Visual Impact Assessment Method for Cultural Heritage: West Lake Cultural Landscape in Hangzhou, China

A new Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) framework for cultural heritage demonstrates that the Shangri-La Hotel East Building project significantly alters the visual attributes of Hangzhou's West Lake. This study overcomes limitations in traditional VIA methods by integrating objective visual sensitivity assessments with subjective public perception evaluations using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and questionnaires. The framework, grounded in heritage value attributes, provides a more comprehensive and generalizable approach to predicting visual impacts on cultural landscapes. It highlights the importance of Heritage Impact Assessment as a preliminary tool for evaluating development projects, balancing objectivity and subjectivity while emphasizing public participation.

Kou, H., Zhang, L., & Zhang, S. (2024). Visual Impact Assessment Method for Cultural Heritage: West Lake Cultural Landscape in Hangzhou, China. Land, 13(10), 1596. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13101596