Temporary design on public open space for improving the pedestrian's perception using social media images in winter cities

Abstract

Due to the severe climate, residents of winter cities tend not to utilize public open spaces in winter. Temporary design interventions such as emblematic events are always proposed in winter cities to enhance pedestrian activity by celebrating the season and improving the perception of winter. In this study, we clarify the impact of the event on pedestrians' perception to determine the role of temporary design in improving the perception of public open spaces in winter cities. Using the example of event known as "Ice Town" on the Lenin Square in Khabarovsk, the content of the Instagram images was analyzed to determine their perception during and after the event. The analysis includes classification of the images into clusters related to different urban elements using transfer learning with CNN (convolutional neural network). A total of 10,200 generated images on the Lenin Square were considered, with 1700 images which relate the event itself. This accounts for approximately 20% of all data, while those which related to the during the permanent use of Lenin Square accounted for just 6%. Temporary design of public open spaces has great potential to involve pedestrians in interacting with urban and natural environments in winter cities, even in severe cold climate, by improving an impression of a place.