Abstract
Following the previous ones, this study is intended to explore methods of qualitative assessment on the view from apartment units. It first complemented and analyzed the attributes of landscape elements and then set up questionnaire items based on these attributes to identify the tendencies in apartment inhabitants' recognition of landscape elements, and then conducted a preference assessment on the test cases sampled on the basis of picture and other data collected in the previous studies to identify the characteristics of the preference for the view from apartment units according to landscape elements. Consequently, the following results have been derived. First, the landscape elements seen from apartment units may be classified into a total of sixteen categories, and the overall ratio of natural elements to artificial ones is shown to be approximately one to three. Second, it is also shown that apartment dwellers tend to prefer natural landscape elements over artificial ones, and the preferences for the distance to and location of landscape elements exhibit certain variance depending on the type of the elements. Third, the analysis of the preference for landscape elements has revealed that the types of landscape elements, the make-up and diversity of landscape elements, and the perceived distance to landscape elements as well as the resultant feeling of openness all affect the preference tendencies.