Speaker
Description
Urban macro-scale landscape management plays a crucial role in shaping a city's identity and reinforcing image of city for tourists. A key challenge in this process is balancing the preservation of natural and traditional urban environments with urban development. One institutional measure to achieve this balance is the application of building height regulations in the area between the view target and the viewpoint. These regulations primarily aim to protect views of vertical landmarks, such as mountains, cultural heritage sites. However, in recent years, Seoul's landscape management policies and regulatory standards have gradually weakened, resulting in significant viewpoints being obstructed by high-rise developments. In response, this study investigates landscape management practices in various cities worldwide, comparing their regulatory approaches and characteristics. Additionally, through in-depth interviews with experts, this study aims to examine appropriate landscape management policies for high-density cities like Seoul to ensure the preservation of urban skylines.
This study conducts a quantitative analysis of height regulations in 20 cities worldwide, including Seoul, examining 91 viewpoints for natural landmarks and 67 viewpoints for artificial landmarks. The comparison considers key factors such as landmark type and height, distance and elevation angles from viewpoints. Cities were selected based on their implementation of height regulation policies designed to preserve views of vertical landmarks, such as mountains, temples, towers, and castles, with official documentation available for reference. To facilitate a comprehensive visual analysis, a simulation environment was developed using OpenStreetMap, allowing for the extraction of 360° images that include view targets and their surrounding environments from each viewpoint. OpenStreetMap provides detailed terrain and architectural data for cities worldwide, making it particularly suitable for constructing accurate simulation environments. Conventional street-view images were not utilized due to limitations in resolution, seasonal conditions, and variations in height and positioning of view caused by vehicle-mounted cameras. The landscape viewed from each viewpoint in the simulated environment is compared with Google Street View to check how much the visual target is actually obstructed (due to elements not provided by OpenStreetMap) as of 2024. After texturing and rendering the environment to resemble the real world, a 360° image is extracted. Based on the image, a visual analysis is performed, examining factors such as the visible area ratio of view target, visual blockage ratio, and the skyline shape from the viewpoint.
In order to evaluate the rationality of landscape management policies and the effectiveness of height regulation standards, as well as the quality of views, in selected case cities, in-depth interviews will be conducted with 10 urban landscape and development experts. The interviews will include evaluation criteria commonly used in official landscape reviews or general landscape preference assessments. These will encompass the landscape value of natural and artificial landscapes, the legitimacy of private property rights infringement for landscape management, and the appropriateness of regulatory standards based on contextual differences with surrounding urban areas. A comprehensive evaluation will be carried out from various perspectives. Additionally, to verify the reliability of the interview data, an ICC analysis will be utilized.
Based on the results of the study, appropriate regulatory standards and management measures are proposed to effectively manage Seoul's macro-landscape. This study contributes to evaluating macro-landscape management systems around the world by considering the conservation value of urban landscapes and the economic value of development, and to exploring appropriate landscape management tools for Seoul, which has both vertical natural and artificial landmarks. The results can be used as a practical basis for establishing landscape management and regulatory standards in various cities around the world in the future, especially in developing countries where the value judgments of conservation and development are conflicting and rapidly developing.
References
Kim, S., Kim, J., & Kim, B. (2020). Immersive virtual reality-aided conjoint analysis of urban square preference by living environment. Sustainability, 12(16), 6440.
Zacharias, J. (1999). Preferences for view corridors through the urban environment. Landscape and urban planning, 43(4), 217-225.
Kim, S. N., & Lee, H. (2022). Capturing reality: Validation of omnidirectional video-based immersive virtual reality as a streetscape quality auditing method. Landscape and Urban Planning, 218, 104290.
Kim, B. C., Kim, S. N., & Joo, Y. (2024). Visual impact control of urban waterfront development on the background mountain view: Examining its justifiability through two types of immersive virtual reality experiments. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 106, 107500.
Lin, L., Homma, R., & Iki, K. (2018). Preferences for a lake landscape: Effects of building height and lake width. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 70, 22-33.
Tavernor, R. (2007). Visual and cultural sustainability: The impact of tall buildings on London. Landscape and Urban Planning, 83(1), 2-12.
| Keywords | macro-cityscape; height regulation; vertical landmarks; visual analysis; focus group interviews |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
