Landscape visualisation and visitor perception in the Guangzhou urban planning exhibition hall

Recently there has been a trend to use visualisation tools for communication and information in the public participatory process. The urban planning exhibition hall (UPEH) in China is a venue for presenting the urban planning perspectives that connect the past, present, and future of one particular area. This study provides new insights into the representation of landscape as a theme in a larger-scale social context, using the Guangzhou UPEH as a case study. It aims to address two questions: (1) how is landscape presented and communicated in the UPEH; and (2) what are the effects of the physical display and its content on people’s perceptions towards landscape visualisation tools. Fifty-five partic-ipants were randomly chosen to engage in walking interviews during their visits to the Guangzhou UPEH. The duration and frequency of visits in each exhibit and related comments or behaviours were recorded. It was found that, despite the variability in the form, the landscape themes, as represented in the UPEH, tended to focus on landscape planning and historical conservation. Less consideration was given for vegetation and planting design, landscape technology and landscape theory. ANOVA tests showed that visitor perceptions of landscape visualisation tools were statistically associated with planning scale, media, and size. Interaction effects were also found between media and scale as well as between size and media on holding visitor attention. Together these results illustrate a better utilisation of content and physical display of landscape visualisation in the communication with the general public.