Elevating Urban Vitality by Unveiling the Impact of Building Aesthetics on Visitors’ Perceptions (Case Study: Kavling DPR Sidoarjo)

Urban vitality, including diversity of land use, small block sizes, diversity of buildings, and density of people and buildings, contributes to the economic growth and urban resilience. As city grows, the commercial facilities are expanding across cities. However, COVID-19 hit commercial facilities and forced the owners to permanently close the shops, though several shops were still surviving from the economic crisis. By looking at the urban vitality in the commercial district, this paper aims to determine the aesthetic factors affecting the vitality of the commercial district through visitors’ perceptions. Using Kavling DPR as a case study and employing a quantitative approach from 100 questionnaires, takes findings revealed that though the lack of variety in land use, building aesthetic and users’ experiences are the main factors in urban vitality of commercial districts. Optimizing those factors can prevent the decrease in the vitality of the commercial district.