TY - JOUR
T1 - Aesthetic appreciation of the cultural landscape through social media
T2 - An analysis of revealed preference in the Dutch river landscape
AU - Tieskens, Koen F.
AU - Van Zanten, Boris T.
AU - Schulp, Catharina J.E.
AU - Verburg, Peter H.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Aesthetic enjoyment and perception are increasingly recognized as important values of cultural landscapes. The study of these values transcends mere physical attributes of the landscape and requires assessment of its social meaning. In recent years the usage of social media has gained momentum to study the aesthetic preferences and perception of the environment. However, until now the different approaches have not yet been sufficiently combined to provide more in depth understanding of what attracts people in the landscape We propose a robust methodology using social media photos from Flickr and Panoramio to estimate the correlation between landscape attributes and landscape preferences. We combine formal modeling of spatial photo distribution based on the occurrence of landscape elements with content analysis of the photos to pinpoint what it is in a landscape that attracts people. We use the Kromme Rijn Area –a peri-urban area in the center of the Netherlands and a popular recreation area- as case study area. The analysis shows that this area is appreciated by its visitors and residents for the presence of monumental buildings, small water bodies and opportunities for hikes along grasslands. The method successfully linked the structural elements of the landscape with the revealed preferences, providing a way of quantifying the appreciation of the landscape. Qualitative surveys remain essential to study motivations for outdoor recreation, but social media data can be incorporated as evidence of what elements of the landscape are valued, where people are interacting with the landscape, and how these interactions characterize a landscape.
AB - Aesthetic enjoyment and perception are increasingly recognized as important values of cultural landscapes. The study of these values transcends mere physical attributes of the landscape and requires assessment of its social meaning. In recent years the usage of social media has gained momentum to study the aesthetic preferences and perception of the environment. However, until now the different approaches have not yet been sufficiently combined to provide more in depth understanding of what attracts people in the landscape We propose a robust methodology using social media photos from Flickr and Panoramio to estimate the correlation between landscape attributes and landscape preferences. We combine formal modeling of spatial photo distribution based on the occurrence of landscape elements with content analysis of the photos to pinpoint what it is in a landscape that attracts people. We use the Kromme Rijn Area –a peri-urban area in the center of the Netherlands and a popular recreation area- as case study area. The analysis shows that this area is appreciated by its visitors and residents for the presence of monumental buildings, small water bodies and opportunities for hikes along grasslands. The method successfully linked the structural elements of the landscape with the revealed preferences, providing a way of quantifying the appreciation of the landscape. Qualitative surveys remain essential to study motivations for outdoor recreation, but social media data can be incorporated as evidence of what elements of the landscape are valued, where people are interacting with the landscape, and how these interactions characterize a landscape.
KW - Aesthetic enjoyment
KW - Crowd sourcing
KW - Cultural ecosystem services
KW - Peri-urban area
KW - Recreation
KW - Tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046880925&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046880925&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.05.002
DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.05.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046880925
VL - 177
SP - 128
EP - 137
JO - Landscape and Urban Planning
JF - Landscape and Urban Planning
SN - 0169-2046
ER -