Studies on Visual Environment Phenomena of Urban Areas: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The visual environment in the development of urban areas plays an essential role, especially in the case of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The development of TOD facilitates many human activities, so it requires a high-quality visual environment. This study aims to identify and map visual environment phenomena that occur in TOD using a keyword from eight TOD principles and analyze through a systematic review method. Two hundred sixty articles are selected from scopus.com and go through the analysis process, and only 31 articles used in this review. The results arranged based on its importance at TOD: visual performance, visual comfort, and visual experience. Based on the phenomena in visual performance, stakeholders must consider the fulfilment of users activities, namely cyclist, elderly, and pedestrian. Based on phenomena in visual comfort, stakeholders must consider all places in the urban area, namely neighbourhood, building, and street. Lastly, based on phenomena in visual experience, stakeholders must consider the effect on the health, social life and safety of users and also the face of the city. The purpose of this mapping is to raise awareness of its importance and drive more research in the field of the visual environment in urban areas. The stakeholders can consider this mapping to determine the TOD development policy.