Landscape Aesthetics and the Scenic Drivers of Amenity Migration in the New West: Naturalness, Visual Scale, and Complexity

Land 2014, 3(2), 390-413; doi:10.3390/land3020390

Author 

Jelena Vukomanovic ^1,*  and Barron J. Orr ²

¹

Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado-Boulder, 1560 30th St, Boulder, CO 80303, USA

²

Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona, 1955 East Sixth St, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Received: 23 December 2013 / Revised: 19 March 2014 / Accepted: 28 March 2014 / Published: 8 April 2014

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Perspectives on Environmental Conservation)

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Abstract 

Values associated with scenic beauty are common “pull factors” for amenity migrants, however the specific landscape features that attract amenity migration are poorly understood. In this study we focused on three visual quality metrics of the intermountain West (USA), with the objective of exploring the relationship between the location of exurban homes and aesthetic landscape preference, as exemplified through greenness, viewshed size, and terrain ruggedness. Using viewshed analysis, we compared the viewsheds of actual exurban houses to the viewsheds of randomly-distributed simulated (validation) houses. We found that the actual exurban households can see significantly more vegetation and a more rugged (complex) terrain than simulated houses. Actual exurban homes see a more rugged terrain, but do not necessarily see the highest peaks, suggesting that visual complexity throughout the viewshed may be more important. The viewsheds visible from the actual exurban houses were significantly larger than those visible from the simulated houses, indicating that visual scale is important to the general aesthetic experiences of exurbanites. The differences in visual quality metric values between actual exurban and simulated viewsheds call into question the use of county-level scales of analysis for the study of landscape preferences, which may miss key landscape aesthetic drivers of preference. View Full-Text

Keywords: amenity-migration;  exurbanization;  residential development;  aesthetic drivers;  viewshed analysis;  greenness;  terrain ruggedness;  Arizona

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Assessing the Quality of Agricultural Landscape Change with Multiple Dimensions

Published Date

Land 2014, 3(3), 598-616; doi:10.3390/land3030598

Author 

Eija Pouta ^1,* , Ioanna Grammatikopoulou ¹

, Timo Hurme ²

, Katriina Soini ³

 and Marja Uusitalo ⁴

¹

Economic Research, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland

²

Plant Production Research, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Datum, Tietotie, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland

³

Economic Research, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Laboratorium Uutetie 2 A, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland

⁴

Plant Production Research, MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Eteläranta 55, 96300 Rovaniemi, Finland

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Received: 19 December 2013 / Revised: 18 June 2014 / Accepted: 24 June 2014 / Published: 1 July 2014

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Perspectives on Environmental Conservation)

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Abstract 

Better recognition of public perceptions is called for in developing policies that affect landscape qualities, such as agri-environmental policies. The present study focused on the evaluation of typical agricultural landscapes in Finland. We utilized and operationalized the visual landscape quality scales introduced by Tveit et al. (2006) and further explored how these scales can be applied in citizen evaluation of agricultural landscapes. From landscape data collected via an Internet survey, we analysed whether and how the attributes of agricultural landscapes were linked to their evaluation. The results demonstrated that visual concepts such as openness, naturalness, species richness and the impression of being taken care of were significantly associated with six landscape attributes, i.e., grain, cattle, bales, farmhouses, buses and disturbances. A relationship between key landscape concepts and normative evaluation was found. The normative pleasantness of the landscape also significantly associated with individual landscape attributes and the socio-demographic characteristics of the perceivers. View Full-Text

Keywords: landscape evaluation;  landscape attributes;  landscape quality scales

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Landscape Valuation of Environmental Amenities throughout the Application of Direct and Indirect Methods

Author

Sustainability 2015, 7(1), 794-810; doi:10.3390/su7010794

Author 

Luís Loures ^1,2,* , Ana Loures ^2,†

, José Nunes ^2,3,†

 and Thomas Panagopoulos ^1,†

¹

Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics (CIEO), Ed. 8 Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal

²

Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre (IPP), Praça do Mun. Apartado 84, 7301-901 Portalegre, Portugal

³

Unidade de Investigação em Química Ambiental (UIQA), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editor: Marc A. Rosen

Received: 13 October 2014 / Accepted: 4 January 2015 / Published: 12 January 2015

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Abstract 

Landscape design, construction and management should no longer be the result of superficial approaches based exclusively on designers’ and planners’ ideas. This research starts with the assumption that the aesthetic component constitutes an essential attribute for better understanding and evaluating landscapes. This study analyzes the aesthetic quality and economic valuation of the Lower Guadiana river landscape, through the application of direct and indirect landscape evaluation methods. In order to gauge not only experts’ opinion, it is supported by the application of public participation techniques about the opinion and perceptions of the site visitors/users. The present research considered the analysis of six landscape subunits regarding landscape quality, fragility and visual absorption capacity. The obtained results showed that there are significant differences between the perceptions of the general public and experts’ analysis. Touristic Complexes and Golf Courses had high visual quality, while Agricultural and Production Areas had high visual fragility. Moreover, the performed analysis made clear that the combined use of landscape assessment methods is suited to this type of study, since it enables quantifying the value of existence, management and maintenance of a particular environmental assets and/or services. View Full-Text

Keywords: aesthetic analysis;  lower guadiana;  riverscape;  public participation;  economic valuation

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Economic Benefits: Metrics and Methods for Landscape Performance Assessment

Author

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

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Spatial harvest scheduling approach for areas involving multiple ownership

Published Date
Forest Policy and Economics
January 2003, Vol.5(1):27–38, doi:10.1016/S1389-9341(02)00044-8

• Author 

• Juha Jumppanen ^a
• Mikko Kurttila ^b,,
• Timo Pukkala ^c
• Janne Uuttera ^d

• aMetsämannut Oy, P.O. Box 314, FIN-33101 Tampere, Finland
• bFinnish Forest Research Institute, Joensuu Research Centre, P.O. Box 68, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland
• cFaculty of Forestry, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland
• dForestry Development Centre Tapio, Soidinkuja 4, FIN-00700 Helsinki, Finland

Received 23 November 2001. Revised 8 March 2002. Accepted 28 March 2002. Available online 14 May 2002. 

Abstract

This study presents a practical harvest scheduling approach for multiple ownership planning. The approach has both spatial and non-spatial goals, namely, a spatial landscape-level goal to cluster ecologically valuable resources is considered simultaneously with timber production goals. Harvest scheduling is based on the location of the stand, on one hand, and on an economic variable depicting the cutting maturity of the stand, on the other hand. Proximity to valuable resources decreases the likelihood that the stand is cut. Therefore, harvests tend to be located outside potential resource clusters with small and isolated economically mature stands being cut first. In the application of the approach the landscape-level spatial objective was to cluster old forest stands (age⩾80) and simultaneously maintain a predefined cutting volume. A stand's economic cutting maturity was measured with value increment percentage. In the top-down application of the approach the timber harvest target was specified only for the whole planning area. In the bottom-up application it was specified separately for individual holdings, aiming at promoting the acceptability of the plan. The presented approach was clearly able to cluster old forest patches. In the case study area, the mean size of old forest patches increased from 3.4 to 5.7 ha in 30 years in the top-down plan, and to 4.6 ha in the bottom-up plan. An application of the current planning practice (referred to as the reference plan) decreased the mean patch size to 2.9 ha. The presented approach is easy to apply in forest planning practice.

Keywords

Forest planning

Private forest holdings

Resource clustering

Spatial objectives

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• *
  Corresponding author. Tel.: +358-13-251-4000; fax: +358-13-251-4111

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