The impact of the city skyline on pleasantness; state of the art and a case study

Abstract

The research deals with the effect of skylines on citizens' pleasantness. The research method is based on the respondents' judgment of the color images of the skylines. 360 citizens were asked to complete a questionnaire to express their opinions and preferences along with the reasons. Three types of nature, traditional, and contemporary skylines were identified as the dominant skylines. The results showed that people prefer the nature and the traditional skyline over the contemporary skyline. They introduced some features as peacefulness, memorability, and distinctiveness as the reasons for their choice. The people's residence place could influence their attitudes toward the skyline, and most of those living in the areas with contemporary contexts selected the skyline of their contemporary context as the favorite skyline. They did not look for the sense of peacefulness in the skyline, but they underlined attractiveness. Variables of age and gender had no effect on the preferences; however, by an increase in education level, the tendency to select the traditional and contemporary skyline increased.

Keywords

• Skyline
• Aesthetics
• Pleasant
• Landscape
• Urban design
• Sustainable development