Landscape Perception Research Articles

Rural landscapes in Latvia: a comparative analysis of representations and perceptions

As a reflection of Latvian identity, the country’s rural landscapes are a living embodiment of both natural and cultural heritage, contributing to quality of life for local communities and serving as a magnetic pulling factor for international tourists. Traditional farmsteads (viensētas) are perceived as symbolic spaces which have developed gradually, especially since the 19th Century, through annual cycles of farm work alongside extensive farming. Yet their existence is threatened by the impact of transitional changes such as depopulation, globalisation, the non-competitive nature of traditional farming models, and changes in society and the lifestyle of young people. Many abandoned farmsteads are disappearing under large areas of cropland or forest, and some newly built private houses do not have a connection with the traditional rural landscape. The aim of this study is to explore the way that perceptions of farmsteads and rural landscapes have changed over time within local communities. This is done by comparing representations of countryside landscape ideals in the media from 1920 to 1940 and perceptions of farmsteads as an element of countryside landscapes within local rural communities today (<12 % of the population of Latvia lived on a farmstead in 2019). The findings show that in the period when most people lived in the countryside, a particular kind of idealised rural landscape was often visually represented in the mainstream media, strengthening stereotypes about symbolic landscapes. These concepts are still strongly rooted in the perceptions of current rural inhabitants and there was consensus among respondents about the elements which are associated with high-quality rural landscapes. Although the daily routines of the traditional farmstead today have been changed by a number of factors and many elements of the rural landscape have lost their functionality, symbolism — including the iconic image of separate family farmsteads — helps to maintain a continuing metanarrative of national identity, creating nostalgic ties which lead many to have a preference for living in the countryside, holding perceptions about the availability of various ecosystem services next door which will improve their quality of life.

ПРОСТРАНСТВА КИНО: ОБРАЗНЫЙ МИР КУЛЬТУРНОГО ЛАНДШАФТА. ОБЗОР VI МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ НАУЧНОЙ КОНФЕРЕНЦИИ «ГЕОГРАФИЯ ИСКУССТВА»

The international scientific conference “Geography of Art” is devoted to the development of a wide problematic field of interaction between art and geographic space. It traditionally considers not only spacing of artifacts and monuments over the earth’s surface, but also specific features related to the reflection of geographical space in art and creation of fantasy worlds in which the dependence on consistent patterns of the real world formation can easily be traced. The conference has been held since 2009; it was initiated by the geographer Yu.A. Vedenin and carried forward by the philosopher and culture specialist O.A. Lavrenova. In recent years, organizers of this representative forum are the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Arts, Film and Television School (GITR), the Russian State University for the Humanities. In 2020, for the first time the conference was held online. As always, there was discussed the role of territorial factors in formation of art schools and individual works, as well as a creative perception of the cultural landscape, the place of art in the formation of the territory image. An important topic was a concept of space in art works, the possibilities of comprehending, transforming, “reformatting” the space by different art types including screen art, creating in this way the “increment of meaning” of places and regions. Within the framework of this conference there were discussed НАУКА ТЕЛЕВИДЕНИЯ № 16.3, 2020 162 THE ART AND SCIENCE OF TELEVISION historical and cultural features of the national and world cinema, which capture real spaces and create their own modifications. Participants touched upon the topic of traveling in the cinema, virtual representations of cultural landscapes using digital narratives and, accordingly, the possibilities and specific features of the virtual travel. The issue of studying urban spaces by means of cinema was considered in a wide semantic variety—from buffoonery to marginality. A city appears as a universal scenery for a performance while real street loci with their inhabitants become heroes of modern visual media. A separate topic was the discussion of constructed spaces of Korean TV series and their adaptation in Russian culture as a tangible result of the process of intercultural communication. All the above mentioned studies represented by conference participants actually complement each other in terms of understanding the figurative component of the cultural landscape.

NEW PARADIGMS OF TERRITORIAL PLANNING AND (POST-)MINING ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION IN THE ANDES

The paper argues for the necessity of a new paradigm of ecological restoration in the face of mining extraction in the Latin American Andes. It begins with a critical reading of the extra-territorial connections between mining sites and settlements and unfolds their ambivalent relations through chronic cycles of ecological destruction. The analysis focuses on the territorial logics embedded in four mining-settlements of the Peruvian Andes and their development from the eighteenth to the twentyfirst century. Potosí, Huancavelica, Hualgayoc, and Cajamarca form part of an extended network of landscape infrastructures and headwater resources, all of which have been (and continue to be) significantly disturbed through mining operations. The sites have inherited a relentless production of Acid Mine Drainage in addition to other hazardous post-mining ecologies. Tangible evidence of ecological misbalance demonstrates the enduring impact of past-mining activities even centuries after mineral extraction has ceased. The paper reflects on present-day practices of post-mining landscape restoration in accordance with current Peruvian legislation. It concludes with a plea for a new form of territorial planning as well as both the conception and perception of post-mining landscapes through inclusion of design strategies for Cajamarca. Such planning needs to reconcile the contradictory elements of mineral extraction, environmental engineering, and self-sustainable ecological development. Intelligent design research is a major support for such an endeavor.

ECOLOGICAL OR NATURALISTIC:A BRIEF REVIEW AND SEVERAL THOUGHTS ON CONTEMPORARY PLANTING DESIGN

<i>Nature</i> is a cultural construct, and a symbolic form to our cultural landscape. It plays a critical role in the profession of Landscape Architecture, shaping both the practice in the constructed environment as well as the conception of landscape in Pedagogy. This article evaluates contemporary landscape architecture practice in the U.S. through the lens of planting design and ecological design approaches. This retrospect situates selected individuals and their practices in the field of landscape architecture in the past two decades, in parallel with the evolving ecological understanding. These individuals and their works demonstrate the changes in planting design and ecological thinking in the professional practice, and most importantly how these changes contribute to current ecological design methodologies, landscape aesthetics, and public perception of landscape. In addition, the article aims to illustrate a shifting conception of <i>Nature</i> over time and in different cultural context, in which different conceptions of Nature facilitate various approaches to addressing environmental issues. By situating in such context, the article hopes to provide a critical view of contemporary American landscape architecture practice and the current ecological agenda, in order to enable discussions regarding the professional practice in the future.

Up close and personal: Using high engagement techniques to study Chinese visitors' landscape perceptions

Given the well-documented increase in Chinese outbound tourists, it is no surprise that the Chinese market continues to attract considerable scholarly interest. Previous studies have been primarily quantitative, using methods and instruments administered prior to and/or immediately after visitation. While useful, such approaches may struggle to capture the complex cultural attributes of the Chinese market. Accordingly, this paper proposes the adoption of high-engagement (HE) methods, namely Accompanied Walk and Visitor Employed Photography (VEP), as additional in-situ techniques for studying Chinese visitors. Drawing on fieldwork conducted at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, this paper details the procedures of using HE approaches to collect data. An insider positionality and triangulation of data from multiple techniques are particularly useful for unravelling cultural nuances. The strengths of each method in obtaining quality data from Chinese tourists are discussed, together with strategies for overcoming challenges encountered in the field.

“COHERENCE OF THE WORLD”: NATURE IN GLEB SEMYONOV’s POEMS

Intertextual connections, interiorization (internalization), “naturalization” of man, change of visual “plans”, impressionistic vision of nature - these and many other methods define the poetics of the Leningrad poet Gleb Semyonov (1918 - 1982), as well as make his lyrics an exemplary model, demonstrating the “mechanisms” of the poetic landscape perception. This determines the purpose of the study and its practical significance.

Determination of Spatial Preferences Based on Visual Perception in Urban Landscape: Case of Topkapı City Park

Kentsel peyzajlar, sahip oldukları değerler ile insanlar tarafından farklı şekilde algılanırlar. Algılama sonucu oluşan değerlendirmeler, kişilerin çevresel tercihlerini etkileyerek, planlama ve tasarım süreçlerinde de yol gösterici olmaktadır. Bu kapsamda çalışmada; görsel algıya dayalı olarak geliştirilen yöntem ile peyzaja ilişkin mekân tercihlerinin belirlenmesi hedeflenmiştir. Bu amaçla İstanbul Topkapı Şehir Parkı örneğinde, uzman ve kullanıcıların algılarına dayalı olarak görsel yönden çekicilik gösteren alanlar tanımlanmıştır. Yöntem çerçevesinde, Topkapı Şehir Parkı’nın farklı noktalarını içeren 43 adet fotoğraf; 8 adet parametre (doğallık, uyum, bakım, sadelik, heyecan vericilik, düzen, güven ve manzara güzelliği) temelinde Likert ölçeği kullanılarak uzman ve kullanıcılara dayalı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Değerlendirmeler, tanımlayıcı istatistikler (% değer, aritmetik ortalama ve standart sapma) çerçevesinde yorumlanmış ve elde edilen bulgular sonucunda görsel yönden çekicilik gösteren alanlar tanımlanmıştır. Değerlendirmeler sonucunda, görüntülere ilişkin olarak mekânsal karakteristikler açısından; bitkisel düzenlemelerin ön planda olduğu, doğal ve yapay peyzaj elemanlarının uyumlu ve düzenli bir şekilde bulunarak, manzara üstünlüğü gösteren alanlar tercih edilmiştir.

Changes of Landscape Perception in Seoullo7017 with Different Planting Design, based on Landscape Simulation

Changes of Landscape Perception in Seoullo7017 with Different Planting Design, based on Landscape Simulation

The visual impact of agricultural sheds on rural landscapes: The willingness to pay for mitigation solutions and treatment effects

New rural and industrial sheds cause significant transformations determining a negative change in landscape perception. In this paper the willingness to pay (WTP) of residents to mitigate the visual impact of sheds in the rural areas of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato” is estimated through a Choice Experiment (CE). The CE survey was carried out through face-to-face interviews involving 400 residents. The set of mitigation attributes was selected by means of a landscape analysis and presented to respondents using a set of images (close and distant views). Conditional Logit (CLogit) and Mixed Logit (MXL) models both in preference and in WTP space were estimated. From the empirical point of view, the study shows that sheds are generally perceived as negative landscape elements, and that residents are willing to pay for mitigation solutions, such as tree lines and formal hedgerows. The results are relevant for policy makers since they suggest how agricultural sheds are perceived and which mitigation strategies are preferred by local residents. From the methodological point of view, we estimate and test different models for assessing the effect of the visual treatment (close vs distant view). We show the theoretical equivalence of a fully interacted model (i.e., estimated on the whole sample and including interaction terms with the treatment), with split models of the choice for separate subsamples submitted or not to the treatment. We find that in estimation the equivalence holds in the results of Conditional Logit models, but not in Mixed Logit models. The reasons and implications are discussed.

Assessing stakeholder perceptions of landscape and place in the context of a major river intervention: a call for their inclusion in adaptive management

AbstractAdaptive management strategies are required to manage multi-actor and multifunctional river landscapes. Such strategies need to be inclusive of perspectives of different stakeholders. We present a case study of a pilot engineering project in the Dutch river Waal, which drastically changed the appearance of the river landscape. We study perceptions of four stakeholder groups (residents, recreational anglers, recreational boaters and shipping professionals) regarding the impacts of this intervention on landscape values, including aesthetics, naturalness, biodiversity, flood safety and accessibility. Results show that stakeholders differ in which functions of the river landscape they find important and how they perceive the longitudinal dams to influence the landscape. They also differ in levels of place attachment and trust in the responsible authority. Shipping professionals stand out for their more negative evaluations of the dams compared to the other stakeholders, while especially residents demonstrate high levels of place identity and connection with nature. Residents also feel that the dams are improving flood risk safety in the area, and they positively evaluate knowledge and skills of Dutch water managers. These results provide water managers with much needed insights into landscape functions valued by different stakeholder groups and those perceived as most endangered by landscape interventions.

Effects of audio-visual interactions on soundscape and landscape perception and their influence on satisfaction with the urban environment

This study investigated the relationship between overall satisfaction with the urban environment and its soundscape and landscape based on a subjective evaluation of the audio-visual interaction effects within various urban spaces with different environmental conditions. Actual site conditions were simulated using immersive virtual reality technology in which subjects were provided with visual information via a head-mounted display (HMD) and audio information via head-tracking technology using the first-order ambisonics (FOA) of headphone-based three-dimensional auralization. Subjective responses to sound sources and visual elements such as cognitive response, semantic expression, and rated satisfaction were investigated in audio-visual as well as audio- and visual-only environments. It was shown that the availability of visual information affects the auditory perception of a number of human-made and natural sounds and the availability of audio information affects the visual perception of various visual elements. Semantic differential evaluation revealed that pleasantness and eventfulness and overall quality, regularity, spatial impression, and naturalness were the main evaluation factors for soundscapes and landscapes, respectively. One new finding was that audio information affects the perception of the naturalness of a landscape. Audio and visual information had effects of 24 and 76%, respectively, on overall satisfaction. Based on our findings, overall satisfaction models based on audio-visual elements and soundscape and landscape components, which exhibited 31 and 51% explanatory powers, respectively, were proposed. These newly proposed audio-visual interaction-based satisfaction models can be used for better urban planning.

The Changing Cultural Dimensions of Biodiversity Conservation

Agriculture involves the redirection of wild ecosystems to the production of food. This trade-off between farming and biodiversity conservation is often discussed in terms of land sharing or land sparing and rewilding. However, this choice also reflects the perceptions of ideal landscapes, which are partly based on culture and memory.

Conceptual Basis for William Wordsworth’s Rejection to Science. Computational Analysis of the Lexicon in The Prelude

Much of the literary criticism devoted to interpreting the work of W. Wordsworth tries, on the one hand, to overcome and moderate, or, on the other hand, to directly accept the manifest opposition against science and scientific practices that the poet maintains, mainly throughout his work The Prelude . I will examine the conceptual basis of such hostile attitude by digitally analyzing the lexicon used in this work. The results obtained permit confirming Wordsworth’s hostility towards science, and more precisely, the prejudice that modern science would not allow a humanized perception of nature. But I argue that this attitude is due to a latent enchanted worldview, in a Weberian sense, more suitable for the sentimental description than for the perception and description of the natural landscape based on the explanatory knowledge of nature.

To See Without Being Seen: Landscape perception and human behaviour in urban parks

The ambiguous relationship between people and the environment runs back to millions of years and the concept of ‘to see without being seen’ has evolved from the past. As Appleton claims, the genes of our ancestors who preferred such environments are still with us and we prefer environments with our biological instincts. In this paper, four different urban restorative environments have been examined to test the ‘prospects’ and ‘refuges’ preference of the users of those places. This is tested under four aspects of the ‘prospects-refuges’ relationship such as; Strong prospect (open view, open observing point), Inversely balanced (close view, open observing point), Perfectly balanced (open view and closed observing point) and Strong refuge (close view and close observing point) in order to inquire about the subjective perspective of preference which claims that preferences are based on individuals. The paper explores the perception of Beddagana wetland park, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and Diyasarupark, Thalawathugoda prevalent among the every-day users as well as the experts in the landscape design field. The paper demonstrates that the highest preferences of both the user groups have been towards the ‘Perfectly balanced’ prospect refuge scenario which supports the ability to see without being seen. The paper argues that this result may be useful in designing specific spaces of urban landscapes.

From Hutchinsonian ratios to spatial scaling theory: the interplay among limiting similarity, body size and landscape structure

Spatial scaling theory (SST) relates the physical structure of the environment to species coexistence and community assembly. Although SST is a recognized theory in ecology, few studies have evaluated its predictions, producing contradictory results and frequently failing to meet its assumptions. In addition, the ‘risk predictions’ of SST regarding an increase in species similarity with body size and the dependence of this pattern on the landscape and food fractal dimensions have not been evaluated. This study attempted to account for previous limitations, analyzing these predictions in coleopteran guilds that inhabit 18 temporary ponds. This metacommunity covers a large gradient of environmental variables, including food density, the landscape fractal dimension, the food fractal dimensions and other indicators of pond heterogeneity. Average similarity in carnivorous and herbivorous body sizes systematically increased with guild richness, fulfilling classical predictions of niche theory. Species similarity was associated with body size, but the association reverts from negative to positive as the landscape fractal dimension and heterogeneity increases, a pattern further supported by null model analyses. Several nonexclusive mechanisms may account for this pattern: 1) the body size‐dependent landscape perception, through which small animals detect more heterogeneity than larger animals; 2) the reaching of landscape limits by larger species, which prevents them from accessing novel largest clusters; 3) the large differences between the landscape and food fractal dimensions; and 4) the homogenization of the landscape when an integer fractal dimension is reached. These mechanisms may dictate that smaller organisms are more able to capitalize on heterogeneity or available resources than larger organisms, thus promoting increased similarity among smaller species. The presented results support the connection between landscape spatial structure and biodiversity and a mechanistic understanding of this connection from the SST.

Management of mountainous meadows associated with biodiversity attributes, perceived health benefits and cultural ecosystem services

Associations between biodiversity, human health and well-being have never been discussed with reference to agriculturally managed, species-rich mountainous meadows. We evaluated these associations between extensively managed (one mowing a year, no fertilization) and abandoned (no mowing since more than 80 years, no fertilization) semi-dry meadows located in the Austrian and Swiss Alps. We quantified the richness and abundance of plants, grasshoppers, true bugs, bumblebees, syrphids and landscape characteristics in the surroundings of the meadows. Associations between these biodiversity attributes and short-term psychological and physiological human health effects were assessed with 22 participants (10 males, 12 females; mean age 27 years). Participants´ pulse rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were not affected during visits to managed or abandoned meadows. However, perceived health benefits (e.g., stress reduction, attention restoration) were higher during their stays in managed than in abandoned meadows. Also, the attractiveness of the surrounding landscape and the recreation suitability were rated higher when visiting managed meadows. Perceived naturalness was positively correlated with plant richness and flower cover. A positive correlation was found between SBP and forest cover, but SBP was negatively correlated with the open landscape. A negative association was found between grasshoppers and recreational and landscape perceptions. We suggest to discuss biodiversity attributes not only in connection with agricultural management but also with cultural ecosystem services and health benefits to raise more awareness for multifaceted interrelationships between ecosystems and humans.

Cartographies of encounters: Understanding conflict transformation through a collaborative exploration of youth spaces in Beirut

This paper explores practices and imaginations of space among young people in postwar Beirut. Relying on an innovative collaborative-mapping methodology, it shifts the focus from the traditional analysis of the city at war, centred on anxious urbanism, toward spatial dynamics of conflict transformation. It deploys an ethnographic approach to shed light on everyday perceptions of the urban landscape among a group of students. Their visions of space are composed along conventional tropes, comparable to Bakhtin's notion of chronotopes: images that connect temporal and spatial relationships to describe their ways of inhabiting the city. These images reveal that their experiences of space are not produced exclusively in relation to the memory of wartime topographies and politico-religious territories. Rather, they are also the result of their personal trajectories and agency. For these young people, ordinary encounters inspire a reframing of the political geography of the everyday, including renewed narratives on coexistence and strategies of circumventing the sense of spatial confinement they inherited from the war. The analysis shows that the experiences of these students stand in sharp contrast with the dominant image of unbending intergroup boundaries in postwar Lebanon. Young people's abilities to navigate, negotiate and rediscover social encounters in a complex, changing environment call attention to the transformative power of micro-situations in postwar contexts. Through highlighting their original lifestyles and ways of thinking, this paper argues that the city, far from only symbolising and reproducing conflicts, is also the place where mundane practices and imaginations reinvent the social fabric.

Consensus in factors affecting landscape preference: A case study based on a cross-cultural comparison

Consensus in preference is a central issue in landscape perception research. Several studies have highlighted the relationships between landscape preference and demographic variables; however, consensus among different countries' observers remains poorly understood. This study was primarily conducted to examine the consensus in factors affecting landscape preferences between potential Chinese and English rural tourists. A questionnaire survey and experimental eye-tracking methods were used. The results showed that, regarding preference for their home countries' rural landscapes, the importance of vegetation is significantly greater for Chinese than for English tourists. Generally, the dominant factors affecting Chinese landscape preference involved progressive enhancement with tranquillity, diversity, traditional characteristics, and maintenance of buildings and human constructions, while English preferences focused on multifaceted maintenance and avoiding the intrusion of building and human constructions. Regarding preferences in favour of Chinese rural landscapes, higher consensus was likely to occur for the most and least preferred landscapes when landscape types were combined, which was even more obvious for the Chinese than the English individuals. When landscape types were separated, there were significant correlations between Chinese and English preferences for natural landscape types, while the considerable difference regarding manmade landscape types could be greater depending on the effects of different factors affecting the preferences for their home countries' landscapes. In addition, a significant effect of observers’ attention pattern was presented, suggesting that landscapes providing an easy way to concentrate on smaller interest areas could significantly increase tranquillity and thus increase landscape preference. The present study provides evidence for previous judgement consensus studies and reference for the management or design of countryside landscapes with perceived restorative and visiting potential.

Landscape Perception in Peri-Urban Areas: an Expert-Based Methodological Approach

While there is general consensus on the importance of landscape perception in urban studies, there is still a need to broaden the toolkit for researchers and practitioners to document, analyse and interpret these inputs, in line with the postulates of the European Landscape Convention and overcoming conventional formats based on descriptions and static photography. This becomes particularly pertinent in the peri-urban landscapes of large cities, bearers of the relations and contradictions between urban growth, resource consumption and landscape protection, and especially vulnerable to tabula rasa approaches. We case study the surrounding landscapes of Madrid at a metropolitan scale, addressing the gap between scopes and scales of recent landscape reports and focusing on two elements connecting (visually, or physically) the city with its commuting zone: lookouts and roads. An expert-based methodology presents the criteria for their selection and a description of desk and field work. A sample for each local approach is further developed to exemplify the application, combining cartography, 3D modelling, visual basins, on-site photography and interpretive drawings. This results in a multifaceted vision of how the city and its hinterland is perceived, illustrating both outstanding and everyday landscapes and how they interweave in a continuous experience.

Research on Highway Landscape Design Based on Driver’s Visual Characteristics

In order to improve the theoretical system of highway landscape design, the road landscape design method based on driver’s visual characteristics was studied. Firstly, the changes of the visual characteristics of the driver’s light and dark adaptation, color perception, dynamic vision, and fixation point are analyzed. Secondly, from the perspective of different highway engineering structures, the landscape design methods based on visual characteristics are studied, including: central dividers, tunnels, flyovers and service areas. Finally, the scientific application of visual characteristics in highway landscape design is discussed in combination with Guangna high-speed physical engineering. The results show that the distance, structure shape, scale and color of highway engineering structures will affect the driver’s landscape perception experience, and the highway landscape design considering visual characteristics is more scientific and reasonable.