Participatory Research on the Color Environment of Waterfront Public Spaces from a Child’s Perspective: A Case Study of the Yangpu Riverside in Shanghai

Children’s perceptual and emotional needs are often marginalized in the planning of urban public spaces, resulting in color environments that are visually alienating, emotionally inadequate, and behaviorally disengaging for young users. Integrating children’s participation into the planning and design of childfriendly color environments is not only a meaningful recognition of their subjectivity and rights, but also a critical pathway for enhancing the relevance and responsiveness of urban spaces to their developmental needs. This study addresses this challenge by investigating how children perceive, interpret, and respond to color in urban waterfront environments, taking the Yangpu Riverside in Shanghai as a case study. Employing Photovoice as a participatory research method and applying semantic analysis through ROST CM6, the study constructs data-driven perceptual models that map the relational pathways between children’s visual perception, emotional responses, and spatial behaviors across both positive and negative color environments. The findings reveal that children are active interpreters of color cues, capable of forming nuanced aesthetic and emotional judgments. They show strong preferences for bright hues—particularly green, red, and blue—which they associate with positive feelings such as happiness, relaxation, and safety. These colors are typically present in natural settings and child-oriented recreational spaces, where they encourage outdoor activities including play, sports, and exploration. In contrast, environments dominated by lowlightness, low-chroma colors such as black, gray, and brown evoke negative emotions—fear, discomfort, and unease—and result in behavioral avoidance. Children are particularly sensitive to deteriorated color elements, such as rust, stains, and dark surfaces, which they describe as “dirty” or “scary,” revealing a psychological defense mechanism against visually hostile environments. By uncovering the perceptual logic through which color environments influence children’s emotional well-being and spatial behavior, this research offers both theoretical advancement and practical guidance for child-friendly urban design. It establishes a replicable methodological framework for integrating children’s voices into planning processes and proposes actionable strategies for creating color environments that are perceptually inclusive, emotionally supportive, and developmentally appropriate. In doing so, the study contributes to the broader vision of human-centric, inclusive, and sustainable urban transformation promoted by the Universal Village framework.