ИСТИНА

Formal assessment of aesthetic attractiveness of natural landscapes is usually based on evaluating such criteria as perspective depth, relief morphology and habitat diversity, colorfulness and shape of vegetation, etc. Human disturbance always stands at the negative side of aesthetics scale – the higher level of hemeroby, the less is the score. Papers which discuss perception of urban space focus on architectural environment and viewsheds formed by architectural elements and greenery. In this context, urban aesthetic value becomes very subjective and hard to be embedded into complex assessment of urban landscapes functions. In our research we try to develop formal criteria for evaluation of aesthetic quality of urban landscapes. The research was performed in Tyumen, Russia. To minimize influence of architecture we studied sites with typical ordinary housing with various combinations of its properties and natural surroundings. Public opinion polling was conducted in winter and summer seasons via personal and online interview. The samples consisted of students and staff of geographical department of Tumen State University, the reference group which influences current and future urban planning policy. Respondents were suggested to rate 10 sets of pictures of more or less similar sites differing in a certain aspect of urban environment. As formal criteria of attractiveness we studied housing height and density, line of the horizon, perspective depth, presence of greenery, topography, development of open spaces and parks. Winter survey revealed insignificance of street greenery in urban landscape attractiveness, in summer survey vegetation played some higher role, but completely paved streets were always most preferable. Wooden historical buildings with front gardens did not evoke strong emotions in Tyumen citizens. However, while choosing the most urbanized environment of streets and housing, respondents preferred wild forests to parks for green spaces.