Abstract
This study investigated the effect of high-rise buildings on the preference for rural landscapes. The study site was a Seoul suburban, Yong-in, which showed typical scenes of rural development. Slides used in the study were taken in Young-in along the national road 45(north-south) and national road 42(east-west). Forty slides reflecting typical characters of Young-in were selected. Among them, ten slides which were selected through factor analysis based on “ruralits”score were used as original slides. They represent ten landscape types. The simulation of original slides was based on the following aspects: a observation distance. number of buildings and landscape types. The preferences for the landscapes were tested by 200 respondents on 40 slides: Distance(2) ${\times}$ Landscape type(10) = 20 slides, Number of buildings(2) ${\times}$ Landscape type(10) = 20 slides. The following results are found: 1) When high-rise buildings are introduced into rural scenes, there are some vulnerable landscape types: the landscape with high “rurality”, the landscape with background skyline and the focal landscape. 2) The observation distance affects landscape preference. The hypothesis that the nearer the distance the lower the preferences, is accepted. However, there are some exceptions in 3 landscape types. 3) The hypothesis that the more the number of buildings, the lower the preferences, is rejected. The result is quite unexpected one. When a single building is introduced in natural scene, it draws more attention as a focal point than a group of buildings, and subsequently the visual impact is stronger.