DRIVING FACTORS FOR VISUAL LANDSCAPE PREFERENCES IN PROTECTED LANDSCAPE AREAS

The paper brings about results of a questionnaire survey on visual landscape preferences of Czech respondents – visitors of several Protected Landscape Areas situated in the Czech Republic. To ensure a wide range of landscape scenes to be chosen from, a set of 24 photographs divided into two groups – open landscapes and rural settlement landscapes – was at disposal. Considering possible driving factors of visual landscape preferences, these groups were divided into six categories. For each of them, two subcategories were consequently established. While open landscapes were generally positively rated, low ratings were listed for rural settlement landscapes. Open landscape scenes involving a cultural or natural landmark were the most preferred, while photos depicting vast arable land or settlements were rated the lowest. In rural settlements, the level of typicality of the buildings in the scenes seemed to be crucial. Among demographic data, gender and place of residence were found to be driving factors for the landscape preferences of the respondents