Non-visual perception of the landscape on the example of Bydgoszcz

Abstract

The perception of the landscape is related to the perception of space primarily through the sense of sight. Visual perception is complemented by impressions collected by other senses, hearing, smell and touch. The aim of the conducted research was to identify the landscapes of the city of  Bydgoszcz and its vicinity perceived both positively and negatively by means of senses other than sight. A questionnaire method was used in the study. The respondents of the survey were mainly residents of the city and visitors familiar with the space of Bydgoszcz, including a group of students of a technical high school from the landscape architecture class and a group of deaf people. The survey was sent out in social media and on portals gathering people interested in the city’s issues. It was established that for the majority of respondents, the sense of smell and hearing play a decisive role in the perception of the landscape, apart from sight. The most attractive turned out to be recreational areas, associated with greenery and spaces excluded from car traffic in the city center, as well as places near water. Areas of the city loaded with intensive car traffic, neglected, dirty and crowded were considered unattractive in terms of perception by senses other than sight. There were no significant differences in perceiving the landscape through senses other than sight between different groups of survey respondents, except that for deaf people the sense of touch was basically irrelevant, and future landscape architects assessed the city landscape the most critically.