199R_Urban sensory map: How do tourists “sense” a destination spatially? (research summary)

Are you interested in multisensory urban experiences?

Summary of the article titled Urban sensory map: How do tourists “sense” a destination spatially? from 2023 by Huahua Li, Mimi Li, Huixia Zou, Yi Zhang, and Jinjing Cao, published in the Tourism Management journal.

This is a great preparation to our next panel discussion with Dr Kirsten Day and Lucas Nadolskis in episode 200 talking about experiencing the city not just through the visual cortex.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how sensory experiences are involved in spatial sensing. This article establishes a macro–meso–micro analytical framework to explore the relationships among sensory experiences and spatial environmental characteristics based on social media big data.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

Multisensory experiences significantly enhance tourist engagement in urban environments, prioritizing both internal and external senses.
Social media data analysis can reveal sensory landscapes guiding urban design and destination management towards a holistic sensory approach.
Emphasizing multisensory environments contributes to humanistic city development, benefiting tourists and residents alike.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: Tourism sensory experiences represent a spatially constrained and constructed process influenced by various environmental stimuli. Although growing academic attention has been devoted to sensory tourism, few studies have incorporated spatiality into investigations of sensory experiences. This study establishes a macro–meso–micro analytical framework to explore the relationships among sensory experiences and spatial environmental characteristics based on social media big data. This research also moves beyond the conventional five-sense framework to include a sixth sense—interoception. Results (a) uncover the spatial distribution and relationships among sensory experiences in a destination; (b) demonstrate associations between attraction types and sensory experiences; and (c) illustrate interactions between environmental attributes and sensory encounters. This study theoretically clarifies relevant antecedents, extends a sense-based framework, and multidimensionally enriches tourism sensory experiences; empirically offer guidance for sensory environment planning, marketing, and management. Results also produce methodological insights for adopting social media big data to capture sensory experiences.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

No.114 - Interview with Kelly Boucher about spatial teaching differently;
No.138 - Interview with Luis Natera about consciously choosing where to live;

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

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