Assessment of landscape quality based on the perception of people: study of two parks in Newcastle upon Tyne

Abstract

People experience different types of landscapes every day. The quality of these landscapes has a major effect on their psychological well-being and general satisfaction of a place. Determining the quality of landscapes is an important issue for policy makers and planners, especially when making decisions about the conservation or transformation of urban landscapes. Defining quality based on people’s perception has received significant attention from planners and decision makers as it can lead to greater public involvement and improve the reliability of the decisions. This research aimed to determine the criteria important for landscape quality assessment by using walk-and-talk interviews in two green landscapes in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). The attributes affecting people’s choices include naturalness, locomotion, smoothness, surprise, variety, sense of place, tranquillity, rarity, legibility, safety, complexity, mystery, openness, accessibility, maintenance and management. Not all of these attributes have the same weight, as some are more influential in determining people’s preferences, however, categorizing them into primary and secondary attributes, provided a means of evaluating landscape that is less costly and time-consuming.