Survey of Different Methods of Evaluating Landscape Aesthetic Quality

Recent literature attaches high importance to scenic evaluation of natural landscapes. Scenic beauty should be regarded as a valuable resource in human land uses, as any spatial development without objective assessment of aesthetic values may degrade landscape’s beauty. Different approaches have been created for scenic beauty evaluation and each includes different methods. These methods often use parameters derived from photographs or those collected in situ, via field assessment and questionnaires. Although these methods are at times tedious, relatively costly and time consuming but are still required and very worthy of implementing, since they consider the perception and sense of individuals in the process. Park managers and recreational planners require spatial tools and techniques that are fast, flexible and repeatable in order to extract predictable spatial data from scenic resources. As it is impossible or very hard to measure all essential parameters directly, the use of spatial data in Geographic Information System for the assessment and modeling of visual quality of landscape has become essential. In this paper, we have surveyed and reviewed the relevant references, and compared three different approaches including expert, community perception-based and comprehensive approaches. According to these approaches, eight methods of assessing and analyzing of landscape’s visual quality have been presented and detailed. Using these methods, the best applicable method of visual quality assessment can be chosen for different places in Iran.