Exploring the environmental variable from a cultural perspective through wayfinding behavior based on three Chinese hospitals case-studies

Abstract

In the research field of wayfinding theory, cultural parameters of the environment, in particular, are rarely considered in wayfinding theories. In the era of rapid economic growth, China is undergoing obvious transformation in the built environment. It is proposed that wayfinding performance is still relevant to the cultural properties of the environment. The method of this study is interdisciplinary. First, a theoretical framework was built based on literature review and theoretical arguments. Second, a field survey was conducted to observe and quantify wayfinding behaviors of our subjects. The research was carried out in three urban hospitals in Nanjing, a major Chinese city, with 31 participants tasked to carry out some wayfinding tasks.The results support our early hypothesis about the existence of a relationship between search performance and environmental properties, described from a cultural point of view. This suggests that wayfinding performance could be affected by cultural characteristics immanent to the Chinese society. The findings are believed to have important implications for hospital design.