Science Inventory

Understanding the Influence of Aesthetics on Site User Experience and Wellbeing

Citation:

Witts, J., J. Rhodus, T. Hollenhorst, S. Shattuck, F. Fulk, K. Williams, AND J. Hoffman. Understanding the Influence of Aesthetics on Site User Experience and Wellbeing. St. Louis River Summit, Superior, WI, March 08 - 10, 2023. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.24602016

Impact/Purpose:

Degraded aesthetics can leave a negative impact on ecosystems through decreased recreation opportunities and may leave a negative impact on health and wellbeing of the site users. Understanding the influence aesthetics has on human health and wellbeing and the site user experience is crucial to decision makers in environmental restoration projects.

Description:

The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) identifies degradation of aesthetics as one of the beneficial uses of the ecosystem that should be restored. Degraded aesthetics, such as odors and debris, can leave a negative impact on the local community through decreased recreation opportunities and a diminished aesthetic value. Using aesthetics as a method for documenting how people perceive the environment is critical as citizens may characterize impairments differently than resource managers do. As a result, state agencies and local governments may benefit from understanding how aesthetics, including site design and maintenance, might affect a user’s experience and health and wellbeing. A Health Impact Assessment conducted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2017 used participatory mapping to record community members’ and stakeholders’ experiences and spatial knowledge of Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point. The comments from the participatory mapping exercise were coded and uploaded to an Arc Pro geodatabase that contains the digitized maps, comments, codes, and stakeholder information. Further analysis of the codes identified aesthetics as a major component of the comments pertaining to user experience. Using the geodatabase, a qualitative analysis will be conducted both to determine what aesthetics means to this community group and to examine the relationship between aesthetics and natural features, identity, and safety. We anticipate there will be a geospatial pattern relative to neighborhood attributes and aesthetics, such that degraded aesthetics may promote a negative perception of the natural features, identity, and safety of Kingsbury Bay and Grassy Point. Therefore, utilizing aesthetics as a key factor influencing environmental perception may be used by decision makers and citizens to enhance the ecological and social benefits of environmental restoration.