Towards a “Positive Landscape”: An Integrated Theoretical Model of Landscape Preference Based on Cognitive Neuroscience

Lu Yan, Daniel Winterbottom and Juanjuan Liu ()
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Lu Yan: College of Landscape Architecture & Horticulture, Southwest Forestry University, No. 300 Bailongsi, Panlong District, Kunming 650224, China
Daniel Winterbottom: College of Built Environment, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Juanjuan Liu: College of Landscape Architecture & Horticulture, Southwest Forestry University, No. 300 Bailongsi, Panlong District, Kunming 650224, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: Landscape preference (LP) is often a critical interdisciplinary research topic that explores the interaction between human beings and their environments. Human preferences for landscape can have a profound influence on how the preservation, reconstruction, and restoration of the landscape is approached, both consciously and unconsciously. Theories of LP emerged in the 1960s and can be divided into three need categories: (1) the need for survival, (2) the need for affection, and (3) the need for cognition. However, these theories lack a unifying framework. The hypothesis presented herein is that LPs are derived from innate human needs. Based on cognitive neuroscience, positive psychology, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, an integrated theoretical model explaining the neural basis and mental processes that inform LPs is developed. The concept of “positive landscape” and the argument that landscape change could be a potential tool for regulating human LPs are proposed. Two regulatory strategies used to actively manipulate LPs in a way that benefits both the ecosystem and human wellbeing are described in this study.

Keywords: landscape preference; Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; positive landscape; scenic aesthetics; ecological aesthetics; cognitive neuroscience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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