Important places in landscape

investigating the determinants of perceived landscape value in the suburban area of Wrocław, Poland

authored by

Iga Solecka, Tiina Rinne, Rodrigo Caracciolo Martins, Marketta Kytta, Christian Albert

Abstract

Landscape planning studies usually consider landscape values through expert assessments of landscape aesthetic quality. Combining such expert assessments with people's perceptions as derived from citizen-based approaches is advisable, but scientific knowledge gaps exist regarding explanatory variables of perceived landscape values. This study aims to investigate determinants of landscape value as perceived by citizens. The suburban area of Wroclaw, Poland serves as an illustrative case study. Our research design consists of a three-step approach: (i) eliciting citizens’ landscape value types using a Public Participatory GIS survey, (ii) formally assessing indicators of landscape aesthetic quality, (iii) comparing physical environmental characteristics and accessibility for both types of areas with spatial-statistical methods. The survey results (n = 468) include 364 important landscape places attributed to environmental, cultural, aesthetic/scenic or personal reasons. Agricultural landscapes were appreciated highest due to associated perceived environmental and aesthetic values. The expert assessment of landscape aesthetic quality was implemented by GIS-based analyses of naturalness, diversity and uniqueness indicators. It's results showed that landscape aesthetic quality is distributed mainly across forested areas and river valleys. In general, elicited value types and landscape aesthetic quality indicators illustrated only weak relationships, with the exception of perceived environmental value and landscape naturalness. We conclude that citizens’ perceived landscape values often do not correspond with places identified in expert assessments. Landscape planning and management should therefore consider amending its portfolio of evaluation approaches to better capture values relevant for people.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Environmental Planning

External Organisation(s)

Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences
Aalto University
Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnologicas

Type

Article

Journal

Landscape and urban planning

Volume

218

ISSN

0169-2046

Publication date

02.2022

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104289 (Access: Open)