Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science

The study of the aesthetic qualities of the landscape can include both expert evaluation and public opinion. During the last decade, there has been an increase in attention from the side of scientists to public involvement in assessing the aesthetics of landscapes. At the same time, the question of ways of studying the aesthetic qualities of the park environment with the involvement of respondents and identifying those that will contribute to obtaining reliable results in accordance with the tasks is debatable in the sources of scientific literature. The purpose of the study is to determine the equivalence of assessments of the aesthetic qualities of the park environment, obtained using different methods of research. The Mariinsky Park and the park “Slava”, located in the central historical part of Kyiv, have been selected as research targets. 42 people were involved in the study. The evaluation was held using photographs illustrating park landscapes and directly in the park environment, which was carried out four times a year - in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the data. It was established that the estimation of the aesthetic qualities of the landscapes of the Mariinsky park is different both within the seasons and in relation to the method of conducting the research. The most significant (21.1 %) difference between the assessments given in the photo and directly in the environment was revealed in the fall. In the park “Slava” the situation is different - the difference in the average score, both within the seasons, and according to the method of conducting the research does not exceed 7.5 %. Similar to both experimental objects, a slight (2.4-4.0 %) increase in the estimation of spring landscapes is evaluated directly in the park as compared to the photographs. The results of the correlation analysis of the aesthetics of the landscape of experimental objects received in different seasons shown a difference in the correlation strength in accordance with the method of conducting research – within the Mariinsky Park correlation links in almost all the cases are closer than the use of the photo, while in the park “Slava” – in the environment

park landscape perception, landscape assessment methodology, seasonal dynamics, correlation analysis