Real Environment or Virtual Environment?: Perception Bias Evaluation of Perceived Security in Urban Parks

Urban green spaces, specifically urban parks, contribute to overall human health and well-being. However, physical features of urban green spaces can affect perceived security of its users, ultimately impacting their social life and mental health. Hence, various studies have evaluated perceived security in urban green spaces in virtual and real environment settings. However, studies have not yet evaluated the difference in the perception of perceived security and other physical environmental variables of urban green spaces across virtual and real environment-based methods. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that perception bias can exist across both methodologies. Since Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a well-established framework in the field, this study investigates the difference in perceived security across methods using the virtual and real environment in urban parks, using a CPTED classification. Fifteen urban parks were video graphed during the day and night. The study collected 524 and 930 responses from real and virtual environment settings, respectively. The results show that, regardless of the stimulus type, all CPTED variables are significantly correlated with perceived security; however, surveillance, maintenance, and activity support are strongly correlated with perceived security in virtual rather than real environments. Perceptions of territoriality, access control and target hardening significantly differ across both methods. Regardless of user type, PS levels are higher in a real environment. The number of park users affects perceived security more in virtual environments. However, the relative importance of CPTED variables in predicting perceived security is similar in both methods. Future research scholars can benefit from this study by understanding user perception patterns of urban parks in virtual and real environments. Similarly, the study results will guide them in creating virtual and real spaces catering to users’ perceptions. The study's findings can also support future virtual environment-based projects by accounting for potential perception biases when translating results to real environment settings. Further, landscape architects can leverage this research to enhance the design and development of urban parks. From the methodological perspective, this study is applicable to various perception-based studies that can aim to evaluate virtual and real environment-based differences.