Visual Preferences in Enclosed Urban Spaces: An Exploration of a Scientific Approach to Environmental Design

Few design approaches have utilized scientific methods in dealing with aesthetic and visual factors. In an attempt to explore a scientific approach to environmental design, the relationship between visual preference and ratio variables in enclosed spaces on the Virginia Tech campus was investigated. Visual preference of enclosed spaces was measured by the Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) method. The SBE method was found to be reliable and valid in urban enclosed spaces. This study suggests that visual quality of an enclosed urban place can be predicted from the linear combination of three ratio variables-ground slope, height ratio, and vegetation coverage. The prediction model can be used as an heuristic or analytic tool for design practice.