Where Youth Look in Urban Public Space: An Eye-Tracking Study of Visual Attention Across Spatial Elements in Jaipur, India

Urban public spaces matter for young people, yet how youth visually engage with the spatial elements of Indian cities remains largely unstudied. This exploratory study uses screen-based eye tracking to examine how 43 design-discipline students (aged 18–29) allocate visual attention across urban public space scenes in Jaipur, India. Thirty photographic stimuli sampling five Lynch-derived spatial elements—edge, landmark, path, plaza, and transit node—across six public spaces were each analyzed through four semantic areas of interest (built form, human and vehicular activity, natural elements, and circulation), using fixation count, total fixation duration, time to first fixation, and visit count. Attention was allocated unevenly: built form and human activity dominated the youth gaze, while natural elements consistently drew less focal attention—interpreted as restorative background rather than low importance. Landmarks anchored attention most strongly and transit nodes least. Notably, socially active and visually complex elements did not capture the gaze earliest but held it longest, suggesting that what sustains youth attention is dissociable from what initially attracts it. Inferential tests are treated as exploratory given the repeated-measures design. As the first AOI-based account of youth visual attention in Indian heritage public space, this study offers a transferable protocol and preliminary, exploratory directions for youth-responsive design—including visual anchoring at neglected transit nodes and the use of greenery for ambient comfort rather than focal emphasis.