Water as an appreciated feature in the landscape: a comparison of residents’ and visitors’ preferences in Buenos Aires

Abstract In the Buenos Aires metropolis we analyzed the preferences for water as a landscape feature, interviewing visitors to waterfronts and residents who live near the river coast in urban and suburban areas. Seven hundred and thirty one questionnaires were completed through personal interviews with visitors to waterfronts and with coastal residents in April and June 2009. We considered urban and suburban waterfronts located in five urban reserves. Respondents were stratified in urban and suburban coastal residents. In line with the widespread water preferences mentioned in comparable studies, and following evolutionary theories - water as one of the most important elements for life - no gender influence on preference could be found. On the contrary we found that individual experiences based on cultural traits, such as familiarity with a place, explained the discrepancy between urban and suburban coastal residents, while surprise and induced water scarcity account for the differences between visitors to urban and suburban waterfronts.

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