The beauty of landforms

Authors

  • Aleš Smrekar
  • Katarina Polajnar Horvat
  • Bojan Erhartič

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.3039

Keywords:

geography, aesthetics, photography, nature, landscape online survey, Dolina Triglavskih jezer, Triglav National Park, Slovenia

Abstract

This article determines which landforms attract people the most and whether one can speak of collective patterns in the aesthetic evaluation of a landscape. It therefore concerns enjoying the beauty offered by a more or less reshaped natural environment. This study is based on the Triglav Lakes Valley (Dolina Triglavskih jezer) in Slovenia which, due to the few man-made changes introduced there, includes hardly any anthropogenic “unnecessary noise.” The online survey included more than six hundred people and used photos of various landforms. Lakes were found to be the most attractive to the respondents, and fractured rock areas were the least attractive.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baumbach, R. 1886: Zlatorog planinska pravljica. Ljubljana.

Barett, T. L., Farina, A., Barett, G. W. 2009: Aesthetic landscapes: an emergent component in sustaining societies. Landscape ecology 24. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-009-9354-8

Brancelj, A. 2015: Vode in življenje v njih. Dolina Triglavskih jezer. Geografija Slovenije 32. Ljubljana.

Bruns, D., Green, B.H., 2001: Identifying threatened, valued landscapes. Threatened landscapes, conserving cultural environments. London.

Daniel, T. C. 2001: Whither scenic beauty? Visual landscape quality assesment in 21th century. Landscape and urban planning 54. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00141-4

Dramstad, W. E., Tveit, M. S., Fjellstad, W. J., Fry, G. L. A. 2006: Relationships between visual landscape preferences and map–based indicators of landscape structure. Landscape and urban planning 78–4. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.12.006

Elden, S., Mendieta, E. 2011: Reading Kant's geography. Albany.

Erhartič, B. 2012: Geomorphosite assessment. Acta geographica Slovenica 50–2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3986/AGS50206

European landscape convention and explanatory report, 2000. T–LAND. Council of Europe 6. Strasbourg.

Farina, A. 2006: Principles and methods in landscape ecology: towards a science of the landscape. Dordrecht.

Florida, R., Mellander, C. Stolarick, K. 2011: Beautiful places: the role of perceived asesthetic beauty in community satisfaction. Regional studies 45–1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2010.486784

Hacquet, B. 1778: Oryctographia Carniolica, oder Physikalische Erdbeschreibung des Herzogthums Krain, Istrien, und zum Theil der benachbarten Länder 1. Leipzig.

Hartig, T., Evans, G. W., Jamner, L. D., Davis, D. S., Gaerling, T. 2003: Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. Journal of environmental psychology 23. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00109-3

Hlad, B. 2002: Varstvo geoloških naravnih vrednot v Sloveniji. Geologija 45–2.

Hochenwart, F. J. V. 1838: Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte, Landwirtschaft und Topographie des Herzogthums Krain 1. Ljubljana.

Hrvatin, M., Zorn, M. Ferk, M., Komac, B., Erhartič, B. 2015: Relief. Dolina Triglavskih jezer, Geografija Slovenije 32. Ljubljana.

Hull, R. B., Stewart, W. P. 1992: Validity of photo–based scenic beauty judgements. Journal of environmental psychology 12–2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80063-5

Internet 1: http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/ (10. 7. 2015)

Kaplan, R., Herbert, E. J. 1987: Cultural and sub–cultural comparisons in preferences for natural settings. Landscape and urban planning 14. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0169-2046(87)90040-5

Kaplan, R., Kaplan, S., Ryan, R. L. 1998: With People in Mind. Design and management of everyday nature. Washington.

Lothian, A. 1999: Landscape and the philosophy of aesthetics: is landscape quality

inherent in the landscape or in the eye of the beholder? Landscape and urban planning 44–4.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(99)00019-5

Maslow, A. H. 1943: A theory of human motivation. Psychological review 50–4.

Peršolja, B. 2015: Gorništvo. Dolina Triglavskih jezer. Geografija Slovenije 32. Ljubljana.

Postrel V. 2003: The Substance of Style: How the rise of aesthetic value is remaking commerce, culture, and consciousness. New York.

Reynard, E., Fontana, G., Kozlik, L., Scapozza, C. 2007: A method for assessing »scientific« and »additional values« of geomorphosites. Geographica Helvetica 62–3. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/gh-62-148-2007

Rolston, H. 1987: Beauty and the beast: aesthetic experience of wildlife valuing wildlife: economic and social perspectives. Boulder and London.

Scholte, S. S. K., van Teeffelen, A. J. A., Verburg, P. H. 2015: Integrating socio–cultural perspectives into ecosystem service valuation: A review of concepts and methods. Ecological economics 114. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.03.007

Smrekar, A., Erhartič, B. 2013: Anketa o estetskem vrednotenju pokrajinskih oblik v Dolini Triglavskih jezer. ZRC SAZU, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika. Ljubljana.

Stamps, A. E. 1990: Use of photographs to simulate environments. A meta–analysis. perceptual motor skills 71–3. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/PMS.71.7.907-913

Staut, M., Kovačič, G., Ogrin, D. 2007: The spatial cognition of Mediterranean in Slovenia: (In)consistency between perception and physical definitions. Acta geographica Slovenica 47–1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3986/AGS47105

Šmid Hribar, M. 2011: Kulturni vidiki drevesne dediščine. Glasnik Slovenskega etnološkega društva 51–1.

Število prebivalcev in naravno gibanje prebivalstva. Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, 2013.

Tahvanainen, L., Ihalainen, M., Hietala–Koivu, R., Kolehmainen, O., Tyrvainen, L., Nousiainen, I., Helenius, J. 2002: Measures of the EU Agri– Environmental Protection Scheme (GAEPS) and their impacts on the visual acceptability of Finnish agricultural landscapes. Journal of environmental management 66–3. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jema.2002.0489

Tress, B., Tress, G., Decamps, H., d’Hauteserre, A. M. 2001: Bridging human and natural sciences in landscape research. Landscape and urban planning 57–3/4. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00199-2

Urbanc, M. 2008: Stories about real and imagined landscapes: the case of Slovenian Istria. Acta geographica Slovenica 48–2. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3986.AGS48204

Urbanc, M., Gašperič, P., Kozina, J. 2015: Geographical imagination of landscapes: analysis of the book of photographs Slovenian landscapes. Acta geographica Slovenica 55–1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3986/AGS.836

Vehovar, V., Batagelj, Z., Lozar Manfreda, K., Zaletel, M. 2002: Nonresponse in web surveys. Survey nonresponse. New York.

Zorn, M., Ribeiro, D., Smrekar, A. 2015: Raba tal. Dolina Triglavskih jezer. Geografija Slovenije 32. Ljubljana.

Downloads

Published

17-02-2016

How to Cite

Smrekar, A., Polajnar Horvat, K., & Erhartič, B. (2016). The beauty of landforms. Acta Geographica Slovenica, 56(2), 321–335. https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.3039