Abstract
Recently, the importance of choosing correct pavement materials has been increasing in urban spaces and streets. Much research regarding the pavement theory and construction method have been conducted, but analysis in terms of human psychological character has not yet been performed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological characters to 12 pavement materials, that are commonly used in our urban spaces and streets. The results of the psychological character for each pavement material can be summarized as follows: 1. The psychological characters to each pavement material were as follows: ① Clay embodies a natural, traditional, soft and intimate psychological character; ② Pebble stone has a natural, hard, cool and intimate psychological character; ③ Turf grass incorporates an intimate and soft psychological character; ④ Ceramic brick has an artificial and hard psychological character; ⑤ Tile pavement has a modern, artificial, hard and cool psychological character; ⑥ Water permeable concrete has a modern and artificial psychological character; ⑦ Flag stone has a natural psychological character; ⑧ Granite has a modern and artificial psychological character; ⑨ Portland concrete has an artificial and hard psychological character; ⑩ Small compacted brick has an artificial, dynamic and modern psychological character; ⑪ Wood block pavement has a natural and traditional psychological character; ⑫ Asphalt concrete pavement has a modern, hard and artificial character. 2. On the results of the cluster analysis regarding psychological indexes for 12 pavement materials, pavement materials were categorized in 3 clusters. Among them, one cluster was mainly used as the most popular pavement material in our urban spaces and streets. From this point of view, psychological character for pavement material in our urban spaces and streets was not as various as we expected. 3. In conclusion, the proper selection of pavement materials was very important and the factors affecting the human psychological character should be considered in the design of urban spaces and streets.
