*4.5. Analysis of the Relationship between Tourists' Focus on Landscape Elements and Perceptions*

The corresponding relationships between tourists' focus on landscape elements and their perceptions are shown in Figure 9. The results show that the landscape elements (waterscape, view, trees) described by Olmsted could stimulate tourists' perceptions more effectively. Among all the perceptions, "fascinating" was the most relevant positive evaluation, followed by "picturesque", as Olmsted envisioned, and then "fun". Among other elements, animals, sculptures and flowers were the most relevant to perceptions.

**Figure 9.** Sankey diagram of the relationship between focus on landscape elements and tourists' perceptions (Source: created by authors).

The waterscape had the highest correlation with tourists' perceptions among the landscape elements mentioned by Olmsted. In total, 1289 comments about waterscape were related to "fascinating", 499 comments were related to "picturesque", and 182, 244 and 268 comments were related to "spacious", "quiet" and "healing", respectively, followed by other perceptions, such as "love" and "fun". The waterscape occupies less than one fifth of Central Park, but it can offer tourists completely different perceptions. Some studies have also found that the waterscape can help people to decompress and relax, and improves the recoverability of the environment [32]. Aside from the waterscape, the overall view of the park, which Olmsted attached great importance to, had the highest correlation with tourists' perceptions. There were 357 comments related to the park being picturesque, as Olmsted expected, and others related to it being "fascinating" (983) and "fun" (289). Trees were also highly correlated with perceptions. More plants could bring induce positive emotions in people [32]. People who visit green spaces with higher plant diversity are happier [33]. The abundance of plants injected more vitality into the park, and the tourists in the park—"Love this beautiful park filled with amazing trees and plants and full of great energy. Amazing to see the city skyline behind all the greenness. The oxygenation of the city by all the wonderful green plants were important!".

Among the other elements, animals were most relevant to tourists' perceptions, and were highly related to descriptions of "fascinating" (659), "picturesque" (232), "fun" (226), "spacious" (184), "love/glad" (176) and "healing" (176). In addition to the wild animals in the park, the zoo was also very popular. It has become a must-visit attraction in Central Park—"Just wow, don't ever miss it and the zoo is just awesome, it's worth it". Cameron showed that urban green space with higher biodiversity are associated with more positive emotional responses [34], and a diversity of birds will reduce people's anxiety, depression and stress [35]. Sculptures also induced in tourists a variety of perceptions. There were 651 comments related to "fascinating", 237 comments related to "picturesque" and 242 comments related to "fun", which all made the scenery more completed, charming and interesting. In addition, Olmsted thought that the flowers and artificial elements, which should be reduced as far as possible, would also be strongly related to tourists' perceptions.
