Overview of “Landscape Architecture Research and Design for Urban and Peri-Urban Environments”

1. Introduction

Landscape architecture and design research is becoming increasingly relevant due to rapid urbanization and its impact on urban and peri-urban environments.

The constant proliferation and sprawl of urban areas is an imperative challenge. Society requires knowledge about which natural and manmade landscape innovations or patterns are most suitable and sustainable for urban architecture and design. Such knowledge is crucial to achieving sustainable urbanization while maintaining and improving urban and peri-urban areas as well as providing a healthy environment for urban residents.

There have been few recent overviews of urban landscape architecture research [1,2,3], as landscape architecture is a very broad and multidisciplinary mix of physical and social science, plus the arts and humanities. This Special Issue of the Land journal contains 12 original articles addressing urban landscape conservation, suburbanization growth, urban park access and use, public facility and art perception, and urban landscape aesthetics.

2. Key Findings and Insights

As noted above, the articles in this Special Issue fall into the five following major categories: (1) urban landscape conservation, (2) suburbanization growth, (3) urban park access and use, (4) public facility and art perception, and (5) urban landscape aesthetics.

Lin et al.’s (List of Contributions) article documents that the urban residents in older communities in Beijing, China have a higher perception of well-being as opposed to those in newer block housing. Wang et al. (List of Contributions) analyze the attributes of traditional rural residential architecture that could be continued with newer peri-urban architectural design. Delponte et al. (List of Contributions) report on the “Savingscapes” project in Girona and Geneva, Italy, where social mobilization is used to achieve landscape conservation aims. All three articles contain research approaches providing means for discovering landscape heritage values as well as for landscape conservation.

A major contribution to addressing suburban expansion and mobility issues is Zhu et al.’s (List of Contributions) article, where the authors use scenario-based parametric modeling to generate and optimize suburban land use patterns in the United States. The findings are significant, indicating that substantial enhancement to neighborhood environmental performance and overall accessibility can be achieved by modifying existing suburban land use patterns and individual block configuration without increasing density.

Three articles address urban park access, use, and perception. Zhang et al. (List of Contributions) study 100 urban parks in Chengdu, China using multi-dimension indicators. The results reveal spatial distribution issues and differences in park quality which can be used to guide future park planning and design. Mercadé-Aloy and Cervera-Alonso-de-Medina (List of Contributions) assessed the Montjuc Trail Master Plan and 360 Route design in Barcelona, Spain. In this study, the authors documented future connectivity to the surrounding urban fabric, as well as the local residents’ quality of life. Payder et al. (List of Contributions) assessed urban park design, visual quality and walking behavior within a large regional park in the Araucanian region of Chile. Specific findings revealed key park design attributes which allowed for walking accessibility, user behavior, user group differences, and visual quality perception. In all three studies, the authors support the importance of urban green open space accessibility, equitable urban park design, and improving urban residents’ quality of life.

In two articles, the authors specifically address the quality of urban public places. Liu et al. (List of Contributions) utilized eye tracking methods to assess the aesthetic attributes of public spaces. The key findings revealed the color and material preferences of different public space users. Chang et al. (List of Contributions) assessed the neural perceptions of public art by both professionals and non-experts. Results from both studies provide guidance for public open space facility design.

The fifth group of articles addresses urban and peri-urban landscape aesthetics. Gao et al.’s (List of Contributions) article is a systematic review of what is perceived as visual pollution and so can serve as guidance for measures to reduce negative impact and preserve urban visual quality. Another article by Gao et al. (List of Contributions) assessed rural road landscape character in Sabak Bernan, Malaysia. The results indicated a higher level of preference for open agricultural roadside views. Finally, Ignatieva et al. (List of Contributions) present empirical research on public preferences for urban lawns and greenspace alternatives in Perth, Australia. The results indicated that maintained grass lawns are valued for aesthetics, cooling, and recreation. Alternative lawn treatments were assessed as well. All three studies illustrate solid methodological approaches for gauging public perceptions of urban landscapes, plus possible alternative management options.

3. Conclusions

The wide range and depth of urban landscape research illustrates the development of useful methods as well as the connection to design alternatives and outcomes. This Special Issue is intended to complement existing guides for landscape architecture research applicable to urban and peri-urban landscapes [1,2].