To contribute to the enhancement of the aesthetic value of the Lake Erie shoreline. In accomplishing this task, empirically- based design guidelines for the planning, redevelopment and management of those sections of urban shoreline dedicated to aesthetic appreciation will be made available to those individuals and organizations affecting such development. These guidelines will specify the ways in which physical elements affect scenic quality. This research also represents a demonstration of methodology, which may be applied for other land-uses to assess environmental influences on scenic quality.

For shorelines (in general) and the Lake Erie shoreline (in particular), aesthetic value is of special importance. The shoreline is a unique resource, sought after (if available) as a place for contemplation and aesthetic release. For the millions of persons who live and work close to Lake Erie, the shoreline represents an underused resource for aesthetic experience. Further, improvements in scenic quality can have indirect economic benefits -- attracting visitors to the scenic areas.

Specifically, this research will identify for urban shoreline parks those physical characteristics (artificial and natural) which are salient in perception of persons of different social class and life cycle. In later years, the relationship between these salient characteristics to perceived scenic quality will be established. Further, the validity of the photographic simulation will be tested. Guidelines for the planning, redevelopment and management of shoreline areas will be proposed. Researchers did elicit preferences for each category of scenes; from these categories, preliminary models of scene preference were derived.

Benefits:
The enhancement of the perceived scenic quality and related pecuniary value of lakeshore zones is the major anticipated long-term benefit. Specific contributions include: empirically based indices of those visual features of shorelines that relate to perceived emotional quality of scenes; development of evidence of the pecuniary value associated with scenic quality; and development of an understanding of the aesthetic carrying capacity of shoreline areas. Local and state legislators, planners and others who can control development along the shoreline can use these results to formulate policy, monitor trends or make decisions about specific projects.

Accomplishments:
The principal investigator has perceived environmental quality in a variety of settings (including central business districts, commercial areas, residential areas and campus areas) and has found that specific physical features of scenes relate to the emotional quality of those scenes. Of more direct relevance to this proposed project, he has examined -- for 63 photographs of Lake Erie shoreline scenes and for a sample of 60 adults -- the similarity judgements between the scenes and the reasons given for those judgements. Multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis have produced a mapping of the scenes in perceptual space. From these analyses, he has developed some preliminary hypotheses of the salient visual aspects of Lake Erie shoreline scenes.