Abstract
Motorways are large infrastructures that alter the environmental resources in a territory, while constituting an important element through which the individual comes into contact with the landscape. Motorways are integrated in the landscape through their layout design and construction, the aesthetic details of minor structures (design and building materials) and the treatment of embankments and landscape planting. In this paper, we test the following hypotheses: motorway elements are related to the perception of landscape quality—from the point of view of the road users—and the aesthetic characteristics of minor infrastructures and planting affect the quality of the landscape perceived from the roads. These research questions were tested by comparing the visual quality of the landscapes captured in 128 photographs taken from sections of motorways in Spain. We compared the results obtained from (a) a photo-based method, and (b) the public’s landscape preferences determined using a survey of 737 people. The results show a correlation between the landscape quality values obtained using the model and the landscape preferences expressed by the public. We also found that the presence of the motorway elements and their aesthetic characteristics are significant in the users’ perception. These results can be applied in the decision-making process for potential investments to integrate new and existing motorways in the landscape.
Highlights
The visual connections people make with the environment are crucial in landscape planning and management [1]
Recreation and heritage values, visual landscapes play a key role in cultural ecosystem services—benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living [4,5]
A photo-based method of assessing visual landscape quality was used to evaluate the landscape shown in each photograph
Summary
The visual connections people make with the environment are crucial in landscape planning and management [1]. Visual landscapes are an intrinsic part of the cultural perception of the environment and people’s attachment to the territory and their quality of life [2,3] Due to their aesthetic, recreation and heritage values, visual landscapes play a key role in cultural ecosystem services—benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living [4,5]. The European Landscape Convention (ELC) [8] incorporates the importance of the relationship between human perception and the environment in its definition of landscape as “the territory perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors”. The definition mentions the “character” of the landscape, which—according to [10]—is “the presence, variety and arrangement of landscape features, which give a landscape a specific identity and make it stand out from surrounding landscapes”
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