Students' landscaping preferences for open spaces for their campus environment

Abstract

This study seeks to find appropriate landscape patterns of campus based on students’ preferences. A photo questionnaire containing scenes of different types of campus landscapes was distributed among 200 students in University of Tabriz, Iran. The results emphasized the importance of vegetation, seating areas and water features of campuses. Also, students prefer open spaces consisting of lawn and grass (M = 3.31, S.D. = 1.00). Students also prefer a campus, which has a natural base, landscape elements and seating places, while the least preferred (M = 2.96, S.D. = 0.89) scenes comprise a large amount of hardscape. Students had a different preference for landscaping of open study area and leisure time place where the studying area should be designed with vertical natural elements. Shading trees and benches were also highlighted as very important furniture for these places. In terms of spatial organization, the content analysis revealed that these areas should be open and spacious. Places for leisure time need to be decorated with informal landscape design for creating a pleasant view. Designing a landscape with various forms will make these places more pleasant. Scenes of curved paths and colourful plants for these places showed a positive association with student socialization activities.