Abstract
This report is part of the FORAM task 3 "Computer Graphic Techniques",
which was defined in the Technical Annex 1994. The relevance of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) in landscape planning and design is described.
The German team demonstrate, using the example of an actual landscape master
plan for a rural community in the FORAM Study Area Bavarian Alps (see report
1995), how GIS can be used to improve the communication between the landscape
architect and the local people. Both the technical design of a Multi Media
GIS and the procedure to collect and incorporate digital data are described.
The performance of the Multi Media GIS is illustrated using different computer
screen captures of the GIS presentation software ArcView. Preliminary results
from an acceptance study of professional planners and laymen show the suitability
of the digital presentation format. Finally, the article outlines future
possibilities for involving people in the planning process through the
use of Internet technology.
Introduction
The following report compiles the achievements of the German FORAM team
in terms of computer based landscape planning and design. The research
work is part of task 3 "Computer Graphic Techniques" of the Technical Annex
and follows objectives which were developed in co-operation with the FORAM
partners and external experts of our university. Additional literature
reviews and new tendencies in landscape planning have shown, that there
is a need to develop an adequate GIS to meet the requirements of modern
landscape and amenity design methodologies. Scientific methodologies and
means to assess landscape aesthetics are still poorly developed. Therefore
aesthetic aspects play very often only a minor role in landscape planning,
although the beauty of a landscape is the most evident feature for the
laymen.
Objectives
The FORAM computer research is focused on the development of adequate Geographic
Information Systems, image processing systems and mulitmedial computer
applications, which are qualified to measure and describe landscape in
a realistic way. Those tools should also be able to calculate, analyse
and simulate specific landscape conditions, in the past, in the present
and in the future. Beyond this the presentation and mediation of planning
results has to be achieved. Researching the planning tools helps to improve
the communication between planners, experts and the publicity during the
planning process to grant for the highest possible acceptance of the plan.
The Planning Interface
between Landscape and Man
Analysing the interaction between man and landscape reveals a typical subject
object relationship: landscape as the object of man's scientific efforts
to understand nature always leads to an subjective interpretation of its
natural appearance. NOHL (1996) remarked that understanding this relationship
needs a hermeneutic interpretation of the inter-subjective correlation
between the observer and the landscape. The group explorations with visitors
of the Upper Danube Valley (KEPPLER 1997) are one possible approach to
handle this fact. But the question in terms of computer research is: are
GIS and new digital media suitable tools to analyse and mediate individual
landscape perceptions in a satisfying way?
The most valid and reliable way to describe a landscape scientifically
is by measuring its features. Quantitative and qualitative ecological conditions
has been described by measuring corresponding parameters for decades. But
measuring the (quantifiable) aesthetic quality of landscapes does not regard
important personnel factors, which are immanent for the mentioned subject
- object relationship. Nevertheless assessing the aesthetic quality by
the quantity of certain landscape elements can be an useful approach to
demonstrate the classic tasks of GIS (see report 1996: "Scenic Beauty Estimation
of the Spitzing See area").
To answer the question if computers can do more we first have to outline
some facts in terms of landscape perception:
The human perception of landscape is very complex and occurs on different
levels. Besides the pure sensual perception there is a cognitive and psycho-emotional
process which is controlled by our mind, our experience, our education
or social position. The results of the public survey at the Spitzing See
(see report 1996) also confirm that received information is an additional
factor, which influences the aesthetic feelings of landscape observers.
The sensual perception is less complex than the psycho-emotional and
better to control. Some researchers estimate that we receive our impressions
of the world around us approximately as follows: 1 percent by taste, 1,5
by touch, 3,5 percent by smell, 7 by hearing, and 87 percent by sight.
KEPPLER (1997) critically mentions that the visual experience can most
easily expressed verbally by man. Even if this may expel the above numbers
it is clear, that the visual sense is the most important for human beings
to receive information from the landscape. Hearing plays another important
role in perceiving the landscape. The process of the non-sensual "imagination"
of a landscape is much more complex and depends much more on the personality
of the observer. Another relevant point is, that man perceives his environment
not as the sum of single landscape elements but as a unity.
The scientifically examined findings on how man perceives landscape
leads us to the requirements concerning the performance of an adapted planning
tool. REMMERT (cited in: AKADEMIE FÜR NATURSCHUTZ UND LANDESPFLEGE
1981, P. 13) that we need a variety of illustration means to describe the
variety of natural phenomenon. Concluding from the above mentioned points
it is vital that we describe landscape as a whole. That means first of
all we have to reproduce as much as possible of all natural stimuli. Secondarily
we have to present the landscape as realistic as possible. Thirdly we have
to inform the people on what they see and fourthly we should be able to
illustrate spatial problems in a flexible way in a small or large scale.