Simulation Effects on Environmental Preference

There has been much recent interest in visual resource management. One frequently raised issue is the effect of rendering and photographic protocols on preferences. This article describes a meta-analysis of the literature (covering 1215 stimuli and over 4200 respondents) and two new preference experiments. The experiments compared preferences based on pre-construction line elevation drawings to preferences based on post-construction elevation and perspective photographs of infill residences. It was found that the different simulations produced very similar preferences. It is suggested that pre-construction line drawings and either photo-protocol could be used to make visual resource management decisions for infill housing. It is also suggested that meta-analysis might be a useful for environmental researchers.