Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
18
Ground Imagery and
Environmental Perception:
Using Photo-questionnaires
to Evaluate River Management
Strategies
Yves-Francois Le Lay, Marylise Cottet, Herv ´ePiegay and
Anne Rivi ere-Honegger
University of Lyon, CNRS, France
1985; Wherrett, 2000). Moreover, water appears to be
a strong positive contributor to landscape attractiveness
(Shafer et al., 1969; Kaplan, 1977a; Zube et al., 1982). The
general public values waterscapes highly, not only for
their visual aesthetics, but also for their beneficial psycho-
physiological effects (Ulrich, 1981; Hartig et al., 1991;
Parson, 1991). Water is one of the most desirable and pre-
ferred features in outdoor environments (Ulrich, 1981;
Schroeder, 1982). In urban areas, water also enhances
enjoyment; therefore landscape designers make use of
water in plazas, parks and gardens (Whalley, 1988).
Many streams and rivers have been neglected after
land-use changes in rural areas and degraded by
'over-engineering' in urban areas (Penning-Rowsell
and Burgess, 1997). Hard engineering techniques were
common to control risks and to promote water-
related activities, such as navigation or agriculture.
Such human interventions clearly manipulate river
features and may reduce landscape attractiveness. Softer
engineering techniques, such as restoration works,
may also have some deleterious effects on 'a number
of
18.1 Introduction
In the previous chapters, the authors focused on the use
of vertical images to characterise the biophysical struc-
tures of riverscapes, their spatial patterns and dynamics
through time. For the purpose of diagnoses, ground or air-
borne oblique imagery is of increasing interest and opens
new scientific and practical questions to solve. Oblique
photos are valuable sources to assess landscape structures
and to provide a view that is close to what the human eye
sees. It is therefore possible to analyse the structure of the
image itself and evaluate the perception of landscape.
These aspects of environmental research are becom-
ing key points for practitioners in charge of managing
environmental features, because the effectiveness of envi-
ronmental projects partly depends on the integration of
the social demand. Riverscapes - i.e. landscapes that have
a river as the focal point (Mosley, 1989) - are increasingly
important components of everyday environments.
Literature has showed that observers cognitively dif-
ferentiate landscapes with and without water (Herzog,
scenic
components,
particularly
vegetation
cover
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