Assessment of the Landscape Stress Reduction Index: Case Study of the Urban Park, Bangkok

Abstract

Under pressure from social, economic, and political factors, time affects the living behavior of the urban population, causing stress in the urban population. Untreated stress can lead to cumulative stress disorder, a severe neurological disease. A park is a place that was created to serve as a place to relax from the fatigue or stress caused by daily tasks. The purpose of the research was to identify the densely populated areas within urban park and evaluate the environmental stress treatment index divided into five aspects: landscape, light, color, noise, and air quality, including the distance factor. Factors influencing stress therapy in the management of recreational areas were analyzed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify areas with high user density for effective stress relief. Additionally, a qualitative assessment of the visual quality related to the Environmental Stress Treatment Index was conducted based on a field survey. The study found that in the evening, starting at 4:00 p.m., this is the time when people use Benjakitti Park the most. The environment that had the greatest effect on stress relief was 23% light, followed by 21% noise, 20% landscape, 19% color, and 17% air. The distance (background) affects stress therapy, followed by the middle distance (middle ground) and finally the near distance (foreground), and when using inferential statistics to analyze the data, it was found that the environment that had the greatest influence on stress therapy was light, followed by air, landscape, color, and sound, respectively. The mean scores of the Benjakitti Forest Park, phases 1–3, were higher than the water park area. This demonstrates the consistency between the actual use of the area and the area development plan, ensuring efficient land utilization and maximizing benefits for the urban population.