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The Interplay of Objectivity and Subjectivity in Landscape Character Assessment: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches and Challenges

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  • Theano S. Terkenli

    (Department of Geography, University of the Aegean University Hill, Mytilene, 81100 Lesvos, Greece)

  • Aikaterini Gkoltsiou

    (Department of Geography, University of the Aegean University Hill, Mytilene, 81100 Lesvos, Greece)

  • Dimitris Kavroudakis

    (Department of Geography, University of the Aegean University Hill, Mytilene, 81100 Lesvos, Greece)

Abstract

Landscape character assessment (LCA) methods have been used in the past few decades to analyze, classify, and map landscape types, using objective and subjective approaches, with the aid of both quantitative and qualitative data. This paper addresses and critically evaluates the compromises and ways in which contemporary LCA methodologies employ (or profess they employ) objective versus subjective and quantitative versus qualitative data and analytical tools, in their conceptualization and implementation. It begins with an extensive literature review of the ways in which the objective/subjective and the quantitative/qualitative variables interweave in currently practiced or proposed versions of LCA. With the aid of meta-analysis, the paper traces and discusses the recent evolution, methods, concessions, and risks of such endeavors, and develops an integrative conceptual model for critical assessment, analysis, and negotiation of the interplay between objective-subjective and quantitative-qualitative constituent parts of existing LCA methodologies. It concludes by pointing to pitfalls and prospects, in the broader attempt towards a more concerted, integrative approach to LCA development and practice, both appropriate to its challenges and adaptable to time-space-culture-discipline landscape particularities and means of implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Theano S. Terkenli & Aikaterini Gkoltsiou & Dimitris Kavroudakis, 2021. "The Interplay of Objectivity and Subjectivity in Landscape Character Assessment: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches and Challenges," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:53-:d:477189
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Aikaterini Gkoltsiou & Eleni Athanasiadou & Angeliki T. Paraskevopoulou, 2021. "Agricultural Heritage Landscapes of Greece: Three Case Studies and Strategic Steps towards Their Acknowledgement, Conservation and Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-28, May.
    3. Hangyu Gao & Shamsul Abu Bakar & Suhardi Maulan & Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof & Riyadh Mundher & Khalilah Zakariya, 2023. "Identifying Visual Quality of Rural Road Landscape Character by Using Public Preference and Heatmap Analysis in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Shuang Zhao & Diechuan Yang & Chi Gao, 2023. "Identifying Landscape Character for Large Linear Heritage: A Case Study of the Ming Great Wall in Ji-Town, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, February.
    5. Zhongzhe Shen & Xingjian Peng & Chenlong Du & Mintai Kim, 2023. "Quantifying Sustainability and Landscape Performance: A Smart Devices Assisted Alternative Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, September.
    6. Vassiliki Vlami & Ioannis P. Kokkoris & Ioannis Charalampopoulos & Thomas Doxiadis & Christos Giannakopoulos & Miltiades Lazoglou, 2023. "A Transect Method for Promoting Landscape Conservation in the Climate Change Context: A Case-Study in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-29, September.

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