Comparison of Various Methods on Aesthetic Visual Quality Assessment

Abstract

The visual landscape aesthetic quality is seen as a resource that is worth preserving in today’s condition. Landscape which is composed of relationship between human and environment is expressed by people’s perception. However this is not just about visual perception, or how we see the land, but also what we hear, smell and feel from our surroundings, and memories or associations that they evoke, are all form the landscape perception. There is not a certain evaluation standard of the visual quality analysis studies which is mostly focusing on the relationship between environmental preferences and the perception of landscape. Therefore, in previous studies it is observed that different methods were used for analysis and evaluation in order to determine the visual quality. Due to predomination of visual experiences in the process of development of perception in the human brain, various assessment methods have been developed to measure the quality through photos of the desired area. While some studies focus on the relationship between demographic characteristics and environmental preferences of users; some studies examine only the relationship between landscape character areas and aesthetic theories that affect visual quality. In studies that uses both of the methods together; the potential quality of the landscape is evaluated by considering the parameters which affect the perception and aesthetic theories as well as by integrating the perspectives of the users. In this review, the parameters that affect the visual quality of the landscape, the elements shaping environmental preferences and methods that are used for visual quality assessment will be compared and recommendations for future planning and design studies will be included. © 2019, Centenary University. All rights reserved.