The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception and evaluation of actual visitors to industrial facility regeneration parks using Google Maps review data. Google Maps review data allows individuals to subjectively express their perception and e...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception and evaluation of actual visitors to industrial facility regeneration parks using Google Maps review data. Google Maps review data allows individuals to subjectively express their perception and evaluation of specific locations, including emotional assessments through ratings. To achieve this, various spaces with different operators, utilization methods, and characteristics overseas were investigated through literature review. Places with over 1,000 Google Maps reviews were selected as the target locations. Ultimately, Zollverein Park, Duisburg Environment Park, and Gasworks Park were chosen for analysis. Review data for each location was extracted using a JavaScript-based web Crawling code, and the data was refined by constructing a stop-word dictionary for meaningful analysis. Additionally, the Voyant tool was employed for text mining visualization to analyze the collected data visually and derive the characteristics of each park. The analysis process was complemented by concurrent literature review to understand the context of the text. The results of the study revealed common characteristics, indicating that each regeneration park’s activities are not significantly different from those in general parks. Activities such as ‘walking,’ ‘admiring,’ ‘picnicking,’ and ‘playing’ were identified across the parks. Through the network structure of the review texts, central texts with high centrality and related sub-keywords’ characteristics were discerned. Keywords that prominently appeared for each park were categorized into three features: keywords related to general park usage patterns, keywords related to perceptions and utilization patterns of industrial facilities, and keywords recognizing the historical significance of the area. All three parks were popular among locals and tourists, with representative keywords related to industrial facility perceptions such as ‘landmark’ and ‘grand’ prominently featured. Perceptions of industrial facilities were observed to be formed more through programs utilizing the buildings rather than the buildings themselves. While most parks received positive emotional evaluations, Gasworks Park exhibited negative perceptions on certain occasions due to serious waste and hygiene issues. The utilization of user perception analysis through Google Maps reviews was confirmed as an efficient and useful resource for understanding overall activities and place perceptions.