The conflict of landscape aesthetic preferences with sustainable green space in arid regions

Abstract

One of the social and citizen demands increasing in developing countries, is the expansion and rehabilitation of urban green spaces. In this case, population growth and lack of sustainable water resources is one of important challenges facing the arid regions. Change in style and paradigm of landscape design in arid areas with regard to the priority of reducing water consumption, can lead to social discontent caused by xeriscaping and creation of low input green spaces. Rising visual demand in society towards green spaces in recent decades as a result of improper selection of landscape design patterns, especially in dry areas, is the main background for a possible conflict between aesthetic preferences and sustainable green space in this region. In xeriscaping, integration of effective factors in aesthetic perception with relevant variables in planting design less has been considered. Effective factors in aesthetic perception are nine visual concepts include coherence, disturbance, stewardship, imageability, visual scale, naturalness, historicity and ephemera. Seven fundamental principles of xeriscaping are plan and design for water conservation, improve the soil, limit turf area or select alternatives, irrigate efficiently, select appropriate plants and hydrozone plants, mulch to reduce evaporation, maintaining a xeriscape. Despite researches showing that xeriscaping could usually reduce landscape water consumption by one-third however, many people were initially reluctant to substitute it for conventional landscaping. A common perception was that xeriscape were drab and barren and featured nothing more than rocks and some succulent and cacti. In this paper, on the one hand the aesthetic preferences of landscape and green space and also options of design in arid regions of Iran have been explored and on the other hand, the reasons of possible confrontation between these two major issues and suitable strategies for reducing the conflict, has been discussed and analyzed. Among of nine concept of aesthetics that affect social preferences, the concepts of complexity, coherence, imageability and ephemera in green spaces of arid regions, are faced with more challenges than other concepts. Since in the xeriscaping, use of drought-resistant plants is one of the principles so, for low diversity in ornamental plant species and partial removal of lawns and water element in the landscape, aesthetic preferences of citizens, will not be fulfilled completely. Social awareness toward the water crisis in the arid and semi-arid regions of Iran, ornamental plant domestication and import of drought resistant species as alternatives and also creativity and innovation in designing of xeriscaping, can decrease the possible dissatisfaction of the citizens from the sustainable and rational development of green spaces in dry climates.