Amid urban expansion, historic districts face challenges such as declining vitality and deteriorating spatial quality. Using the streets of Xi’an’s historical and cultural district as examples, this research utilizes multisource data, including points of interest (POIs), street view images, and Baidu heatmaps, alongside analytical techniques such as machine learning. This study explores the determinants of street vitality from the dual perspectives of its external manifestation and spatial carriers. A quantitative framework for measuring street vitality in historic districts is established, thoroughly examining the driving factors behind street vitality. Additionally, the relationship between built environment indicators and street vitality is elucidated through statistical analysis methods. The findings reveal significant, time-varying influences of these spatial carriers on human vitality, with distinct spatial distribution patterns of human activity across different times, and the significance of the influence of external representations of human vitality and various types of spatial carriers varies over time. Based on these insights, this paper proposes strategies for enhancing the vitality of historic streets, aiming to rejuvenate and sustain the diverse and dynamic energy of these districts. It provides a foundation for revitalizing the vigor of cultural heritage zones and offers strategies applicable to similar urban contexts.

With the acceleration of urbanization, the design of street furniture, as an indispensable part of urban public spaces, faces the challenge of neglecting the user experience. To address this situation, this study adopted a three-level theory of affective design and the Kano model to categorize and rank users’ affective needs. The results show that users prefer high-density street furniture that follows traditional urban space design and incorporates elements of traditional Chinese culture and they reject minimalist modern facilities and empty, “hard” plazas. Accordingly, this study proposes emotional design strategies to effectively address the existing problems. Furthermore, this study confirms that the Kano model has significant advantages in identifying the real emotional needs of users, providing data support, and guiding the emotional design of street furniture, which ensures the scientific validity and effectiveness of the design strategy. This study not only deepens the understanding of the emotional design of street facilities but also provides an important reference for future urban space design and planning.