How green facades affect the perception of urban ambiences: Comparing Slovenia and the Netherlands

Abstract

Green facades are gaining growing attention among the general public and researchers in various disciplines. Vertical greenery systems play an important role as expressive elements of buildings, while at the same time being treated as a special type of green infrastructure with various positive effects, especially in densely built-up urban areas. This study focuses on the perception of green facades in urban ambiences. The emphasis is on visual perception and the evaluation of the pleasantness or visual quality of various spaces based on the presence or absence of green facades. The public perceptions and evaluation of urban open space with the green elements studied was examined in the Netherlands and Slovenia. The online survey included images of various spatial situations about which respondents conveyed their opinions. Two target groups were addressed: the general public and architecture and urban planning students. The results show that in general greener urban environment is perceived as more pleasant, suggesting that most people think vertical greenery also contributes to the quality of urban ambiences. Nonetheless, differences were identified between the residents of the two countries studied and the two groups surveyed.

Keywords

• vertical greenery
• green facades
• living walls
• perception of urban space
• green infrastructure