Perception of an everyday urban landscape: a comparison of preferences between a suburb of the twenty-first century and the twentieth century city in Vitoria-Gasteiz

Abstract

The scenery of recent urban expansions of many cities has significant differences with those from
the existing neighborhoods. We carried out a comparison using surveys of citizens preferences
between the urban landscape of a suburb in the early twenty-first century on the outskirts of Vitoria-
Gasteiz (Salburua), in which they currently live, and the scenery of the most compact existing city
where once they live in. It was observed that most prefer their current neighborhood in the aspects
of urban morphology, and his old neighborhood in the areas of sociability and accessibility to
places of interest. There was a prevalence of morphological features on intangibles in the overall
assessment of the livability of the urban landscape, as the majority showed a preference for the
current district as a comfortable place to live and a place to feel good. However, people living alone
showed a significantly lower overall preference for their current neighborhood than their neighbors.
Three of every four residents in Salburua use the car every day, a share much higher than the city
average. Implications of the results obtained in the urban practice are also discussed.