Impact of visual landscape characteristics of urban waterscapes on the city image: a study of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Abstract

Over many centuries great civilizations are inspired by water and it has contributed to both natural and man-made environments. Water- based urban environments are combining natural scenarios and aesthetic qualities of water in order to create urban spaces. Urban waterscapes are there to celebrate the role of water in a water- based environment. A positive image of a water- based city environment can be identified through a visual landscape character assessment. Objective of the research focused to find visual landscape character indicators of urban waterscapes and those were used to evaluate the dependency of spatial memory recall on the water- based city imageability. Diyatha Uyana water Front Park, Parliament lakeside and Kimbulawala urban paddy field urban spaces were selected as case studies since they are identified as urban waterscapes within Sri Jayawardenepura kotte. Quantitatively collected data used to qualitative data analysis and aquaphilia based hypothetical question were taken into investigate the applicability of water- based imageability in a city landscape. Field study was carried with thirty participants and using a questionnaire survey and a Photo Projective Method place identification. Findings demonstrated that the visual scale parameters of urban waterscapes mostly influence on the identity of water- based city image.