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Colour in the Built Environment

Walkability and Colour Experience: Façade Colours and
Pedestrian Walking Preferences on Urban Streets
Elif Ensari a* and Saadet Akbay b

a
Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul, Turkey
Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
b
Çankaya University, Faculty of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey
* Corresponding author: elif.ensari@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Physical aspects of the urban built environment are known to have significant influence on the
pedestrian experience. Walkability researchers have studied this relationship focusing on physical
aspects of the urban built environment in various scales. Besides the larger and commonly
accepted indicators such as density, diversity, destination accessibility and distance to transit,
smaller scale attributes grouped under the design indicator have also been subject of study. This
paper seeks to explore the effect of building façade colours on the walkability of urban streets,
which have been considered to affect the perceived complexity of the streetscape and thus make
it more interesting and attractive to pedestrians. Online surveys were utilized within our study to
understand people’s attitudes to varying cases of façade colour combinations in the Lapa
neighbourhood of Lisbon. The results of the study indicate that the diversity and perceived
pleasantness of façade colours on an urban street has a very close association with walking
preferences.

Keywords: walkability, urban design measures, built environment, façade colour, colour
experience.

INTRODUCTION
Walkability is simply defined as a measure of how suitable and preferable an urban area is for
people to walk through, and perceptual qualities of the built environment are of concern regarding
the walking behaviours of people in that environment. These qualities influence the individual
responses of the pedestrians such as the sense of comfort, sense of safety and level of interest,
thus affect the level of overall walkability. Understanding the perceptual qualities of an urban
environment helps to determine people’s perceptions of streetscapes and their attitudes to a

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streetscape (Nasar, 1994). Several studies have investigated the relationship between the quality
Colour in the Built Environment

of the built environment and walking behaviour of individuals in urban neighbourhoods. Various
walkability indices have been developed to quantitatively measure the urban design qualities of
streets and inform urban design decisions to improve walking conditions. Besides larger scale
indicators such as density, diversity, and accessibility; perceptual qualities regarding the design of
an urban environment have been found to influence the overall walkability of urban streets (Ewing
and Clemente, 2013). In their study, Ewing et al. (2006) identified the five objectively measurable
perceptual qualities of an urban environment as imageability, enclosure, human scale,
transparency, and complexity.
Complexity is the main focus of this study. It refers to the visual assessment of an urban
environment that shows variations within its features like shape, size, material, colour, and
ornamentation of buildings along with other streetscape features like the existence of urban
furniture. It is assumed that when an urban environment is more complex, it becomes more
attractive, interesting, and therefore more walkable. Ewing and Clemente (2013) considered the
number of building façade colours on a street as one of the indicators of complexity. People prefer
building façades with a high variation and complexity rather than being in a unity and coherence
as Janssens claimed (1984). Janssens (2001) also found in a study that, the colours of the built-
environment increase brain activation by contributing to the feelings of pleasantness and
spaciousness. O’Connor’s (2008) research investigating aesthetic response to building façade
colours drew positive correlations in aesthetic responses in both cases where façade colours were
harmonious with the surrounding environment as well as contrasting.

THE STUDY
This paper explores the relationship between walking preference and façade colours on urban
streets. Our study aims to evaluate people’s attitudes and experiences of building façade colours
in an urban environment as one of the indicators contributing to walkability.
For our research, a part of Lapa district in Lisbon, Portugal was selected for a case study due
to its rich variety in façade colours and glazed tiles. Each building façade’s paint or tile colour was
in-situ measured, identified by using the NCS (Natural Colour System) colour notation system and
classified in order to create a colour map of the study area. The colour of each façade that was
overwhelming the majority counted as the basic building colour and utilized for the colour
mapping of the selected neighbourhood (Figure 1). In accordance with the colour mapping
analysis, specific cases where neighbouring building façades with (1) neutral colours, (2) warm
colours, and (3) diverse colours were determined and photographed. Several façade sequences
were photographed per case indicated above and three were selected per case, thus, nine
photographs were selected to create online surveys (Figure 2).
A total of 36 participants volunteered for the survey. Each participant was subjected to a
number of selected photographs to gather answers to the following questions for each
photograph.

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Colour in the Built Environment

Figure 1: Colour map and NCS analyses of the study area in Lapa district (the green circles on the colour map
show the locations where the photographs were taken).

1- How attractive is this street?

2- How likely would you take a picture on this street?
3- How would you like to walk on this street?
4- How do you like the building colours on this street?
5- How pleasant do you find the building colours on this street?

The questions were created with the intention to develop an understanding of how pleasant
people find the building façades and how likely they would choose to walk on the street by asking
them directly and indirectly about building colours and walking preferences. Each question was
answered by a five-point Likert scale, ranging from the lowest level of preference or not agreeing
with the statement at all to the highest level of preference or completely agreeing with the
statement. The questions from one through three were to measure the walkability-related
responses of the participants regarding the presented street; whereas the questions four and five
were about the participants’ attitudes to the building colours of the same street.

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Colour in the Built Environment

a. Neutral Colours

b. Warm Colours

c. Diverse Colours
Figure 2: Three street photographs for each category, a. neutral colours, b warm colours, and c. diverse
colours (photographs were taken by the first author).

RESULTS
The total scores of each question were calculated and the façade colours were categorised under
neutral colours, warm colours, and diverse colours. Table 1 shows the total scores regarding each
question.

Table 1: Total scores of the colour categories according to the questions

Façade Attractiveness Take a Like to Like façade Pleasantness Total
colours of the street picture of walk on colours of of façade score
the street the street the street colours of
the street
NEUTRAL 131 113 142 133 126 645
WARM 169 158 165 176 162 830
DIVERSE 186 168 200 191 201 946

The results on Table 1 show that the photographs of the façades in the “diverse colours”
category received the highest score and total value of positive attitudes, specifically to the
questions about “like to walk on the street” and “pleasantness of façade colours of the street”.
The lowest number of positive responses were received by the photographs of the façades in the
“neutral colours” category. The photographs of the façades in the “warm colours” category
received higher number of positive responses than the “neutral colours” but lower number of
positive responses compared to the photographs in the “diverse colours” category.
A Pearson's product-moment correlation (Pearson r) was run to assess the relationship
between walking preference and façade colours on the streets. The analyses showed the

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relationship to be linear with all variables normally distributed. The value of r ± 0.70 and above

Colour in the Built Environment

was used to interpret the predictability of the relationship between the variables The correlations
of the questions indicated in Table 1 regarding the corresponding photographs within each colour
category are as follows (see Figure 2);
1- Neutral Colours: There was a strong positive correlation between “attractiveness of the
street” and “like to walk on the street”, r = .711, in the first photograph within this category. For
the second photograph, there were strong positive correlations between “pleasantness of façade
colours of street” and “like to walk on the street”, r = .896; and “attractiveness of the street” and
“like façade colours of the street”, r = .871. For the third photograph within this category, there
was a strong positive correlation between “attractiveness of the street” and “take a picture of the
street”, r = .875.
2- Warm Colours: There was no strong correlation between the variables in the first
photograph within this category. For the second photograph, there were strong positive
correlations between “attractiveness of the street” and “pleasantness of façade colours of street”,
r = .852; “like façade colours of the street” and “take a picture of the street”, r = .846; “like to walk
on the street” and “take a picture of the street”, r = .837; “like to walk on the street” and “like
façade colours of the street”, r = .778. For the third photograph within this category, there were
strong positive correlations between “attractiveness of the street” and “like façade colours of the
street”, r = .900; “like façade colours of the street” and “take a picture of the street”, r = .812;
“pleasantness of façade colours of street” and “like to walk on the street”, r = .810; and
“attractiveness of the street” and “take a picture of the street”, r = .705.
3- Diverse Colours: There was a strong positive correlation between “attractiveness of the
street” and “like façade colours of the street”, r = .702, in the first photograph within this category.
For the second photograph, there were strong positive correlations between “attractiveness of
the street” and “like façade colours of the street”, r = .959; “pleasantness of façade colours of
street” and “like to walk on the street”, r = .860; “attractiveness of the street” and “take a picture
of the street”, r = .849; and “like façade colours of the street” and “take a picture of the street”, r
= .803. For the third photograph within this category, there were strong positive correlations
between “attractiveness of the street” and “like façade colours of the street”, r = .849; and
“pleasantness of façade colours of street” and “like to walk on the street”, r = .796.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Finally, a Pearson's product-moment correlation was run again to evaluate the relationship
between the variables. Although primary analyses indicated all the variables had a strong positive
correlation value ± 0.80 and above, the value ± 0.90 and above were taken into consideration to
interpret the relationship with the variables. Regarding the results, pleasantness of façade colours
of a street has a very close association with preference to walk on that street (r = .964). In addition
to that, attractiveness of a street has close associations with liking façade colours of that street (r
= .942) and this would also act as a reason to take a picture of that street (r = .928). Solely liking
façade colours of a street has also a close relationship with taking a picture on that street (r =
.919).
Even though a preliminary study, our results are in line with the literature stating that the
diversity of façade colours contribute to the perceived complexity of the streetscape and thus
make it more attractive to the pedestrian. We acknowledge that increasing the number of
photographs per case and the number of survey participants, as well as controlling for other

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variables in the photographs such as the building age and condition would strengthen our
Colour in the Built Environment

research. Also, judging streetscapes based on photographs instead of the actual streetscape at
the physical location might have caused some bias. Regarding this problem, the participant
responses are considered to be consistent since the results are analysed relatively within the three
cases. Nevertheless, this study can act as an initial step in establishing a framework based on which
designers and urban authorities can be advised in deciding on colours of individual buildings and
managing colour codes in urban neighbourhoods.

REFERENCES
Ewing, R. and O. Clemente. 2013. Measuring urban design: Metrics for liveable places. Washington
DC: Island Press.
Ewing, R., S. Handy, R.C. Brownson, O. Clemente and E. Winston. 2006. Identifying and measuring
urban design qualities related to walkability, Journal of Physical Activity and Health 3(1) 223–240.
Janssens, J. 2001. Facade colours not just a matter of personal taste, Nordic Journal of
Architectural Research 34(2) 17-21.
Nasar, J.L. 1994. Urban design aesthetics: The evaluative qualities of building exteriors,
Environment and Behavior 26(3) 377-401.
O’Connor, Z. 2008. Façade colour and aesthetic response: Examining patterns of response within
the context of urban design and planning policy in Sydney, Unpublished PhD Dissertation,
University of Sidney, Australia.
Tabachnick, B.G. and L.S. Fidell. 1996. Using Multivariate Statistics, 3rd ed. Harper Collins. New
York.

AIC Interim Meeting | 25 – 29 September 2018 | Lisbon, Portugal | www.aic2018.org