Introspective Visual Quality Assessment of Dual Thoroughfare Streetscapes in Davao City

Abstract

This study sought to assess the visual quality of dual thoroughfare streetscapes in Davao City, specifically identifying existing visual components in terms of landscape layer, landform, vegetation, light and colour, compatibility, archetypal elements and its character of peace and silence. Davao City had a consistent score in its streetscapes, garnering not the highest but a relatively high score. The results showed that the presence of landscape layers, light and colour, vegetation, and character of peace and silence seem to be the most critical visual components in its overall contemplative score. Of the city’s streets, the highest visual quality score was Roxas Avenue with a mean of 4.44. The lowest was the Manambulan-Tagakpan Road with a mean of 4.07. Based on the overall ranking system in the contemplative score Davao City obtained a relatively high rank. The presence of vegetation, particularly the young to fully grown trees, also produces more shade which provides thermal comfort and a cooler experience in the streetscape. The association between the individual visual landscape component scores against the overall visual quality resulted in a landscape layer of 0.825 and vegetation of 0.824, which showed a significant correlation. The significant findings among the components is the indication of landforms which greatly contributed to the total score.