Abstract
The perception of apparent sizes of buildings in a rural environment depends on the height ratio between the building and its surrounding vegetation, and it is this parameter which is currently used to assess the built landscapes. The impact of a contrasting height is less strong if the building does not exceed the horizon line. For buildings overshooting the skyline, the building’s level of sharpness and number of lines in contrast to the sky determines the impact of the scales, and vegetation in the background helps to reduce impact. The specific objectives of the present study were: (1) finding height–ratio thresholds between building and background vegetation, which may improve the integration of rural buildings in sky-sensitive locations, and; (2) comparing the results in two rural contexts with very different climatic conditions: Spain and Sweden. A survey of eighteen scenarios (nine Spanish and nine Swedish), all digitally modified with different relative height ratios between vegetation and buildings, was performed. The survey was evaluated by the public from both countries. Regardless of the country of origin, integration of the building was good or very good when the vegetation in background did not exceed one half of the height of the construction. These results may be translated to technical criteria for planning assessment.
Highlights
The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) analysis yielded a significant effect of CO on the dependent variable Rating Average (RA) (Table 1)
There was some interaction between HR and CO factors (HR was not assessed in the same levels by Spanish and Swedish respondents) (Table 2)
Vegetation may improve the integration of buildings into the landscape [49,50,52], and the present study provides, for the first time, a quantization of this effect which may be used fruitfully in planning activity
Summary
The Role of Vegetation in Modern Society. The use of vegetation in human settings improves some relevant and quantifiable environmental factors, such as air quality, energy saving, hygrothermal comfort, reduction of noise pollution, and control of erosion and storm floods [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Biodiversity of urban cores benefits from the establishment of wild flora and fauna in green areas [7,8,9], and vegetation screens hide annoying landscapes or shocking views [10,11,12]. Social, medical, psychological, and aesthetic benefits of vegetation have been reported [13,14,15,16,17]. A 10 to 15% reduction in winter heating costs due to tree windbreaks, and a 20 to 50% reduction in summer cooling costs due to shade and cooling via evapotranspiration, have been reported [26]
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