Assessing Environmental Aesthetics of Roadside Vegetation and Scenic Beauty of Highway Landscape: Preferences and Perception of Motorists

This paper discusses the importance of environmental aesthetics and scenic beauty of current roadside vegetation in the highways, and the necessity for the contribution of users (motorists) preferences in the integration of scenic beauty of roadside vegetation into its management plans. The results of a questionnaire survey of motorist’s opinion on the landscape aesthetics and quality of some highways in Tehran city are presented with their analyses. Findings of the research indicate the roadside vegetation as the most important elements of highway scenic beauty for the majority of users. High-rise building, historic or cultural landmarks, farmlands, street lighting and advertisement boards found with lower level of importance to the passengers. A strong positive tendency of respondents found towards variety of vegetation types instead of a uniform composition. The most preferred combination of plant types of road were preferred were: trees in the background, grass and flowering herbs in the foreground and shrubs in the middle. In our case study, dissatisfaction with vegetation type and combination was reported lower among those who travelled once or twice a month or longer, compare to those who travelled the site more frequently in a daily or weekly basis. This indicates that for less frequent users the roadside vegetation was reported almost satisfactory, as their personal cognition of a route is less affected by their prior knowledge. However, the preferences of motorists who used the highway more frequently, showed a great tendency with planting design patterns of trees in background and shrubs in the foreground.