Evaluation of public-oriented renovation of Beijing courtyard heritage from the perspective of emotional attachment combining emotional scale measurement and Sankey-enhanced sentiment semantic analysis

In Chinese historic cities, the renovation of small-scale historic spaces has become pivotal in the stage of stock renewal, demanding simultaneous fulfillment of emotional needs and continuity preservation. As fundamental spatial units of Beijing’s old city, traditional courtyards constitute critical research subjects. The study focuses specifically on Beijing traditional courtyards undergoing contemporary renovation and chooses representative cases to construct a data-driven evaluation framework for assessing emotional attachment. Emotional attachment scale is coupled with big data sentiment semantic analysis to facilitate the integration, while Sankey diagram is innovatively employed to visualize the intrinsic relationship. Key findings reveal: (1) Public-cultural renovation could prioritize comprehensive preservation of historical authenticity and identity using conservational design methods, whereas commercialized renovations need to pay attention to its product and service while emphasizing the development of distinctive spatial qualities and atmospheric resonance. (2) Both types promote social interaction between people to build attachment, yet built environment impacts diverge significantly: historical interaction depth drives public-cultural case versus sensory engagement and value for money in commercialized renovation space. (3) Tranquility requirements demonstrate functional determinism, with attachment generation dependent on context-appropriate privacy parameters regardless of renovation types. The findings establish empirical foundations for developing emotionally-responsive renovation design and research methods.