Exploring the Educational Effects of a Point-Cloud-Derived 3D Urban Model on Residents’ Spatial Understanding and Evacuation Behavioral Intentions for Sustainable Community-Based Tsunami Evacuation Education

This study explored the preliminary educational effects of a tsunami evacuation program using a streetscape reconstructed from a real district with a 3D laser scanner. The study area was Ono-machi, Kanazawa City, Japan, where 652 scan positions were captured using a Leica BLK360; the resulting point clouds were registered, cleaned, converted into a mesh model, and imported into Unity to build a desktop-based 3D evacuation experience. Twenty-five residents participated, operating the system individually or in small groups, discussing evacuation decisions, and completing pre- and post-experience questionnaires. Exploratory pre–post comparisons using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test were conducted for the 22 complete paired responses. Because five corresponding pairs were tested, the possibility of Type I error inflation due to multiple comparisons was considered. The results were interpreted using both uncorrected p -values and a Bonferroni-adjusted significance threshold of 0.01. The largest improvement was observed in the understanding of hazardous locations, with a mean increase of 1.59 points and a large effect size. The improvement in consideration of detours and alternative routes also remained below the adjusted threshold. Other corresponding item pairs showed positive descriptive changes and uncorrected p -values below 0.05, but they did not meet the Bonferroni-adjusted threshold. Therefore, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary evidence that a locally grounded, point-cloud-derived 3D urban model may support residents’ place-based understanding of local hazards and evacuation-related reflection. By supporting local risk communication, preparedness, and evacuation-related reflection, this approach may contribute to sustainable community-based disaster-prevention education and the development of more resilient coastal communities.