five visual element evaluation factors that have a significant correlation with the identity and emotion of places. Although the fineness of architectural decoration is negatively correlated with place identity, it is not obviously significant. The research results provide reference for the visual control design of arcade buildings.

As a common step in the herbal medicine production process, percolation usually lacks effective process monitoring methods and is often conducted with fixed process parameters. In this study, an in-line ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy was used for monitoring the Caulis Sinomenii percolation process. The spectra and concentration data of 156 percolation samples from five batches were collected. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were used to develop quantitative calibration models. The mean squared error (MSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and mean absolute error (MAE) were compared to select the proper loss function for developing the CNN models. Meanwhile, partial least square regression (PLSR) was also used to develop calibration models for performance comparison. The CNN models with MAPE or MAE as the loss function could provide accurate predictions for all samples. However, CNN models adopting MSE as the loss function tended not to predict low-concentration samples accurately. The CNN models mostly achieved satisfactory results without any preprocessing techniques and surpassed PLSR models in all the performance metrics. An in-line UV spectroscopy system combining the CNN algorithm was implemented to monitor the percolation process of Caulis Sinomenii. The system can accurately determine the endpoint of the percolation process.

This study focuses on the visual attention of residents and tourists to elements of urban landscapes from above. It screens out elements that attract viewers’ attention, assesses their aesthetics, and explores how these aesthetic evaluations affect the psychology of place identity. We tracked data from 30 participants, collected responses from 237 participants, and observed differences in visual behaviors and emotional connections to place identity. The results show that while residents and tourists exhibit similar visual behaviors when viewing the same landscape, they have large differences in their perceptual behaviors for different visual elements and have very different familiarity levels in the place identity dimension. Landmark buildings attract strong visual attention despite their low proportion in the overall landscape. Aesthetic factors such as the color vividness of elements like water, mountains, and landmark buildings significantly affect place identity. This study shows that combining eye-tracking and psychometric analysis can effectively evaluate urban landscape perception and provide valuable insights for visual planning and preservation efforts in historic neighborhoods.

The visual environment of landscape views in historic districts faces challenges from high population density and tall modern buildings. This study takes the Historic Districts of Macau as an example, collecting eye-tracking data from 30 residents and tourists and data from 237 questionnaires to verify the differences in visual behavior and place-identity emotions of different visual elements and to explore the correlation between landscape visual perception and place identity. The results show that: (1) Residents and tourists exhibit the same visual behavior when viewing the same landscape images, but there are significant differences in their place-identity psychology. (2) There are significant differences in the visual behavior of different visual elements in landscape images. In particular, the visual elements of landmark buildings have significant visual attractions, but the proportion of landmark buildings in visual elements is low. (3) The visual aesthetic evaluation factors of 13 landscape elements, including the color vividness of landmark buildings, the color vividness of water, the color vividness of mountains, and the color vividness of landmark buildings, have a significant impact on the sense of place identity in historic districts. In addition, the method of combining eye-tracking and psychometric measurement used in this study can effectively evaluate the urban landscape visual experience. The research results help to understand the attractiveness of important landscape views in historic districts and provide data support and reference for the visual control and protection of historic district landscapes.

Rapid modernization and commercialization have weakened the cultural symbolism and social functions of many urban public spaces, yet the mechanisms through which public art contributes to the formation of the spirit of place remain insufficiently theorized and empirically tested. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, this study conceptualizes public art as a cultural-capital intervention situated within a structured field of relations among artists, public authorities, and everyday users, and develops a mediation model linking the physical interactive attributes of public art, perceived spatial interaction, and the perceived formation of the spirit of place. An on-site questionnaire survey at 18 public-art sites in Ningbo, China, yielded 323 valid responses. Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), and bootstrap mediation tests were employed. The results show that physical interactive attributes significantly and positively affect perceived spatial interaction, which in turn significantly enhances the perceived formation of the spirit of place (p < 0.01). Perceived spatial interaction partially mediates this relationship (indirect effect = 0.183), accounting for 44.3% of the total effect; thus, all three hypotheses are supported. Emotional and cognitive interaction are particularly salient, whereas opportunities for embodied psychological interaction and immersive experience remain comparatively limited. Read through the lens of field theory, these findings indicate that public art converts cultural capital into place meanings only when its physical configuration and spatial setting afford sustained interaction, thereby reproducing the field relations through which habitus and shared place dispositions are formed. These findings indicate that public art contributes to place experience not only through visual or symbolic representation, but also through the interaction opportunities afforded by its physical configuration and spatial setting. The study therefore offers evidence-based implications for human-centered public-space design, socially sustainable urban regeneration, and the improvement of urban human settlements.

With the global trend towards “carbon neutrality,” the use of electric vehicles is becoming increasingly widespread, leading to new impacts on urban spaces. In the process of allocating resources for urban charging stations, there are widespread issues such as a singular planning approach and inadequate adaptation to actual travel demands. Therefore, this study adopts a method of integrating multi-source data to optimize the planning and layout of public electric vehicle charging facilities in Macau, striving to achieve breakthroughs in theoretical methods and key technologies. The study obtained a determination coefficient of R² = 0.43 through quantitative analysis, which is within a reasonable range of fitting spatial syntax and charging facility layout. This indicates that there is a moderate positive correlation between the distribution of charging facilities and core indicators such as road network integration and accessibility—about 43% of layout differences can be explained by spatial syntax indicators, and the remaining 57% of differences reserve space for optimizing multiple factors such as population density and parking lot distribution. On this basis, this study compares the layout experience of medium to high-density cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore, and combines the common characteristics of old parishes on Macau Island and new urban areas on outlying islands to explore innovative sustainable development technology paths that are suitable for Macau. This study not only summarizes the key factors and optimization breakthroughs that affect the spatial distribution of charging facilities in Macau, providing basic data and methodological strategies for charging facility planning, but also helps Macau save energy and reduce emissions, build a green city through layout optimization, provide practical reference for the development of land reclamation areas, and provide reference for carbon neutrality and smart city construction in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macau Greater Bay Area.