Investigating oppressiveness and spaciousness in relation to building, trees, sky and ground surface: A study in Tokyo

• Oppressiveness is important because of the evolution of urban form through the history.
• The physical properties of high-rise buildings in urban environment cause oppressiveness.
• Trees and sky alleviate oppressiveness; sky improves perception of spaciousness.
• This study is an extension of an earlier research by the authors, looking at more variables.

This article investigates views of buildings, trees, sky, and ground surface in Tokyo and associations with oppressiveness, spaciousness, and other variables. Oppressiveness, a perception that can be experienced when surrounded by high-rise buildings, can cause stress. Earlier research that measured oppressiveness was conducted in an experiment room and this research was conducted in the field with ground surface perception added. For this pilot research, 20 participants assessed 15 urban views on one typical street in Tokyo through a questionnaire. Overall, oppressiveness was perceived less with views of trees (−1.13; p < 0.01); sky (−0.43; p < 0.01); and ground surface (−0.33; p < 0.05). Perceived spaciousness of the environment decreased with dominant views of ground surface (−0.45; p < 0.05) but increased with more views of trees (0.43; p < 0.01). This study corroborates the findings in the experiment room that views of trees lower perception of oppressiveness and adds the finding that additional ground also lowers perception of oppressiveness.