Visual Impact Assessment in Rural Areas: The Role of Vegetation Screening in the Sustainable Integration of Isolated Buildings

María Jesús Montero-Parejo (), Lorenzo García-Moruno, Julio Hernández-Blanco and Jacinto Garrido-Velarde
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María Jesús Montero-Parejo: Department of Graphical Expression, University of Extremadura, Avda. Virgen del Puerto 2, 10600 Plasencia, Spain
Lorenzo García-Moruno: Department of Graphical Expression, University of Extremadura, Avda. Sta. Teresa de Jornet 38, 06800 Mérida, Spain
Julio Hernández-Blanco: Department of Graphical Expression, University of Extremadura, Avda. Virgen del Puerto 2, 10600 Plasencia, Spain
Jacinto Garrido-Velarde: Research Institute for Sustainable Territorial Development, University of Extremadura (INTERRA), 06006 Badajoz, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: Rural tourism has led to an increase in the number of buildings, meaning that visual integration of these buildings into the landscape is not always achieved. The silhouettes of buildings in rural areas are always recognisably simple but can be visually discordant if their sharpness is high. The literature provides analyses of how the visual impact of a given construction can be minimised by vegetation screening. The main objective of this study was to propose a method of quantifying the visual impact of isolated buildings (1 (low visual impact)–5 (high visual impact)). The method combines a measurement of the sharpness of building silhouette lines and vegetation screening ( Scr ) percentage (high or low) using theories based on the cognitive aspects of visual perception and digital image processing. The method was validated through a survey in which photos were shown to a wide range of respondents. A second objective was to analyse the combined effect on the visual perception of Scr and building colour (C), which is broadly analysed in the literature. The main result is that the required percentage of vegetation screening for a building with sharp lines and discordant colours to be accepted was determined to be around 40%. The proposed method can be applied by landscape planners; it is easy to use, and the cognitive principles on which it is based do not depend on the working environment.

Keywords: vegetation screening; building silhouette lines; visual impact assessment; sustainable rural development; planning policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:9:p:1450-:d:904262

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