The aesthetic evaluation of coastal landscape

The evaluation of coastal landscape is absolutely necessary when coastal zone is managed or coastal space is newly created. However, research on coastal landscape is rare and no guidelines exist for coastal landscape planning and management. This paper therefore aims to present techniques for evaluating coastal landscape from the visual perception opinions of respondents through questionnaire survey and multivariate analysis. The questionnaire is evaluated by the 5-point scale of Semantic Differential (SD) method. With Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the following four principal components are extracted and named as principal component loadings: harmony, safety, rurality, and spatiality. All beaches are classified into the 4 groups by cluster analysis. By plotting scores of their principal components in a 2-dimensional semantic space, the aesthetic characteristics of coastal landscape are clarified for every beach. To clarify the interaction between the principal component scores and the SD scores of preference items, multiple regression analysis is performed. Therefore, the relationship between principal components and the preference trends of coastal landscape will be ascertained. If citizen’s universal perceptions about favorite coastal landscape are understood and their needs are considered in the design and building up of coastal structure or space, more visitors will experience enjoyment, comfort and convenience.