Landscape Visual Sensitivity Assessment of Historic Districts—A Case Study of Wudadao Historic District in Tianjin, China

Abstract

Against the backdrop of urban stock renewal, as the core area of a city rich in culture, aesthetics, and tourism resources, the assessment of landscape visual sensitivity of historic districts can provide an accurate, objective, and intuitive decision-making basis for the multi-purpose planning of districts. The main purpose of this study was to develop an assessment method based on the geographic information system (GIS) in order to make a visual sensitivity index map on a district scale. To this end, this study uses the multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) method, selects the visibility (VSv), the number of potential users (VSu), and remarkableness (VSe) as the main criteria, and constructs a comprehensive assessment model of the visual sensitivity of the historic landscape. The most well-protected Wudadao Historic District in Tianjin (Wudadao) was selected as the study area, and its visual sensitivity was assessed. The assessment results are divided into four levels: areas of high sensitivity, moderate sensitivity, low sensitivity, and very low sensitivity. Results indicate that after the optimization and improvement of the evaluation index for visual sensitivity of a large-scale forest landscape, it is feasible to evaluate the small-scale visual sensitivity of historic districts; the higher the sensitivity level, the more important it is to be protected, and the more cautious it should be in the renewal of districts; the higher the number of potential users, the higher the visual sensitivity level, and so on. Further attention needs to be paid to planning and design to improve visual quality.

Landscape sensitivity-based scenario analysis using flus model: a case of Asarsuyu watershed

“…In addition, within the scope of the study, landscape sensitivity analyses were handled with the natural processes of the landscape in the context of water infiltration, erosion risk and habitat fragmentation. Different sensitivity studies such as visual sensitivity (Fang et al 2021;, cultural sensitivity (Manolaki et al 2020) can be evaluated together in future studies, as well as other different natural processes of the landscape (geomorphological and ecological process) methodically can be added to the frame. The characteristics of the study area are also decisive in this regard.…”

“…Although the relationship between LUCC and landscape sensitivity is critical, landscape sensitivity studies which are considered an important strategy for ecological land use planning/management are extremely rare. Many existing studies related to landscape sensitivity have focused on topics such as a change in the landscape in terms of component, spatial pattern, environmental conditions (Knox 2001;Miles et al 2001;Usher 2001;), tourism development (Jennings 2004), floods (Safeeq et al 2015), visual landscape sensitivity quality (Fang et al 2021;Haara et al 2017;Wang & Qu 2018), landscape pattern across temporal and spatial scales (Chi et al 2019), erosion (Kieu et al 2020), the combination of ecological sensitivity, cultural sensitivity and visual sensitivity (Manolaki et al 2020). Hence there is a lack of studies that directly examine the relationship between landscape sensitivity and LUCC on the watershed scale.…”

Quantitative Research of Street Interface Morphology in Urban Historic Districts:A Case Study of West Street Historic District,Quanzhou

“…Scholars using GIS for Spatial Morphology research are also numerous, focusing on spatial patterns and features [38][39][40][41]. Some scholars use GIS to assess the landscape sensitivity of historical districts, as seen in the works of Fang et al [42] and Yang and Shen [43]. As the concept of a people-centred approach gradually takes hold,scholars are no longer confined to studying historical districts from an objective perspective.The third type explores the relationship between people and historic districts from a human perspective.Some scholars consider the relationship between historical districts and their residents from the perspective of residents' roles [44,45].…”

Landscape Sensitivity Assessment of Historic Districts Using a GIS-Based Method: A Case Study of Beishan Street in Hangzhou, China

“…Most of the time, landscape sensitivity analysis is done at the urban scale, or even at the national scale. Fang et al [13] conducted a visual sensitivity analysis at the district scale. In this study, the most evident alteration in the application of landscape sensitivity analysis to the historic district was the use of polygonal plot boundaries.…”

“…Most of the previous quantitative studies on landscape sensitivity in historic districts have been about one aspect, such as ecological [16] or visual [13] sensitivity. This study proposes a more comprehensive landscape sensitivity assessment framework.…”