Reclaiming winter: How visual, thermal, and acoustic comfort shape psychological restoration in severe cold urban parks

In the harsh and frigid conditions of winter, the creation of enchanting and comfortable restorative environments holds significant importance for enhancing the psychological recuperation of individuals. However, the restorative benefits of urban green spaces during the winter season remain underexplored. Moreover, there is limited research on the role of multisensory comfort in psychological recovery. This study, based on field experiments, examines the impact of different paths and landscape features on psychological benefits through the lens of multisensory experiences of visual, auditory, and thermal comfort among park visitors. The results indicate that: (1) different types of pathways in parks significantly vary in their restorative effects, with primary paths providing more positive restorative benefits; (2) multisensory comfort plays a critical role in psychological recovery, particularly where visual comfort has a significant veto power, influencing pleasure up to 50 %, with the veto powers of multisensory comfort unfavorable to psychological recovery in the order of VCV>ACV>TCV; (3) sky visibility factor holds high importance in arousal states, while green view index is crucial in pleasant states. Therefore, understanding the role of visual-thermal-acoustic comfort in winter environments is beneficial in proposing appropriate forest-based healthcare strategies. The findings of this study may inform future planning and design of winter park environments, optimizing their potential for enhancing psychological recovery.