Landscape aesthetic experience and ecosystem services

Abstract

Needs, definitions, and methods for assessing landscape aesthetic experience as an ecosystem service within the New Zealand context are reviewed. Formal and transactional approaches to the understanding and investigation of aesthetic experiences are compared, and the rationale for considering aesthetic ecosystem services in a landscape context explained. Different approaches to measuring aesthetic values and experiences are considered historically, showing the ways in which scientists, planners and landscape architects have attempted to incorporate aesthetic considerations into land management. Contemporary approaches to evaluation of aesthetic ecosystem services are noted, and illustrated through New Zealand examples. A number of research issues and directions are identified.