Arts-Aided Recognition of Citizens’ Perceptions for Urban Open Space Management

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article presents a research experience involving people in two different urban parks in Finland. The aim was to test how art-based methods can facilitate recognition and understanding perceptions of urban open spaces.

Authors provide a quite clear explanation of the methodology and the process they used to collect and interpret data. On the other hand, the contexts in which the workshops were held are not sufficiently described. This lack reflects the overall approach of the article that seems more focused on the process itself than the results and how they can inform the management of urban open spaces.

Results are not discussed for what concerns their relationship with the places' features. Concepts like "sense-of-place" as well as "people-people relation" are generically tackled so that the authors' statements in chapter 4.2 appear a little bit unrooted.

I suggest to provide a better description of the two parks and correlate the collected information with them.

Author Response

We thank you constructive and helpful review. We have integrated all the comments. The response to each comment is attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

In the beginning it must be said that it is a article that has four very interesting studies. The soundness of the studies and the presentation of the results are remarkable.

My concerns are regarding the years of this actions that makes them a bit old and the findings are subjective as stated in the article. From 2018 we had a pandemic that produced a change in public space perception, the society changed and there is a greater concern about sustainability and environment that regards not only the human kind but al life forms and this might change the perception and the urban space.

Another concern regards the urban open space concept which can be different from urban green areas and landscape in urban areas such as a square, a playground, a sports designated area and the studies are focused only on parks so, in this case a change of title could help.

Another element that can be addressed it the purpose of this perception analysis. In urban planning there is already an analysis that is called urban cognitive map, and it is used to identify and analyze the perception for an area that is subject of an urban regeneration. This cognitive map splits the area in negative space, neutral or positive space and marks the sensations perceived there and puts them in balance presenting the elements that are valuable and can be kept or the other ones that must be excluded or replaced. It helps to keep the memory of a place and improves legibility of the city.

In my opinion this method can't be used as management tool but more as an analysis method and it needs to give a clear conclusion about the qualities of the space that it analyzes. In the end I must say that this analysis is linked with the culture of the place and its subjects so it needs to be fine-tuned with the society where it is used.

Author Response

We thank you constructive and helpful review. Have have integrated all the comments. The response to each comment is attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Reviewer comments:

• It is recommended to further substantiate the usefulness of arts-based methods in urban open space management, theories, experience, examples of good practice;
• How to justify the reliability of wider data for such a subjective research method;
• It is necessary to pay attention to the design of the text, tables, bibliography;
• It is recommended to explain in more detail at the end of the article what the authors' expectations are about how perceptions could be exploited in urban open space management.

Author Response

We thank you constructive and helpful review. We have integrated all the comments. The response to each comment is attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf