This study explores differing landscape perceptions of Bukhansan National Park according to the degree of visitors’ familiarity, and discusses the utilization of commonality and diversity of landscape perception in sustainable landscape management. Visitor-employed photography (VEP) was used to capture the overall response to experiencing landscape directly on-site. According to the degree of familiarity of national parks, visitors were recruited into two groups: inexperienced group (the novice group) and experienced group (the veteran group). We collected photographs and photo-logs of liked and disliked landscape from the participants. Additional interviews were conducted to supplement the content of the photo-logs. The objects of landscape were classified into spatial configurations and specific elements. The cognitive process of landscape perception is divided into four stages: perceptual, expressive, interpretative, and symbolic. Emphasizing the narrative aspects of landscape, accepting and interpreting the phenomenon can vary according to an individual's interest and background. We used semantic network analysis to analyze the content of participants’ photo-logs. The content at the interpretative level showed that the two groups had very different perceptions of anthropic elements. The novice group emphasized walkability and accessibility, while the veteran group regarded naturalness and historicity as more important. In conclusion, it is a very useful way to analyze the differences of perceptions of two visitors, both the novice group and the veteran group to grasp the positive or negative perceptions of people’s impacts on the landscape. Understanding the value of relevant visitors through analysis results is one way to resolve potential conflicts.

Ecotourism needs ecological sensitivity and respect for the ecological culture of local residents. From this perspective, listening to the opinion of local residents, collaborating with the local residents in conjunction with an appropriate governance structure, is of prime importance in ecotourism. However, many ecotourism sites have numerous problems because of conflicts among stakeholders such as local government and local residents. This study investigates the conflicts and the stakeholders’ subjectives in the case of Maha ecotourism site in Pyeongchang-gun, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympic games. Before the analysis, the conflicts seem to be caused by the different attitudes of government officials and local residents’ representatives. From the analysis of subjectives, the difference in attitudes is caused by generation gaps. Young people show relatively uniform attitudes, where different occupation sectors exert little influence. It means that conflicts can be decreased if more opportunities for council participation are allowed. Young people have few consideration about ecology and tradition. The ecological and traditional lessons of the older generation are needed for young people. This study shows that conflicts between development and conservation are caused by the different attitudes represented in different generation, and hence plans for harmonizing different generation should be considered.

Though the activities in urban facilities have declined during the COVID-19, the demand for visiting open spaces and parks has increased. Visitors to city parks also increased in Seoul. People have realized that nature is an important space for safety, health, and leisure in their everyday life. This study implied that people intended to visit city parks as a natural space in the urban area. So, an assessment criterion of the quality of environments of city parks, naturalness is selected as one of the indicators. This study chose six parks as a study subject in Seoul and found differences for users in the perception of naturalness in city parks. Q methodology is a useful tool to identify differences between individual's perceptions of nature. Through the Q analysis, six groups have differences in the perception and the valuation of naturalness. The study found that differences have resulted from their past experiences, personal preferences, and psychological status. The first group can be named a dynamic type who enjoys various landscapes, and the second is the group of people who love to meditate in serene woodlands. The third group wants to observe the animals and consider the ecosystem as important, and the fourth group is those who love to feel the changing seasons with sensitivity. The fifth group recognizes nature through the contrast between the building and the natural environment in the city. The last group is those who pursue conservation for old trees or the existing nature environment itself. As a general, appraisal of perceived naturalness is subjective and individual. The perception of naturalness influences landscape preferences and attitudes to city parks. Therefore, the naturalness perceived by users should be a crucial consideration to maximize park services so that users can appreciate various tastes.

Urban sprawl and the reckless development of the peri-urban area exacerbated problems in rural areas. Korea experienced the fastest growth among the other OECD countries. As the country became highly urbanized, the number of people residing in rural regions decreased drastically. In 2018, based on the OECD’s regional definition of access to cities, only 11% of Korean people live in rural areas. The attractiveness of rural areas and multifunctional values have become more important in contemporary society. Recently, new planning principles in rural areas have emerged in conjunction with globalization, post-productivism, and demanding rural tourism. This study explores the meaning of New ruralism and traces the emergence of New ruralism for rural planning principles. In addition, the study identifies the contents of the future vision of rural areas to be achieved through New ruralism. The study review focuses on the discourse about New ruralism in academic research papers. Literature was retrieved by searching on Google Scholar using the four keywords ‘new rurality’, ‘neo-rurality’, ‘new ruralism’, and ‘neo-ruralism’. The search yielded 128 documents, which were thereafter screened for relevance to this study’s purpose. After sifting, only 44 publications were found suitable for inclusion in the final analysis. Forty-four pieces of literature were analyzed by year, research area and subject. Four features from the New ruralism concept were found through content analysis. Those are ‘Conservation’, ‘Cultivation’, ‘Community’ and ‘Creativity’. This presents the rural planning principle of a creative space with new technological innovation while allowing New ruralism to enjoy urban convenience in a rural environment. In the end, the study discussed some implications on the application of New ruralism to Korea as a new spatial planning principle.

The aim of this empirical study of Hongneung Experimental Forest (HEF) was to determine how urban forests in residential areas are being used as restorative environments. A survey (n = 232) based on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale was conducted to analyse how each element of the scale differed based on the user’s characteristics and to identify the relationship between use patterns and psychological restorativeness. Analysis showed that HEF played a role as a restorative environment in a residential area. The extent of stay received the highest score (6.35), followed by being away (5.97), fascination (5.59), and compatibility (5.47), whereas legibility (4.81) received a relatively low score. The differences in psychological restorativeness based on sex, age, visit frequency, and duration of stay were statistically significant. In particular, the psychological restorativeness for housewives and the elderly was greater than that for men. The greater the frequency of regular visits (e.g., 1~2 times per year), the more likely the visitor will stay for approximately 3h. In the midst of social demand for the restorative environments of urban forests that are accessible and available in everyday life, this study is significant in that it examined the effectiveness of urban forests as restorative environments and presented empirical directions from the visitor’s perspective for the planning of urban therapeutic spaces. However, there is a limit to generalizing the psychological restorativeness of urban forests with just the HEF as an example; therefore, future research is warranted to comparatively analyse various spaces.