Visual Quality Assessment of Urban Scenes with the Contemplative Landscape Model: Evidence from a Compact City Downtown Core
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remote sensing Article Visual Quality Assessment of Urban Scenes with the Contemplative Landscape Model: Evidence from a Compact City Downtown Core Hou Yanru 1, Mahyar Masoudi 1 , Agnieszka Chadala 2 and Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo 2,3,* 1 Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 8 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117356, Singapore; [email protected] (H.Y.); [email protected] (M.M.) 2 NeuroLandscape Foundation, Suwalska 8/78, 03-252 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] 3 Institute for Health Innovation & Technology (iHealthtech), MD6, 14 Medical Drive, Singapore 117599, Singapore * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 11 September 2020; Accepted: 24 October 2020; Published: 27 October 2020 Abstract: In the face of rapid urbanization and the growing burden of mental health disease, there is a need to design cities with consideration for human mental health and well-being. There is an emerging body of evidence on the importance of everyday environmental exposures regarding the mental health of city inhabitants. For example, contemplative landscapes, through a series of neuroscience experiments, were shown to trigger improved mood and restoration of attention. While the Contemplative Landscape Model (CLM) for scoring landscape views was applied to single images, its suitability was never tested for walking paths and areas with a diversity of viewpoints. This study aims to fill this gap using the high-density downtown of Singapore, also known as a “City in a Garden” for its advanced urban greening strategies, as a case study. In this study, 68 360◦ photos were taken along four popular walking paths every 20 m. A photo set of 204 items was created by extracting three view angles from each photo. Each of them was independently scored by three experts and average CLM scores for each view and path were obtained. The results were then fed into an open-source Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) for visualization. Cohen’s kappa agreement between experts’ scores was computed. The outcomes were mapped to facilitate the identification of the most contemplative viewpoints and paths. Moreover, specific contemplative landscape patterns have been distinguished and assessed allowing the recommendation of design strategies to improve the quality of viewpoints and paths. The inter-rater agreement reached substantial to perfect values. CLM is a reliable and suitable tool that enables the fine-grained assessment and improvement of the visual quality of the urban living environments with consideration of the mental health and well-being of urbanites. It can be used at a larger scale owing to 360◦ photos taken from the pedestrian’s point of view. Utilizing spatially explicit maps in QGIS platforms enables a wider range of visualizations and allows for spatial patterns to be revealed that otherwise would have remained hidden. Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of our semi-automated method. Furthermore, given the high inter-rater agreement observed, we suggest that there is potential in developing fully automated methods. Keywords: contemplative landscape; spatial analysis; mental health; urban; view 1. Introduction Mental health issues including depression, anxiety, substance abuse and neurodegenerative diseases not only degrade people’s quality of life, but also lead to serious economic losses [1,2]. Confronting these issues has become one of the major challenges of the contemporary world [3,4]. 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This posemay environmentalexplain the higher challenges prevalence (traffi cof congestion, mental health elevated disease temperatures, in urban airas andcompared noise pollution) to rural andenvironments are associated [11]. with On increasedthe other burnouthand, nature and stress exposure [10]. Thishas been may explainshown to the induce higher psychological prevalence of mentalrecovery health (e.g., diseasefrom stress in urban and asmental compared fatigue) to rural[12–14], environments positive emotions [11]. On [15,16], the other and hand, to improve nature exposurecognitive hasperformance, been shown memory to induce, and psychological creativity [17,18]. recovery (e.g., from stress and mental fatigue) [12–14], positiveThese emotions insights [15 and,,16], more and torecently, improve findings cognitive about performance, the contemplative memory, land andscapes creativity [19,20], [17 ,support18]. the widespreadThese insights use and, of urban more greening recently, findingssolutions, about such the as the contemplative conservation landscapes of native [vegetation,19,20], support adding the widespreadmore greenery use ofto urbanthe city greening overall, solutions, and incorpor such asating the conservation elements of of the native natural vegetation, environment adding moreinto greenerybuildings to and the interior city overall, design. and incorporating elements of the natural environment into buildings and interior design. 1.1. Contemplative Landscape Model 1.1. Contemplative Landscape Model The contemplative landscape model (CLM) developed by Olszewska-Guizzo provides the possibilityThe contemplative to systematically landscape assess the model quality (CLM) of landscape developed design, by Olszewska-Guizzo recognizing that each provides landscape the possibilityview/scene tohas systematically some contemplative assess the value, quality determ of landscapeined by design,the aggregation recognizing of thatseven each key-features, landscape viewincluding:/scene landscape has some layers, contemplative landform, value, vegetation, determined color & by light, the aggregationcompatibility, of archetypal seven key-features, elements, including:and the character landscape of peace layers, and landform, silence [21]. vegetation, Figure color1 illustrates & light, the compatibility, CLM with corresponding archetypal elements, scores andon a the 1–6-point character Likert of peace scale and silenceand brief [21 ].descriptions Figure1 illustrates of each the CLMfeature. with CLM corresponding was developed scores onand a 1–6-pointoperationalized Likert scaleto enable and briefexpert-b descriptionsased evaluation of each feature.of the contemplative CLM was developed value of and various operationalized views and toscenes enable with expert-based special consideration evaluation ofof the the contemplative urban context, value including of various urban views green and space scenes (UGS) with as special built considerationelements are important of the urban variables context, in including the compatibility urban green and space character (UGS) of as peace built elementsand silence are categories important variablesCLM is, to in the the best compatibility of our know andledge, character the ofonly peace visual and assessment silence categories tool employing CLM is, tosuch the besta nuanced of our knowledge,approach to thelandscape only visual quality assessment assessment, tool employingand which suchhas been a nuanced operationalised approach toin landscapeorder to be quality used assessment,in mental health and whichresearch. has been operationalised in order to be used in mental health research. Figure 1. Simplified Contemplative Landscape Model for built landscape evaluation with 1 to 6-point scoringFigure 1. scale; Simplified adapted Contemplative from [22]. Landscape Model for built landscape