Measuring landscape preferences: The identification and evaluation of island viewscapes

Limits to land on islands are clear and specific, defined by the coast and the sea. If the land on islands is limited, how then should it be valued as a resource and protected for its highest and best use? What tools would assist government administration and communities to assess the landscape and make informed land use decisions?

Land use decisions may be based on agricultural productivity, potential for development or ecological importance, but pure aesthetics are not necessarily taken into consideration. Yet few would deny that scenic beauty is often a major tourism draw for island destinations and that visual appeal plays a large part in the quality of experience of both residents and visitors. Islands very often depend to a large degree on the tourism industry and thus on the appeal of the scenic viewscapes; yet the value of beauty is very difficult to measure. No obvious consensus appears to have been reached as to how to accurately assess the economic value of a view, any more than the less concrete measure of well-being imparted by aesthetic surroundings. The paper proposes as a hypothesis that Prince Edward Island residents and visitors will express preferences for some viewscapes. This research exercise considers the scenic quality of landscapes as a resource, and sets out to develop an appropriate tool for the measurement of preferences for scenic landscapes in the context of Prince Edward Island (PEI). The paper establishes some preliminary basis for evaluation of scenic resource and provides results which could prove useful as one component of a land management program. The paper also reports on how the scenic resource is managed in selected island and mainland jurisdictions. This research could lead to an objective and practical methodology to designate scenic viewscapes for protection under the PEI Planning Act and assist in both defining and promoting appropriate development that could both enhance the tourism industry and contribute to the quality of life of residents of Prince Edward Island and those of other islands and mainlands elsewhere.