Assessing the Visual Aesthetic Quality of Vegetation Landscape in Urban Green Space from a Visitor’s Perspective

Vegetation landscape is an important visual element of urban green space. This paper presents the results of an attempt to evaluate the visual aesthetic quality (VAQ) of urban vegetation landscape from the perspective of visitors. The research is conducted around the West Lake Scenic Area, Hangzhou, China. By quantitative survey, visual photo stimuli, and statistical analysis, the preference of visitors for different types of urban vegetation landscape in relation to their characteristics is presented, and the interactions between VAQ of urban vegetation landscape and landscape visual attributes are explored. The results demonstrate that education, place of residence, and professional background are especially significant characteristics that influence the preference of visitors for different types of urban vegetation landscape, and both strong color contrast and mixed use of evergreen and deciduous plants can increase the VAQ of urban vegetation landscape. To maintain good VAQ, it is recommended that vegetation structure, plant density, and height ratio should be carefully selected according to the type and function of vegetation landscape. The findings provide good advice for urban political determination and concepts of future vegetation landscape design.