The human dimension of visibility degradation in a compact city

Ricci P. H. Yue (), Harry F. Lee and Melissa A. Hart
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Ricci P. H. Yue: The University of Hong Kong
Harry F. Lee: The University of Hong Kong
Melissa A. Hart: The University of Hong Kong

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2016, vol. 82, issue 3, No 11, 1683-1702

Abstract: Abstract Different parts of the world have undergone visibility degradation in recent decades. The degradation of visibility is a potential threat to human health because it is closely related to the level of air pollutants. However, the manner in which people perceive the ‘low visibility’ condition in an urban setting still remains unexplored. In this study, we sought to address the above issue by examining the standard and the threshold of vista and also their determinants in a compact city. Urban visibility public preference investigation was conducted at the Peak, Hong Kong, between June 2012 and January 2013, with 1203 valid responses collected. Our results show that the standard of vista was around 4.95 km, while the absolute threshold (the starting point of the threshold) and the major threshold (the part which most respondents changed from acceptance to unacceptance) of vista were 14–10 and 5–3.5 km, respectively. We also found that the environmental setting and the prescribed function of place, instead of the demographic attributes and the way people perceive visibility degradation, were more imperative in accounting for people’s standard of vista. Survey locations and the associated trip purposes of respondents do not affect the standard of vista. This finding may have implications regarding the incorporation of stakeholders’ views in environmental management.

Keywords: Visibility degradation; Vista; Perception; Human dimension; Urban (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2263-7

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