Use of mixed methods in road landscape perception studies: an example from Latvia

Abstract

We see, use and interact with different type of landscape every day. One of the important types is the road landscape we encounter during travel, whether a business trip, vacation or just on the way to and from home. Such landscapes can often help to introduce us to new regions or invite us to explore the surrounding areas because we partly experience the world around us from the road. Road landscapes combine important aspects of road and transport infrastructure as well as the quality of life of local people, traffic safety and tourism development. Road landscape development concerns both landowners and road users, each of whom might have different interests and understanding about possible landscape development and its consequences. Therefore, it is important to plan, discuss, present, and evaluate the future developments of any road landscape. The subject of road landscape has been little studied in Latvia. There are no recommendations on road landscape evaluation. Here we present a methodology for assessing perceptions of road landscapes. We aim to introduce several methods in combination that can be used in road landscape assessment, in order to show possible future developments of the road corridor and its surroundings and to test how potential changes might be perceived by road users. A combination of a case study approach, a scenario method, the use of 3D animations and of a web-based questionnaire survey are presented and discussed in the paper.