Cultural patterns in the perception and valuation of landscape

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Susanne Kost
• Subject Area: City Planning, Spatial Planning, Transportation and Infrastructure Planning, Landscape Planning
• Term: from 2013 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234922312

Landscape is not only assessed on the basis of its quality but also on the basis of its aesthetic message. When we examine and evaluate a landscape we compare it cognitively, aesthetically and emotionally with landscapes which are already known to us. This awareness of landscape is influenced similarly by the cultural background of the observer as by the social systems of value.Cultural differences in the perception of landscape and the consequences which derive from them for the meaning, evaluation and shaping of landscapes have been ignored more or less up until the present day by analyzing disciplines. The central question of this study concerns how landscape is perceived and valued in different cultures, whether it is possible to identify specific patterns in how landscape is perceived and in what way they differ from each other. Based on first results of cultural patterns in the perception of landscape of the exploratory Phase (I) of this project the focus is targeted on a quantitative study (Phase II) to proof the detected (cultural) phenomena and patterns and their relationship to specific landscape types (coastal, hilly landscapes).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants