Attitudes Towards Changes in Landscape from Chao Phraya Riverfront Extension Project: Community and Commercial Areas

Abstract

This research studies public attitudes towards changes in the landscape from Chao Phraya riverfront extension project in urban areas, especially in residential communities and commercial areas in order to propose the guidelines for mitigation of the public attitudes in regard to the changes in the landscape along the river. The research framework is applied from the Visual Impact Assessment. The research may be described in six parts. They are: 1) Reviewing and surveying the study areas, selecting representative sites, 2) Define variables of the research, 3) Define population sampling, 4) Designing photo – questionnaires as photomontage technique was applied on selected pictures to depict the appearance of 4 mock-up riverfront extension areas on the front of 3 representative sites and collect data 105 sets, 5) Data analysis using the statistical tools, 6) Summarizing results and formulating guidelines for appropriate developments. The findings indicates that the extension areas along the Chao Phraya River in the residential communities and commercial areas affects public attitudes in different ways. The positive attitudes towards the changes have decreased in the areas where present conditions are already in good condition and look attractive. However, the negative attitudes have decreased in the areas where current conditions are deteriorated. Therefore, the extension areas may not be only the element affecting public attitudes toward changes. The study result reveals that significant elements which affect the attitudes towards changes in negative ways for all the representative sites are the oversized width of the extension areas along the river.