Environmental Phsychological Theories of Landscape Perception and Results of a Survey in the Tiszazug Microregion

Abstract

Several scientific theories have been developed to explain landscape perception by the human. We summarize the evolutionary, that is prospect-refuge, habitat and information processing theories, dealing with social-psychological aspects of the question and also with the ecological aesthetics idea. In 2021 a landscape character survey was carried out among the citizens of the Tiszazug microregion of Hungary. According to the answers of 104 respondants, the character of the landscape in the microregion would change most dramatically by the disappearance of oxbow lakes, floodplain forests and vineyards. They recognize that the decreasing number of the population and aging of the citizens results in decreasing intensity of landuse, the growing extent of areas that are out of crops and an increasing number of abandoned buildings on the level of landscape scenery.