Differences in Public Space Perception and Satisfaction Between Residents and Tourists in Fenghuang Historic Town, Southern Shaanxi, China

Understanding residents’ and tourists’ public space perceptions and satisfaction was essential for the sustainable planning and tourism development of historic towns. However, limited attention has been paid to the different perceptions between the two groups, as well as the nonlinear relationship between public space perception and satisfaction. Taking Fenghuang Ancient Town as the study area, this study used independent sample t-tests to examine the differences between residents and tourists. The XGBoost-SHAP model was further applied to identify key influencing factors and nonlinear interaction mechanisms affecting satisfaction. The results showed that: (1) residents perceived higher public awareness, space openness, and accessibility, whereas tourists reported higher crowd density and business prosperity; (2) color harmony most strongly influenced residents’ satisfaction, while spatial comfort had the strongest influence on tourists’ satisfaction; (3) color harmony and spatial comfort positively affected satisfaction, whereas space openness (residents) and crowd density (tourists) showed U-shaped relationships; and (4) for residents, the strongest interaction was between color harmony and business prosperity (0.015), while for tourists it was between spatial comfort and color harmony (0.038). These findings provided evidence-based guidance for sustainable public space planning and cultural heritage tourism management, contributing to inclusive governance and the long-term sustainability of historic towns.