Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile

SUMMARY: There is a growing consciousness that the viability of landscape-related policy depends on support from the general public. However, during planning stages, knowledge regarding landscape perceptions and preferences of people is generally absent or limited. This study presents an observer-ba...

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Autores principales: Nahuelhual,Laura, Laterra,Pedro, Jiménez,Dana, Báez,Andrea, Echeverría,Christián, Fuentes,Rodrigo
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Universidad Austral de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales 2018
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Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-92002018000200205
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spelling oai:scielo:S0717-920020180002002052018-10-11Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in ChileNahuelhual,LauraLaterra,PedroJiménez,DanaBáez,AndreaEcheverría,ChristiánFuentes,Rodrigo landscape change landscape values social preferences landscape evaluation landscape planning SUMMARY: There is a growing consciousness that the viability of landscape-related policy depends on support from the general public. However, during planning stages, knowledge regarding landscape perceptions and preferences of people is generally absent or limited. This study presents an observer-based landscape assessment, applying a physical landscape attribute approach to measure visual preferences based on photographs. Data on age, gender, place of residence, income and education level were collected by means of a country-wide online questionnaire (n° answers=643), along with information from respondents on visual evaluations of images depicting various compositions and levels of scenic beauty of rural landscapes of south-central Chile. The effects of landscape composition and scenic beauty on responses (individual ratings), as well as the interaction effects between those attributes and personal characteristics, were tested by applying multivariate repeated measures ANOVA and Wilks multivariate tests. Ratings for both scenic beauty and landscape composition significantly varied across photographs, revealing a clear preference for landscapes dominated by native vegetation over landscapes dominated by exotic tree plantations or cultivated lands. A relatively low, nonetheless significant, portion of the rating variability was explained by subtle differences in preferences arising from personal characteristics. Results contribute to several recent efforts to understand public opinion regarding natural and rural landscape changes. Specifically, results sustain the adverse effects of loss of natural habitats on people’s appraisals of rural landscapes.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessUniversidad Austral de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias ForestalesBosque (Valdivia) v.39 n.2 20182018-01-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-92002018000200205en10.4067/S0717-92002018000200205
institution Scielo Chile
collection Scielo Chile
language English
topic landscape change
landscape values
social preferences
landscape evaluation
landscape planning
spellingShingle landscape change
landscape values
social preferences
landscape evaluation
landscape planning
Nahuelhual,Laura
Laterra,Pedro
Jiménez,Dana
Báez,Andrea
Echeverría,Christián
Fuentes,Rodrigo
Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
description SUMMARY: There is a growing consciousness that the viability of landscape-related policy depends on support from the general public. However, during planning stages, knowledge regarding landscape perceptions and preferences of people is generally absent or limited. This study presents an observer-based landscape assessment, applying a physical landscape attribute approach to measure visual preferences based on photographs. Data on age, gender, place of residence, income and education level were collected by means of a country-wide online questionnaire (n° answers=643), along with information from respondents on visual evaluations of images depicting various compositions and levels of scenic beauty of rural landscapes of south-central Chile. The effects of landscape composition and scenic beauty on responses (individual ratings), as well as the interaction effects between those attributes and personal characteristics, were tested by applying multivariate repeated measures ANOVA and Wilks multivariate tests. Ratings for both scenic beauty and landscape composition significantly varied across photographs, revealing a clear preference for landscapes dominated by native vegetation over landscapes dominated by exotic tree plantations or cultivated lands. A relatively low, nonetheless significant, portion of the rating variability was explained by subtle differences in preferences arising from personal characteristics. Results contribute to several recent efforts to understand public opinion regarding natural and rural landscape changes. Specifically, results sustain the adverse effects of loss of natural habitats on people’s appraisals of rural landscapes.
author Nahuelhual,Laura
Laterra,Pedro
Jiménez,Dana
Báez,Andrea
Echeverría,Christián
Fuentes,Rodrigo
author_facet Nahuelhual,Laura
Laterra,Pedro
Jiménez,Dana
Báez,Andrea
Echeverría,Christián
Fuentes,Rodrigo
author_sort Nahuelhual,Laura
title Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
title_short Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
title_full Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
title_fullStr Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
title_full_unstemmed Do people prefer natural landscapes? An empirical study in Chile
title_sort do people prefer natural landscapes? an empirical study in chile
publisher Universidad Austral de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales
publishDate 2018
url http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-92002018000200205
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