The importance of seeking a win-win solution in shaping the vegetation of military heritage landscapes: The role of legibility, naturalness and user preference

Abstract

Vegetation in historic fortification areas is sometimes perceived mainly through the prism of the threat it poses to the historic structures. However, its presence can be socially desirable. Therefore, a question arises regarding how to shape military heritage landscapes in order to ensure their legibility and the optimal degree of naturalness. This study attempts to identify the nature of the relationship between the legibility and naturalness of military heritage landscapes (19th–20th century) in five European countries as well as the social preference for these landscapes, taking into account the complexity of these relationships (mediating effects). A more in-depth exploration may be helpful in determining the potential directions for contemporary shaping of the green areas of historic fortifications, taking into account social expectations and preference. This study examined the preference of 131 participants (age range 17–76 year; Mage = 38.3; SDage = 15.61) for 57 sites in terms of naturalness and legibility via participation in a questionnaire survey assessing reactions to naturalness, legibility and preference for three different maintenance categories of military heritage landscapes (‘well-kept’, ‘partly-wild’ and ‘wild’). Correlations between variables and mediating effects (suppressions) were analysed. A negative correlation was demonstrated between naturalness and legibility. Moreover, naturalness does not correlate with preference, which can be explained by the influence of legibility. The legibility correlates positively with preference, but this correlation would have been stronger were it not for the influence of naturalness. The outcome suggests that the most popular fortifications are maintained in a way that allows vegetation to appear, while at the same time at least partially preserving the legibility of the structures.