Exploring Landscape Perceptions of Bukhansan National Park According to the Degree of Visitors’ Experience

Kyu-Chul Lee,Yong-Hoon Son

doi:10.3390/su9081306

Abstract

This study explores differing landscape perceptions of Bukhansan National Park according to the degree of visitors’ familiarity, and discusses the utilization of commonality and diversity of landscape perception in sustainable landscape management. Visitor-employed photography (VEP) was used to capture the overall response to experiencing landscape directly on-site. According to the degree of familiarity of national parks, visitors were recruited into two groups: inexperienced group (the novice group) and experienced group (the veteran group). We collected photographs and photo-logs of liked and disliked landscape from the participants. Additional interviews were conducted to supplement the content of the photo-logs. The objects of landscape were classified into spatial configurations and specific elements. The cognitive process of landscape perception is divided into four stages: perceptual, expressive, interpretative, and symbolic. Emphasizing the narrative aspects of landscape, accepting and interpreting the phenomenon can vary according to an individual's interest and background. We used semantic network analysis to analyze the content of participants’ photo-logs. The content at the interpretative level showed that the two groups had very different perceptions of anthropic elements. The novice group emphasized walkability and accessibility, while the veteran group regarded naturalness and historicity as more important. In conclusion, it is a very useful way to analyze the differences of perceptions of two visitors, both the novice group and the veteran group to grasp the positive or negative perceptions of people’s impacts on the landscape. Understanding the value of relevant visitors through analysis results is one way to resolve potential conflicts.

Highlights

Public perception-based approaches [1,2,3,4] to assessing landscape quality have been actively used in landscape assessment studies, complementing the shortcomings of expert-led approaches [5,6,7]
In terms of the frequency of the object of landscape photographed, spatial configurations were most common in the novice group (36.0%), versus anthropic elements in the veteran group (44.1%)
The total number of photographs was higher in the veteran group (n = 111) than in the novice group (n = 86)

Summary

Introduction

Public perception-based approaches [1,2,3,4] to assessing landscape quality have been actively used in landscape assessment studies, complementing the shortcomings of expert-led approaches [5,6,7]. The cognitive process of landscape perception is divided into four major levels of knowledge or sense (perceptual, expressive, interpretative, and symbolic) [22]. The perceptual and expressive level of the cognitive process emphasize the commonality of landscape perception based on evolutionary theory, and the interpretational and symbolic level can grasp the diversity of perception based on the cultural theory (see Figure 1). The study explains the commonality and diversity of landscape perceptions of the two groups (the novice group and the veteran group), as response of cognitive process (perceptual, expressive, interpretative, and symbolic). We discuss the ways in which the two groups’ various perceptions could be in line sustainable landscape management practice

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Overview of Individual Landscape Perceptions

Differences in Perceptions of Spatial Configurations of Landscape

Differences in Perceptions of Specific Elements of Landscape

Conclusions