Effects of Design Proportion and Distribution of Color in Urban and Suburban Green Space Planning to Visual Aesthetics Quality

Abstract

Landscape color provides visual attractiveness and is an important landscape architecture construct in design and with aesthetics. Along roadways, plant color in a midground position provides a potential location readily seen by people. However, few studies have quantitatively explored the impact of a green (original) only compared to additions of color on the visual aesthetic quality (VAQ) in this spatial location. In this study, visual images were constructed to contrast four red color proportions (25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of midground) and four color spatial distributions (Red-Single, Red-Group, Green-Single and Green-Group) mixed with three landscapes texture classes (rigid = narrowleaf coniferous, soft = broadleaved, and mixed = both) in the background. As red color proportion increased, VAQ also increased. In the original all green landscape, the background setting had a significant impact on VAQ, but the texture plant design of the foreground had no significant impact on the landscape VAQ. Broadleaved (MVAQ = 63.2) and coniferous landscapes (MVAQ = 55.9) were rated as more attractive than a mixed landscape (MVAQ = 27.9). From the perspective of design color, increasing the proportions of color can improve the VAQ of the landscape. This study indicates that aesthetic quality becomes highest when the color proportion of the middle ground layer was greatest at C100 (MVAQ = 79.7). Comparing the four spatial color distributions, the single distributed green landscape (MVAQ = 60.9) and the group distributed landscape when started with red (MVAQ = 54.0) had the higher quality than the others. Findings from this study can be used to support public authorities and urban planners to effectively design and manage urban spaces to meet dwellers’ needs.