Visual Landscape Quality Research Articles

Algorithm Based on Grey Clustering and Shannon Entropy to Assess Landscape Visual Quality

Landscape assessment has been limited to methodologies with subjective and qualitative approaches, due to prevailing the concept of landscape as the perception of territory. In this work, the intrinsic visual quality of the landscape was evaluated using an algorithm based on grey clustering and Shannon entropy. The grey clustering method was used to determine the landscape visual quality, and Shannon entropy was applied to calculate wights of criteria used for evaluation. The case study was performed on mining project located in Cajamarca, Peru, where three landscape units were identified and four evaluation criteria were established, before and after the implementation of project. The results revealed that there is a notable effect of the change in landscape visual quality in three evaluated landscapes units. The criteria in order of evaluation were the intrinsic visual quality of the water, relief, vegetation cover, and artificial elements. Consequently, the method showed quantitative and qualitative results that could help the landscape assessment process to make better decisions regarding mining projects. Keywords—Grey clustering, Landscape visual quality, Mining project, Shannon entropy.

Visual Landscape Quality Relationship towards Students’ Well-Being

Plants are identify as a valuable element in visual landscape assessment. This study examines the visual landscape quality (VLQ) relationship towards students’ well-being. This study identifies the preferences of planting composition scenes through the photo-based survey method. The survey employs 51 scenes with 5-points Likert-scale rating. The PLS-SEM was used to interpret the findings. The findings show the preferred scenes are complexity and coherent arrangement, moderate density, and natural plants, compared to openness and mysterious characteristics. These characteristics support students’ engagement and positive emotions. This finding will assist the campus designers in improving the VLQ towards students’ well-being. Keywords: Visual landscape quality; planting composition; students’ well-being; landscape preference eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i19.3258

Visual landscape quality assessment in the example of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University-Ferit Melen Airport highway route

Amaç: Çalışmada, Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi-Ferit Melen Havalimanı karayolu boyunca farklı peyzajları temsil eden görüntülerin görsel peyzaj kalitesinin belirlenmesi, karayolu peyzaj planlamasına altlık oluşturulması amaçlanmıştır. Materyal ve yöntem: Çalışmada literatür taraması, yol güzergah analizi, veri temini, güzergah fotoğrafçılığı, görsel peyzaj kalite değerlendirme parametrelerinin belirlenmesi, foto-anket hazırlanması ve anket sonuçlarının analizi yapılmıştır. Anket sonuçlarının belirlenmesinde SPSS 20.0 istatistik programı kullanılmıştır. Likert ölçeğinde 1 ile 5 arasında bir değer vermek üzere sorulan sorularla beğeni düzeyini belirlemek için aritmetik ortalama değerleri verilmiştir. Araştırma Bulguları: Akademisyen ve öğrenci gruplarına uygulanan anket değerlendirmelerinden elde edilen sonuçlar her iki grup açısından yer yer değişse de görsel peyzaj tercihlerinde genel olarak benzer bir yönelim olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Sonuç: Çalışmada, bir karayolunun görsel peyzaj yapısının güzel, çeşitli, tatmin edici, düzenli, açık ve güvenilir olması durumunda, bir otoyolun peyzaj değerinin eşit derecede kaliteli olduğu ortaya konmuştur.

Integrated assessment of regional approaches for biodiversity offsetting in urban-rural areas – A future based case study from Germany using arable land as an example

Human interventions, i.e. settlement and construction activities, in the agricultural landscape including farmland but also natural and semi-natural habitats are a major driver of biodiversity loss. Consequently, their impacts on nature and landscape have to be compensated by no net loss policies in many countries around the world. However, their practical implementation often poses challenges with regard to the optimal spatial coordination and assessment of measures, especially in the case of eco-accounts or other habitat banking approaches.Against this backdrop, different approaches to offset biodiversity loss at regional level are analysed with due consideration of indicators of economy, ecology, landscape aesthetics and food production. We used an interdisciplinary modelling approach based on estimates for offsetting demand until 2030. In the integrated land use model, we associated a biophysical crop growth model with an economic optimisation model. The Stuttgart Region – an area with stiff competition amongst anthropogenic land use patterns in Germany – served as the study area. Our main focus was on arable land that has a high potential for nature conservation enhancement. In this context, farmers are deemed to be a major stakeholder group.We observed differing economic and ecological outcomes for the offsetting scenarios we considered. In urban areas with high population density and low biodiversity (e.g. Stuttgart city), compensation close to the site of intervention (on-site) may be more expensive than off-site compensation. However, further added value can be generated by on-site compensation in terms of visual landscape quality enhancement and habitat connectivity, provided that the measures lend themselves to establishing connectivity. Consequently, spatially unrestricted markets for eco credits may exacerbate ecological polarisation between urban and rural areas. Therefore, we concluded that offset site selection should not be driven solely by economics, as this may not optimise overall welfare from a societal perspective, resulting in the need for legal constraints.Our results show the trade-offs between the political goals of spatial planning approaches and compensation strategies. They can, therefore, thus provide valuable information that enables political decision-makers to more clearly weigh up the effects of policy measures in this area.

Visual preferences for outdoor space along commercial pedestrian streets under the influence of plant characteristics.

Chinese commercial pedestrian streets have developed rapidly in recent years. However, people’s preferences were not sufficiently considered and reflected in the outdoor space and landscape design. With the outdoor landscapes along commercial pedestrian streets in the region south of the Five Ridges as the research objects, this study revealed the public’s different preference evaluations of the landscapes under the reciprocal effects of street characteristics. The main results were as follows: (a) When arcade spaces were available, people prefer streets with taller trees and a lower planting density (50 plants/km or less). Conversely, they preferred streets with relatively low trees (3–6 m), a higher planting density (100–200 plants/km) and two or more vertical layers of plants. People did not like the way that plants are lined in the middle of a street. (b) When there were only one or two types of signage hanging, people preferred streets with a moderate planting density (50–100 plants/km); and there were three or more types of signage hanging, people preferred the plants with low linear density (50 plants/km or less) and that were arranged along one or two sides of the street. (c) When benches were available, people preferred streets with plants on one or both sides, fewer plant colours (one or two kind of colours) and better plant growth status. Specifically, the richer the vertical structure and the bigger number of colours were, the higher the preference score. This study provided design schemes to enhance the visual quality of landscapes by improving landscape characteristics in similar outdoor spaces.

Моделирование взаимосвязи пейзажно-эстетических качеств прибрежных ландшафтов

This paper presents a methodology for assessing the visual quality of coastal landscapes. The initial material was the data of a survey of the opinions of vacationers in the coastal zone of the southwestern coast of Lake Baikal about the landscapes aesthetic properties of their places of rest (aesthetics, diversity, harmony, exoticism, uniqueness, beauty, disturbance, colorfulness), individual components of the landscape (sky, relief, vegetation, water bodies) and their emotional state. Analysis of public opinion makes it possible to obtain a spatially differentiated view (representation) of the landscape and aesthetic qualities of coastal landscapes. The most attractive and most disturbed parts of the coastal zone have been identified. To understand the factors contributing to the formation of the aesthetic impression of the surrounding landscapes among respondents, multiple regression analysis was carried out using the Data Analysis module of Ms Excel. The resulting multiple regression model is characterized by a high comparability of the results of empirical data with their predicted values: the absolute value of the correlation between the aesthetic quality of the observed landscapes and their particular aesthetic qualities (properties) is 0.93, the average approximation error is 6.5 %. The aesthetic qualities of a landscape are an indicator of its “health”. For this reason, the results of assessing the visual properties of landscapes should be taken into account in assessing the recreational load on landscapes, in developing policy documents for the territorial and socio-economic development of municipalities and the Region.

Evaluation of Some Recreation Areas of Denizli City in terms of Visual Landscape Quality

Bir alanın sunduğu doğal güzelliklerin yanında sahip olduğu görsel etkisi kullanıcıların alan deneyimlerini etkileyebilmektedir. Görsel peyzaj açısından kalitenin belirlenmesi, değerlendirilmesi, korunarak gelecek nesillerin kullanımına aktarılması ve kent ekolojisinin devamlılığının sağlanması günümüzde önem kazanmıştır. Bu kapsamda, peyzaj algısının görsel açıdan ele alındığı çalışmada, Denizli kentinde yoğun kullanılan 4 rekreasyon alanında (Çamlık Kent Ormanı, Teleferik/Bağbaşı Yaylası, Ornaz Vadisi Piknik Alanı ve Servergazi Mesire Alanı) 9 ortak kullanım tipi belirlenmiştir. Bu kullanımların görsel peyzaj kalitesinin değerlendirilmesinin yapılması amacıyla Denizli Kent Merkezi’ni oluşturan Merkezefendi ve Pamukkale ilçelerinde 271 kişi ile yüz yüze görüşme yoluyla anket çalışması yapılmıştır. Beğeni durumuna göre elde edilen sonuçlar her rekreasyon alanı ve kullanım tipi için ayrı ayrı olacak şekilde istatistiksel olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Değerlendirmeler sonucu Ornaz Vadisi Piknik Alanı bakımlı yüzey/alanlar (%87,5) en fazla beğenilen kullanım tipi olurken, Teleferik/Bağbaşı Yaylası bakımlı yüzey/alanlar (%8,4) en az beğenilen kullanım tipi olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı Denizli kentindeki bazı rekreasyon alanlarının peyzaj yapısının algılanan görsel kalite ile ilişkili olup olmadığının ortaya konulmasıdır. Bu amaçla yapılan anket çalışması sonucu Denizli kenti rekreasyon alanları peyzaj yapısının algılanan görsel kalite ile ilişkili olduğu belirlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak kullanıcıların peyzaj algı ve tercihlerine göre görsel peyzaj kalite değerlendirmeleri dikkate alınarak, mevcut ve yapılacak rekreasyon alanları için öneriler geliştirilmiştir.

Landscape visual quality influence on noise pollution propagation in urban green areas

The objective was to evaluate the influence of noise pollution on both visual and sound landscapes at the Botanical Garden and the São Lourenço Park in Curitiba, Brazil. Data were collected in three transects (A, B, and C), representing different vegetation densities. Landscape visual quality was characterized through a direct method for valuing landscape elements. The visual quality was classified as Good, Mean, or Bad. For the sound analysis, two INSTRUTHERM decibel meters, model DEC-470, with 1.5-decibel precision, were used. The landscapes evaluated at site C showed variation in the quality of the landscape from 1 to 21.57, with the best visual and noise attenuation qualities. Correlation analysis between the visual quality of the landscape and the amount of blocked noise showed a strong correlation coefficient (0.65; p = 0.0001). Landscapes with better visual quality result in a greater amount of attenuated noise, mainly due to the presence of vegetation.

Visual quality evaluation model of an urban river landscape based on random forest

A high-quality on-water landscape can improve the quality of cities and promote tourism development. However, current research on urban rivers has primarily focused on the riverside perspective, whereas few studies investigated the visual quality from an on-water perspective or conducted quantitative evaluations. This paper established a quantitative landscape index system by using a deep learning based semantic segmentation model to analyze human visual perception. A random forest model was used to analyze the nonlinear correlation between quantitative indicators and public scores, and an analysis and prediction model suitable for assessing the visual quality of an urban river on-water landscape was developed. This model provided high prediction accuracy and could rank the importance of the impact factors. The urban construction level, destructive index, hard revetment visibility, and green visibility index substantially affected the visual quality of the on-water landscape. The green visibility index was positively correlated, and the other three factors were negatively correlated with the visual quality. This model represents an intelligent approach for evaluating the visual perception and visual quality of the on-water landscape, enabling researchers and policymakers to analyze waterscapes from a new perspective and with high efficiency.

Pemetaan Kualitas Visual Lanskap Pada Daya Tarik Wisata Di Kebun Raya Eka Karya Bedugul

The visual landscape quality mapping of tourist attraction in Eka Karya Bedugul Botanical Garden. Eka Karya Bedugul Botanical Garden is a national and international reference to the ex-situ conservation of tropical mountain plant and botanical aspect service, environmental education, horticulture, landscape and tourisms. In order to provide tourism services, actual activities such as conserving and improving the quality of view are needed. The beauty of landscape view is not only determined by enviromental characteristic and landscape wealth, but it also is determined through the assessment of people from their perception over a landscape. The research aimed to map the visual quality landscape in Eka Karya Bedugul Botanical Garden and determine the best criteria of visual quality on natural landscape. The research methods used were surverys and visual assesments which include data collecting step, beauty assesment with scenic beauty estimation (SBE), and descriptive analysis about the determinant factor of visual quality on natural landscape. The beauty of the visual quality over the natural landscape was shown through the harmonic combination of landscape form elements. The visual quality over the natural landscape used were the unity of resources, well maintained natural landscape, and giving a lively effect resulted through the use of combining landscape form elements and design. There were seven landscape points that fall under the best visual quality landscape category, which were landscape number 18,32,33,34,37,38, and 40. The visual landscape quality points in Eka Karya Bedugul Botanical Garden need a regular and persistence maintainence to extend the longevity and aesthetic quality of the natural landscape.

Penilaian Kualitas Visual Lanskap The Bay Villas Resort, Tanjung Lesung - Banten

Visual quality assessment of The Bay Villas Resort, Tanjung Lesung Banten. The Bay Villas Resort is a recreational area located in Tanjung Lesung, Banten, and is equipped with facilities to stay overnight. The Bay Villas Resort has beautiful natural and visual resource potential. The beach is clean and beautiful, overlooking the Sunda Strait and leading to Mount Krakatau. The problem is that the existing visual potential has not been utilized optimally. This can be seen from the unavailability of facilities for outdoor activities that take advantage of this potential. This study uses qualitative methods with research instruments in the form ofobservation followed by visual potential assessment with assessment methods. Data analysis used interval classes which were then classified according to their visual quality. This study aims to identify the visual potential as the basis for the development of the landscape of The Bay Villas Resort according to the characteristics and visual quality. The results of the research in the form of landscape visual quality which are classified into high, medium, and low landscape visual qualities will be useful as a basis for the placement of facilities in further landscape development.

Towards Managing Visual Pollution: A 3D Isovist and Voxel Approach to Advertisement Billboard Visual Impact Assessment

Visual pollution (VP) is a visual landscape quality issue, and its most consistently recognized symptom is an excess of out of home advertising billboards (OOHb). However, the VP related research concerns landscape aesthetic and advertisement cultural context, leaving the impact of outdoor billboard infrastructure on landscape openness unanswered to date. This research aims to assess the visual impact of outdoor billboard infrastructure on landscape openness, precisely the visual volume—a key geometrical quality of a landscape. The method uses 3D isovists and voxels to calculate the visible and obstructed subsets of visible volume. Using two case studies (Lublin City, Poland) and 26 measurement points, it was found that OOHb decreased landscape openness by at least 4% of visible volume; however, the severe impact may concern up to 35% of visual volume. GIS scientists develop the proposed method for policy-makers, and urban planners end users. It is also the very first example of compiling 3D isovists and voxels in ArcGIS Pro software in an easy-to-replicate framework. The research results, accompanied by statistically significant proofs, explain the visual landscape’s fragility and contribute to understanding the VP phenomenon.

Visualizing evaluation model of human perceptions and characteristic indicators of landscape visual quality in urban green spaces by using nomograms

Understanding human perceptions and quantifying parameters that characterize landscape visual quality in an urban green space is important to describe these connections. Within this environment, the association between human perceptions of landscape visual quality (LVQ) have long been of interest to a wide variety of fields. Previous studies have relied on formulas which did not include a direct-viewing and visible information to predict human perceptions of the LVQ of urban green space. In this work, 300 photos of urban green space were taken and evaluated for LVQ by a questionnaire to obtain scores for six human perceptions (e.g., Beauty, Color, Depression, Complex, Safety, and Liveliness). Each photo presents an urban green space landscape and 28 characteristic indicators were identified to explain LVQ. We used logistic regression to identify indicators and Nomograms to display the relationship between characteristic indicators and human perceptions. Different from other formula-based models, the contribution of characteristic indicators on LVQ were clearly and visually expressed by Nomogram. In visualizing the study results with Nomogram, the 28 characteristic indicators were identified with their relationship to each of the six perceptions and the weight of each indicator could be displayed by the length of line. The study also showed that Tree health and Neatness contributed to all human perceptions. Specifically, Tree health affects Beauty, Complex and Liveliness most, while Color contrast has the greatest influence on Color. Recreation Road ratio is the most important factor for Depression and Safety. In practical application for urban designers and planners, the Nomogram results can quickly illustrate the influence of characteristic indicators on the changing of LVQ in urban green space.

ANALYZING THE CRITERIA OF PLANTING DESIGN FOR VISUAL LANDSCAPE QUALITY IN CAMPUS

Planting design is the art of composing plants to create a campus landscape design. The composition may influence the students’ preferences owned by the criteria of planting. This study aims to identify the planting design criteria towards enhancing visual landscape quality in campus environment. The photograph-based method used to collect the landscape planting images and compose it into a questionnaire. This photo-questionnaire design is mostly practiced by academicians in this research field. The question uses five Likertscale format to analyse the preference rating. The descriptive and correlation analysis are used to quantify the mean results and the relationship between the criteria. The finding represents the most influencing factor in landscape planting preference is arrangement with a score 4.34 while texture is less considered with 3.71 rating score. Most of the attributes were significant except for attributes planting with variety of forms, texture intensity and different species arrangement. As a result, this research finding is able to guide designers to sensibly setting the planting design, particularly in the campus environment.

Relationship between Landscape Visual Quality and Level of Visitor Experience in Kalibiru Nature Tourism Object, Kulon Progo Regency

The number of visitors to Kalibiru Nature Tourism Object in Kulon Progo Regency during weekends has exceeded its effective carrying capacity. Distributing the visitors on weekdays could become one of the solutions to prevent ecological damage. This research aimed at better understanding the relationship between visual landscape quality and the level of visitors’ experience in Kalibiru Nature Tourism Object, Kulon Progo Regency. Two independent surveys were conducted, one during the weekdays' dan another one during the weekends in which 100 respondents were randomly selected for each survey. This research employed descriptive analysis, t-test for independent samples, and simple linear regression. The results showed that there is no significant difference between the average score of landscape visual quality between weekdays (score 75.44) and weekends (score 78.01). Similarly, there is also no significant difference between the level of visitors’ experience during weekdays (score 78.09) and weekends (80.34). The simple linear regression analysis indicated that the landscape visual quality has a positive influence on the level of visitors’ experience in both categories.

Impact of insurance on visual attention to risk and landscape: An eyetracking study

Insurance plays an important role in the tourism experience, but there has been little research on the impact of insurance on visual attention to risk and landscape. I employed an eye-tracking experiment to record the risk information and assessment of the visual quality of landscapes among participants with differing travel insurance statuses. The results show that in comparison to the control group, participants lacking insurance paid greater visual attention to risk information and participants with insurance paid less visual attention to risk information. Further, participants with (vs. without) insurance were better at landscape visual quality assessment. My results can be used by potential tourists seeking to improve the quality of their travel experiences and by managers seeking to promote tourism risk management. In addition, my results show that eye-tracking experiments can be widely applied to related tourism research.

Studi evaluasi kualitas visual lanskap koridor Jalan Sumbersari – Gajayana Kota Malang

The corridor landscape that is on a commercial road with a lot of user activity can affect the visual quality of the road corridor landscape. The Sumbersari-Gajayana road corridor is one of the commercial roads that has centers of education to economic activities and services. The problem is the large number of community activities that are not supported by the width of the road resulting in congestion, the number of shop houses for businesses, the lack of parking space, narrow and disconnected pedestrians, the number of banners and billboards, so the combination of these facts disturbs the visual quality of the road corridors, however, some point is precisely the potential that must be preserved. This study used the analysis technique of Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) and Semantic Differential (SD) with 30 respondents who were students of Landscape Architecture. The evaluation results show that the corridor landscape of Jalan Sumbersari-Gajayana has high (T), medium (S), and low (R) aesthetic qualities which have a relationship between SBE and SD analysis techniques on the aesthetic elements of the road corridor landscape.

Large-Area Empirically Based Visual Landscape Quality Assessment for Spatial Planning—A Validation Approach by Method Triangulation

Large area visual landscape quality assessment, especially at the national level is needed to answer the demand from strategic planning. In our paper, we describe and compare two recent modelling approaches for this task regarding their theoretical and empirical basis, resolution, model configuration and results. To compare the outcomes of the two methods, both correlation measures and a visual overlay analysing the inversions are used. The results show, that despite the different methodological approaches, in over 90% of the area of Germany there are only minor deviations between the resulting scenic quality maps (less or equal one step on a five-step scale). The main differences occur due to a different relative weight given to terrain and water indicators in the respective methods. We conclude that a methodologically valid scenic quality evaluation using geodata of homogenous quality is possible also at the national level. By triangulating between different methods, for both, the validity could be proven. The datasets elaborated can also be used as a benchmark for regional landscape assessments and for an upcoming monitoring of changes in visual landscape quality.

Does rated visual landscape quality match visual features? An analysis for renewable energy landscapes

Finding the “right” sites for developing renewable energy systems (RES) is one of the major challenges in planning strategies for energy transitions. The visibility aspects of such infrastructure are important factors that explain local opposition. Classical visibility and viewshed analyses of RES disregard people’s perceptions and estimations of new infrastructure. To address this void, we demonstrate an approach that combines rated visual landscape qualities with measured visual features. In doing so, we established visual stimuli with systematically controlled visual impact scenarios featuring the use of renewables in different landscape types. The study investigated how ratings of landscape qualities are affected by landscape changes stemming from RES. We also identified measurable visual features that might help to operationalize landscape qualities. Finally, we intended to improve the understand of how rated landscape qualities lead to preferences for different RES visual impact scenarios. Our results showed that rated coherence is strongly influenced by renewable energy infrastructure, whereas complexity ratings are affected mainly by variations in landscape types. These findings let us to conclude that the visual understanding and visual connectedness between energy systems and surrounding landscapes are core drivers of people’s visual preferences for landscapes altered with RES. Considering landscape qualities within impact assessments of RES can augment our grasp of how the visual character of a landscape changes through renewable energy infrastructure.

Environmental modeling of landscape aesthetic value in natural urban parks using artificial neural network technique

An accurate assessment of the landscapes in a region requires having sufficient information of the influential factors as well as the type, manner, and the impact rate of each of them on the user’s perception of the landscape quality. The purpose of this study is modeling landscape aesthetic quality of urban parks using an artificial neural network to predict the value of landscape aesthetic and prioritizing the influential variables of the model. To evaluate the landscape aesthetic quality in the urban park, a combination of user perspective and artificial neural network modeling approach has been used. The aesthetic quality of 100 urban park landscapes was quantified based on citizens' perception. Totally, 15 landscape attributes were recorded as influential variables on visual quality of landscape. According to the results, the multi-layer perceptron model with structure of 15-8-1 (15 input variables, 8 neurons in the hidden layer, and one output variable) and the maximum value of coefficient of determination (R2) in three data sets, namely training, validation, and test which are 0.97, 0.88 and 0.90, present the best performance of structure optimization. Accordingly, land slope, flowers and bushes, buildings, and hard surfaces ratio with a model sensitivity coefficient of 0.56, 0.24, 0.07, and 0.07, respectively, show the maximum effect on the landscape aesthetic quality in urban parks. The developed multi-layer perceptron model in MATLAB software is known as a decision support system in designing the structure of urban parks and also provides possibility of predicting the landscape aesthetic value in new parks.