The impact of landscape aesthetic and ecological qualities on public preference of planting types in urban green spaces

Landscape preference in relation to human perception of landscape ecological and aesthetic qualities analysed in different studies. The importance of both qualities is highlighted especially for urban green spaces, where the enhancement of environment quality in conjunction with providing high level aesthetics is becoming a topical issue. This paper analyses seven planting types in urban green spaces in accordance with six landscape ecological and aesthetic qualities. Therefore the aim of this research is to investigate which planting type inhabitants and tourists from four Latvian cities prefer more. Planting types were evaluated according to landscape ecological and aesthetic qualities – attractiveness, naturalness, neatness, necessity of care, wilderness and safety. The method of image simulations of the different planting type alternatives was used. The research results showed a correlation between the landscape preference and respondent`s gender, level of education and place of residence. The research did not display differences in landscape preference in terms of specific regional characteristics of the four selected cities. Results of this research could be used in the decision-making process for development of new and revitalization of current green spaces in the researched cities.