Economic Benefits: Metrics and Methods for Landscape Performance Assessment

Sustainability 2016, 8(5), 424; doi:10.3390/su8050424

Author 

Zhen Wang ¹

, Bo Yang ^2,* , Shujuan Li ²

 and Chris Binder ²

¹

School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037# Luoyu Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, China

²

Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Utah State University, 4005 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4005, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editor: Giuseppe Ioppolo

Received: 2 April 2016 / Revised: 24 April 2016 / Accepted: 25 April 2016 / Published: 29 April 2016

(This article belongs to the Section Economic, Business and Management Aspects of Sustainability)

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Abstract 

This paper introduces an expanding research frontier in the landscape architecture discipline, landscape performance research, which embraces the scientific dimension of landscape architecture through evidence-based designs that are anchored in quantitative performance assessment. Specifically, this paper summarizes metrics and methods for determining landscape-derived economic benefits that have been utilized in the Landscape Performance Series (LPS) initiated by the Landscape Architecture Foundation. This paper identifies 24 metrics and 32 associated methods for the assessment of economic benefits found in 82 published case studies. Common issues arising through research in quantifying economic benefits for the LPS are discussed and the various approaches taken by researchers are clarified. The paper also provides an analysis of three case studies from the LPS that are representative of common research methods used to quantify economic benefits. The paper suggests that high(er) levels of sustainability in the built environment require the integration of economic benefits into landscape performance assessment portfolios in order to forecast project success and reduce uncertainties. Therefore, evidence-based design approaches increase the scientific rigor of landscape architecture education and research, and elevate the status of the profession. View Full-Text

Keywords: economic sustainability;  post-occupancy evaluation;  multifunctional landscapes;  landscape performance

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).

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