With the ongoing advancement of urban renewal and cultural tourism, public spaces within historic cultural districts face dual challenges of structural complexity and diverse user demands. There is an urgent need to establish a scientific, user-oriented evaluation system to enhance spatial quality and user satisfaction. This study takes the Nanhesha Historic and Cultural Quarter in Yangzhou as a case study, focusing on two primary user groups: tourists and local residents. Employing semi-structured interviews and grounded theory, it distils a demand evaluation framework comprising four dimensions—spatial structure, environmental perception, socio-cultural aspects, and facility systems—with a total of 21 indicators. Subsequently, employing the Delphi method, experts were invited to refine the indicators through two rounds of deliberation. The Kano model was then applied to classify the demand attributes of different groups, identifying five common demands and sixteen differentiated demands. These were categorised into three sensitivity levels. Further integrating the Satisfaction Increment Index (SII), Dissatisfaction Decrement Index (DDI), and sensitivity values, a two-dimensional prioritisation model was constructed. This yielded a unified three-tier priority system alongside independent ranking frameworks for each user group. Findings reveal that visitors prioritise immediate experiential attributes such as spatial accessibility, appropriate scale, and environmental cleanliness, whereas residents favour long-term usage-oriented aspects including cultural expression, convenient facilities, and climate adaptability. This research not only enriches the theoretical framework for studying public space perception in historic cultural districts but also provides actionable evaluation criteria and practical pathways for multi-stakeholder spatial optimisation design. It offers guidance for the high-quality, refined development of public spaces within historic quarters.

With the continuous development of digital technology, the widespread use of virtual spokespersons to promote city images is becoming increasingly prevalent. This study responds to this trend by employing a factor analysis and entropy weight methodology to explore the different dimensions and priorities in shaping the image of virtual city spokespersons in China. The aim is to offer insights into the design strategies and directions for shaping the image of virtual city spokespersons. For the research, we first conducted a literature review and semi-structured interviews to investigate the requirements of users in mainland China and Hong Kong regarding the image shaping of virtual city spokespersons. Building upon this groundwork, a questionnaire was designed and distributed, and it successfully gathered 512 valid responses. Subsequently, a factor analysis was utilized to identify eight key dimensions in shaping the images of Chinese virtual city spokespersons: “Design elements”, “Anthropomorphism”, “Evolutionary”, “Emotionalization”, “Narrativity”, “Culturalism”, “Interactivity”, and “Reliability”. Then, the entropy weighting method was applied to analyze the weights of each indicator within these dimensions. The results revealed that “Design elements” have the highest priority in shaping the image of virtual city spokespersons, followed by “Anthropomorphism”, “Emotionalization”, “Evolutionary”, “Culturalism”, “Narrativity”, “Reliability”, and “Interactivity”. Based on these findings, a series of design optimization strategies are proposed, including but not limited to shaping visually appealing images aligned with user perceptions, establishing emotional connections with users, and meeting the functional experience needs of users. These strategies not only contribute to the image shaping of virtual city spokespersons, but also provide vital guidance for innovative directions in promoting the publicity and marketing of Chinese cities.

Urbanization's swift advance has positioned outdoor advertising as a vital medium in defining city image, highlighting the urgent need for an aesthetic perception evaluation system for city outdoor advertising. This research aims to develop such a system, providing actionable insights to guide the enhancement of the aesthetic experience of city outdoor advertising. To this end, we identified the factors affecting the aesthetic perception of outdoor advertising in cities through literature, interviews, and questionnaires. We then explored the commonalities and differences in perception judgments between residents and tourists, as well as their priorities for improving the aesthetic perception of city outdoor advertising, using the Kano model and the two-dimensional quadrant analysis of the Satisfaction Increment Index (SII) - Dissatisfaction Decrement Index (DDI). The result reveals that residents and tourists hold distinct perceptions regarding "clear and understandable information" and "offer multilingual support" However, there is a consensus between the two groups on other factors influencing aesthetic perception. Additionally, the research highlights disparities in their priorities for improvement. For residents, "clear and understandable information," "engaging and entertaining," "cultural adaptability," "environmental adaptability," and "provide social service information" are of greater importance. In contrast, tourists place a higher value on "rapid responsiveness." These findings provide theoretical support and practical guidance for urban planners and outdoor advertising designers.