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Visual Landscape Research in Sustainable Urban and Landscape Planning

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 9790

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 134, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
Interests: visual landscape research; landscape and urban planning; adaptive design; designed heritage landscapes and gardens; landscape-based regional design

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Guest Editor
Interuniversity Department of Urban and Regional Studies and Planning, Politecnico di Torino, viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Torino, Italy
Interests: landscape policies; landscape planning; conservation planning; landscape assessment; green and blue infrastructures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue that addresses visual landscape research in sustainable urban and landscape planning. Here, we define landscape as an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural or human factors. However, the identifying character of landscapes in the rural and urban realm is, to a large extent, built upon visual perception. Since visual perception is a critical factor in behavior and preference, it is crucial to address visual aspects in sustainable landscape planning, design, and management, as well as for monitoring and protection of landscapes. How can we comprehend, however, the “face of the landscape” and its visual perception? Furthermore, how can we make this knowledge applicable to landscape planning, design, and management? This Special Issue focuses on visual landscape research, in particular addressing approaches and methods for visual landscape assessment and their applications in development and protection of cultural landscapes, cityscapes, urban and landscape heritage, designed landscapes, and gardens. Topics range from scenic landscape character assessment, visibility analysis and visual impact analysis, to design principles and strategies, guidelines for the protection of visual relationships, planning and design of urban skylines, and policy regulations that address scenic resources.

We welcome academic papers that address visual landscape research from the perspective of:

  • Spatial design and planning;
  • Research;
  • Education;
  • Digital methods and tools;
  • Policymaking, ordinances and codes.

Prof. Dr. Steffen Nijhuis
Prof. Dr. Claudia Cassatella
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • scenic landscape
  • landscape physiognomy
  • landscape planning, design and management
  • visual landscape assessment
  • urban skylines
  • heritage protection
  • cultural landscape
  • urban codes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3404 KiB  
Article
The Application of Advanced Mapping Methods and Tools for Spatial-Visual Analysis in Landscape Design Practice
by Mei Liu and Steffen Nijhuis
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7952; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147952 - 16 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3893
Abstract
Spatial design is at the core of landscape architecture. Mapping spatial–visual characteristics is of significance for landscape architects to interpret and talk about space. Advanced mapping methods and tools for spatial–visual analysis (i.e., mapping techniques describing landscape architectonic compositions from both qualitative and [...] Read more.
Spatial design is at the core of landscape architecture. Mapping spatial–visual characteristics is of significance for landscape architects to interpret and talk about space. Advanced mapping methods and tools for spatial–visual analysis (i.e., mapping techniques describing landscape architectonic compositions from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives) offer great potential to increase knowledge of spatial organization and reveal design principles. Despite the availability and wide range of possibilities, the application of advanced mapping methods and tools for spatial–visual analysis is still not common in landscape architecture. The main reasons include the lack of awareness and prejudice. In order to get a more detailed understanding of the problem, this study presents the outcome of semi-structured open-ended interviews with 11 practitioners with a design background in landscape architecture. The paper discusses the relevance of advanced mapping methods and tools with practitioners in order to gain a better understanding about what methods landscape practitioners use to describe and experience space in their daily work. Findings demonstrate the critical bottlenecks of implementing advanced mapping methods in daily practices and how the practitioners think about the implementation of advanced mapping methods in the future of landscape practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Visual Landscape Research in Sustainable Urban and Landscape Planning)
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15 pages, 5248 KiB  
Article
Citizens’ Preference and Perception of Street Trees of Main Boulevards in Busan, South Korea
by Sang Seup Kim, Jae-Song Lee, Dong Hak Lee and Yeol Choi
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3141; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063141 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2202
Abstract
Street tree species are selected mainly based on functional utility. This selection practice results in effective management. If the value of street trees as perceived by citizens is added to the existing selection criteria, satisfaction will be improved in addition to effective management. [...] Read more.
Street tree species are selected mainly based on functional utility. This selection practice results in effective management. If the value of street trees as perceived by citizens is added to the existing selection criteria, satisfaction will be improved in addition to effective management. This study attempted to find a way to reflect citizens’ values in street tree selection criteria through empirical analysis. A preference survey and the visual and affective evaluation of 12 street tree species in Busan Metropolitan City were conducted. With the collected data, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to draw common factors of evaluation. Additionally, multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to group tree species that were considered similar. The study results revealed that citizens prefer species that provide visually positive feelings and intimacy. Some species appropriate for urban greenspaces are not preferred for street trees. Although a low level of nuisance is an important aspect of street trees, citizens do not prefer species that are excessively free from nuisance. When selecting species with a polarized preference, dealing with undesired aspects is required. It is necessary to acknowledge the different preferences of citizens and street tree authorities; reflecting citizens’ values can provide more citizen-friendly street plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Visual Landscape Research in Sustainable Urban and Landscape Planning)
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23 pages, 6588 KiB  
Article
Large-Area Empirically Based Visual Landscape Quality Assessment for Spatial Planning—A Validation Approach by Method Triangulation
by Michael Roth, Silvio Hildebrandt, Ulrich Walz and Wolfgang Wende
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1891; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041891 - 09 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2412
Abstract
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Visual Landscape Research in Sustainable Urban and Landscape Planning)
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