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What is a Skyline: A Quantitative Approach

Taylor & Francis
Architectural Science Review
Authors:
Bill Lim
Bill Lim
Bill Lim
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Tom Heath at Queensland University of Technology
Tom Heath
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Abstract

Urban skylines are the subject of much legislation, in the form of regulation of tall buildings. However, the relation between the purposes enshrined in regulation and actual preferences has not been empirically investigated. In order to conduct such research the relevant qualitative dimensions or variables must first be established. Once this is done, these dimensions can be quantified and varied systematically for experimental purposes. This paper reports the development of a ‘modal’ skyline based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of fifteen different tourist views of three cities.
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What is a Skyline: A
Quantitative Approach
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... In these approaches, the participants can be directly asked to what extent they like the visual, as well as their opinions, are examined with experimental approaches and statistical techniques based on questionnaires. Lim and Heath (1994) used qualitative and quantitative data together in researching urban skylines and high-rise building relationships and included opinions of the participants in their studies [3]. For example, there is an urban skyline study carried out, which has been done on the examination of the visual effects of night appearance on people. ...
... In these approaches, the participants can be directly asked to what extent they like the visual, as well as their opinions, are examined with experimental approaches and statistical techniques based on questionnaires. Lim and Heath (1994) used qualitative and quantitative data together in researching urban skylines and high-rise building relationships and included opinions of the participants in their studies [3]. For example, there is an urban skyline study carried out, which has been done on the examination of the visual effects of night appearance on people. ...
Researching for Methods in Visual Analyses of Urban Skylines
Article
  • Dec 2021
Urban skylines are important components of a city's morphology and are an area of interest for urban design. There are various research areas on urban skylines like protection of historical urban skylines, facade analyses, future models on urban three-dimensional appearances, high building policies and view management. Urban skylines also provide the best visual representations to observe the phenomenon of urban transformation and change. The aim of this study is to form a basis for a multi-component urban skyline aesthetics assessment model that includes formal and socio-psychological dimensions by grouping the methodologies of studies on urban skylines. The information of the urban skyline analyzes developed by the author selected from different countries formed the basis for the study model. Among the methods to be covered, there are approaches such as GIS techniques, aesthetic evaluation with information entropy, fractal geometry , and cognitive studies for urban skylines. The research approach includes the examination and evaluation of applied studies of this area based on literature. Öz: Kent siluetleri, kent morfolojisinin önemli bileşenleri arasındadır ve kentsel tasarımın ilgi alanıdır. Tarihi kent siluetinin korunması, cephe analizleri, kentsel üç boyutlu görünümler üzerin-den gelecek modelleri, yüksek yapı politikaları ve görünüm yönetimi gibi kent siluetleri üzerine çe-şitli araştırma alanları bulunmaktadır. Kent siluetleri, kentsel dönüşüm ve değişim olgusunu göz-lemleyebilmek için en iyi görsel temsilleri sağlar. Bu çalışmanın amacı, kent siluetlerinin estetik değerleri üzerine araştırma yöntemlerini gruplandırarak, biçimsel ve sosyo-psikolojik boyutları içeren çok bileşenli bir kent silueti değerlendirme modelinin kurgulanması için bir temel oluştur-maktır. Farklı ülkelerden seçilmiş yazar tarafından geliştirilmiş siluet analizlerinin bilgileri çalış-ma modeli için altyapı oluşturmuştur. Ele alınan yöntemler arasında CBS teknikleri, enformasyon entropisi ile estetik değerlendirme, fraktal geometri ve kentsel siluet için bilişsel çalışmalar gibi yaklaşımlar bulunmaktadır. Araştırma yaklaşımı, konuya ilişkin uygulamalı çalışmaların literatüre dayalı olarak incelenmesini ve değerlendirilmesini içermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kentsel tasarım, kent silueti, kent estetiği, siluet değerlendirmesi, araştırma yöntemleri.
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... The skyline plays an important role in the beauty, meaning and urban views (Gholami et al., 2019;Karimimoshaver and Winkemann, 2018;Karimimoshaver et al., 2015;Guney et al., 2012). The term "urban skyline" refers to the characteristics of the buildings that make up the natural scenes during the day and shadow during the night (Lim and Heath, 1994). ...
... By matching the order underlying the fractal geometry to the placement pattern of tall buildings, and creating several skylines by the same method, he collected responses and concluded that compliance with fractal geometry in the skyline brings about less satisfaction (Stamps, 2002). Lim and Heath (1994) formulated a mathematical model that made possible the planning of the synthetic skylines with the characteristics that reflect those of real cities. Using this model, Smith et al. (1995) examined the interaction of the proportion and spacing of tall buildings in influencing preferences (Heath et al., 2000). ...
The impact of the city skyline on pleasantness; state of the art and a case study
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2021
The research deals with the effect of skylines on citizens' pleasantness. The research method is based on the respondents' judgment of the color images of the skylines. 360 citizens were asked to complete a questionnaire to express their opinions and preferences along with the reasons. Three types of nature, traditional, and contemporary skylines were identified as the dominant skylines. The results showed that people prefer the nature and the traditional skyline over the contemporary skyline. They introduced some features as peacefulness, memorability, and distinctiveness as the reasons for their choice. The people's residence place could influence their attitudes toward the skyline, and most of those living in the areas with contemporary contexts selected the skyline of their contemporary context as the favorite skyline. They did not look for the sense of peacefulness in the skyline, but they underlined attractiveness. Variables of age and gender had no effect on the preferences; however, by an increase in education level, the tendency to select the traditional and contemporary skyline increased.
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... Skylines are essential to beauty, meaning, and city landscape [12,13], and skylines are also used as man-made skylines of the overall urban fabric. The "urban skyline" describes the features of buildings that comprise the landscape during the day and the shadows that form it at night [14]. Theoretical research on the skyline was first conducted in developed nations such as the United States and Europe, where advancements in industry and technology were made possible, placing developed countries in Europe and the United States on the city scale; high-rise building development is at the leading level [15], and therefore it is also the earliest a ention given to and research on the form and development characteristics of the city skyline [16]. ...
A Study on the Regional Evolution of the Hefei Political and Cultural New District Skyline Based on Exploratory Factor Analysis and Semantic Segmentation
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2024
The general population’s assessment and perception of a city can be influenced by its skyline, which is one of its representatives. This paper uses semantic segmentation and exploratory factor analysis to conduct a study from two different perspectives, aiming to analyse the development and current situation of the skyline of Hefei’s political and cultural new district. By collecting pictures of the skyline of the New Administrative and Cultural District, the New Administrative and Cultural District of Hefei’s skyline is being studied for overall changes using the semantic segmentation method, and to evaluate the quality of the skyline in various years, the entropy weight–TOPSIS is employed. Through the literature investigation and creation status of the new political and cultural district, the index system is scientifically formulated to conduct a questionnaire survey, and its reliability and validity are tested. This study is conducted with exploratory factor analysis of factors that are vital in the city skyline. The results of this study show that (1) after the semantic segmentation of the pictures, it is found that the proportion of buildings and the proportion of vegetation are both rising; the proportion of buildings tends to level off after 2018, and the proportion of vegetation shows a uniform increase. In the relative proximity ranking, the overall trend is increasing, and the skyline is ranked first in 2024. (2) Two variables were identified based on the findings of the exploratory factor analysis: ‘skyline value’ and ‘neighbourhood ecological quality’. The results of this study show that the skyline of Hefei’s New Administrative and Cultural District in 2024 is the best overall, and that the skyline of the New Administrative and Cultural District has developed into one of the city images of Hefei, and that its optimisation can be considered in terms of the “quality of the surrounding ecological environment”.
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... City skyline photos are frequently utilized on art and architectural websites, blogs, and social media platforms as a means to actively involve friends and online visitors in conversations pertaining to their aesthetic appeal. The utilization of skyline imagery in movies, films, and television shows frequently serves as a means to evoke feelings of contemporary society, communal satisfaction, and advancements in scientific endeavors (Kunkale, 2015;Lim and Heath, 1994). ...
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... Based on theory morphology city by (4) And the physical forms of the urban environment according to (5) and urban theory design from (6) then to analyse skyline forming factors using variable yang been grouped into land use, circulation as well as form mass And building as well as theory Which on the surface namely topography And regulation government. Skylines become source visual Which very important in landscape hilly and mountainous (7). Study This performed with the intention of analysing the aesthetic quality Manado city skyline in terms of physical aesthetic variables skyline. ...
Aesthetics Skylines in Manado
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2023
The impact of urban development is a change in the face of the city, with various building functions and heights building so that create its skyline Alone. City Manado showing exists growth city in a manner physique and non-physical so that the City of Manado has unknowingly changed the face of the city, especially in the regions Coast. Changes in the face of the city of Manado in the coastal area include changes to the skyline which was originally flat become more expressive when compared to other areas in the city of Manado. The city skyline can be an overview of what is most valued in a city, other than that the beauty of the skyline can only be enjoyed from long distance. Skyline beauty depends on observer perception and the physical form of the city. Research objectives namely to analyze the aesthetic quality of the skyline in the waterfront area of the city of Manado and analyze what factors are there Which shape it. Study This use method qualitative with approach descriptive analysis. The data analysis approach was carried out in a qualitative descriptive manner with the stages of segment division, analysis of the results recording, ground check and analysis of visual element variables. The results showed that: of the seven variables physique skyline aesthetic, only exists five variable which are contained on location study.
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... The fractal dimension has also become an evaluation indicator of the skyline aesthetic attribute. Bill Lim dealt with the development of a quantified model for the investigation of skyline preferences (Lim and Heath, 1994). Tom Health presented the concept and quantification formula of complexity and states: 'Complexity is widely regarded as a variable influencing people's response to settings and artifacts' (Heath et al., 2000a). ...
A new quantitative evaluation method of urban skyline based on object-based analysis and constitution theory
Article
  • Apr 2023
The skyline is a comprehensive display of the morphological characteristics and cultural features of a city, and its quantitative evaluation is remarkable for perceiving the city and assisting in its planning. However, previous studies focused on the overall profile or tall buildings, lacking a perspective that considers the composition of skyline objects. This paper proposes a new quantitative method to evaluate the skyline based on the object-based analysis method and the constitution theory. Firstly, the skyline objects, that is, buildings, vegetation and mountains are extracted by using the object-based image analysis method. Secondly, the buildings are further classified into four classes according to their relative height. Then, two quantitative indicators, namely, richness of the object category variety and complexity of the object category spatial distribution, are proposed by considering the constitution theory. Finally, this method is applied to typical urban skylines in Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York and Vancouver. Results show that the new indicators can effectively represent the differences of city skylines when their profile indicators are relatively similar. The method can quantitatively evaluate the composition and spatial distribution of skyline objects. This paper is expected to provide a new perspective on the study of skyline aesthetics.
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... Currently, limited by quantification methods, the shape of street trees is mainly evaluated by visual assessment, such as with the scenic beauty estimation method (Chamberlain et al., 2016;Dubey et al., 2016;Ma et al., 2020;Prastiwi and Franjaya, 2020;Zhang et al., 2018), which might be subjective and biased. Skyline is defined as the outline of buildings against the sky and has been frequently used to describe the beauty of urban views and iconic architectures of cities. Lim and Heath (1994) made a very first attempt to quantify skyline characteristics by using mathematical models. After that, many studies used this method to evaluate the impact of tall buildings on the aesthetic of urban skylines (Cordes, 2018;Guo and Lu, 2020;Karimimoshaver and Winkemann, 2018). ...
Quantifying the shape of urban street trees and evaluating its influence on their aesthetic functions based mobile lidar data
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2022
  • ISPRS J PHOTOGRAMM
Street trees are important components of an urban green space and understanding and measuring their ecological and cultural services is crucial for assessing the quality of streets and managing urban environments. Currently, most studies mainly focus on evaluating the ecological services of street trees by measuring the amount of greenness, but how to evaluate their aesthetic functions through quantitative measurements of street trees remain unclear. To address this problem, we propose a method to assess the aesthetic functions of street trees by quantifying the shape of greenness inspired by assessments of skyline aesthetics. Using a state-of-the-art mobile mapping system, we collected downtown-wide lidar data and panoramic images in Jinzhou City, Hebei Province, China. We developed a method for extracting the canopy line from the mobile lidar data, and then identified two basic elements, peaks and gaps, from street canopy lines and extracted six indexes (i.e., richness of peaks, evenness of peaks, frequency of peaks, total length of gaps, evenness of gaps and frequency of gaps) to describe the fluctuations and continuities of street canopy lines. We analyzed the abundance and spatial distribution of these indexes together with survey responses on the streets’ aesthetics and found that most of them were significantly correlated with human perception of streets. Compared to indexes of amount of greenness (e.g., green volume and green view index), these shape indexes have stronger influences on the physical aesthetic beauty of street trees. These findings suggest that a comprehensive assessment of the aesthetic function of street trees should consider both shape and amount of greenness. This study provides a new perspective for the assessment of urban green spaces and can assist future urban greening planning and urban landscape management.
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... The term city skyline refers to the profile of buildings that comprise the outline of a city both day and night (Lim and Heath, 1994). It is a panoramic image that captures a city's aesthetic values, diversity, architectural history, and urban geography and reflects its historical, social, cultural, and economic structures and systems over time (Al-Kodmany and Ali, 2013;Gassner, 2009;Guney, et al., 2012). ...
Assessing the impact of natural skylines on residents’ preferences for built skylines
Article
  • Mar 2019
  • J ARCHIT PLAN RES
Skylines are a prominent part of most cities. The natural landscapes surrounding cities make up their natural skylines, while the general shape formed by the silhouette of buildings and other urban features comprises their built skylines. This study sought to determine whether the natural skylines of cities affect residents’ preferences for the shape and height variation of built skylines. To answer this question, the authors selected three cities in Iran with different natural skylines (mountainous-desert, mountainous, and desert). Based on the Cochran formula, the authors selected a sample of 384 participants from each city. Next, they created nine images using different combinations of two variables representing the general shape of the skyline (concave, convex, or flat) and the variation in building height (low, medium, or high). The authors analyzed the collected data using SPSS 19 software. They examined the significance of differences in public preferences in the three cities with regard to variations in building height and the general shape of the skyline using inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, and chi-square tests). The results showed that participants preferred a degree of building height variation that was consistent with the shape of the surrounding natural environment. However, in terms of the general shape of the skyline, participants preferred the opposite, favoring a general shape that contrasted with the natural environment. Respondents from the mountainous-desert city, Tehran, preferred a flat skyline due to the varied terrain of the natural environment. Similarly, respondents from Hamedan preferred a concave skyline, which contrasted with the shape of their mountainous natural skyline. Finally, respondents from the desert city, Yazd, preferred the contrast of the convex skyline © 2019, Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc. © 2019, Locke Science Publishing Company Inc.. All rights reserved.
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The Chicago Skyline
Chapter
  • Jul 2020
This chapter examines the Chicago Skyline. Read as a unit; a skyline forms a potent urban symbol that manifests citizens’ achievements, economic status, cultural ambition, and lifestyle. An imageable skyline boosts the city’s reputation, reinforces civic life, and fosters pride. It also helps residents and visitors to better orient themselves within the city and to navigate through it. According to Kevin Lynch, a modern skyline is a “vertical edge” created by tall buildings. By analyzing Chicago Skyline, this chapter attempts to extract useful placemaking and urban design lessons.
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Urban Open Spaces
Chapter
Full-text available
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Public Preferences for High Rise Buildings: Stylistic and Demographic Effects
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 1991
Three styles of high rise architecture were compared to each other with respect to the preferences of a random sample of a city's population and several demographic subdivisions thereof. Contrary to expectations, the random sample of respondents actually preferred the most modern buildings over the older buildings. Also contrary to expectations, high intergroup consensus was found for all demographic subdivisions except for political affiliation.
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The Magical Number Seven, Plus Or Minus 2: Some Limits On Our Capacity for Processing Information
Article
Full-text available
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A variety of researches are examined from the standpoint of information theory. It is shown that the unaided observer is severely limited in terms of the amount of information he can receive, process, and remember. However, it is shown that by the use of various techniques, e.g., use of several stimulus dimensions, recoding, and various mnemonic devices, this informational bottleneck can be broken. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
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5. AESTHETICS
Article
  • Dec 1971
The most effective devices available to the designer of tall buildings are vertical proportion (height greater than 3 x maximum plan dimension), distinctive contour, and modelling sufficiently vigorous to produce strong contrasts of light and shade. Variety of material or colour are relatively ineffective. Perhaps the final word should be Ruskin’s: “I do not believe that ever any building was truly great, unless it had mighty masses, vigorous and deep, of shadow mingled with its surface. And amongst the first habits a young architect should learn, is that of thinking in shadow”.
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Advances in Environment, Behavior, and Design, Vol. 1.
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It [the book] is organized into five sections—advances in theory, advances in place, user group, and sociobehavioral research, and advances in research utilization. The authors of this volume represent a wide spectrum of the multidisciplinary environment-behavior and design field including architecture, environmental psychology, facility management, geography, human factors, sociology, and urban design. This volume will further develop the themes of design and professional practice to complement the earlier emphases on theory, research, and methods. We have invited leading scholars on design theory to present critical chapters on the comparison and possible integration of explanatory environment-behavior theories and prescriptive design theories. Advances in environment-behavior theory will continue to be a strong focus of this series—but in this volume we are expanding theory to the realm of design theory and the possible integration of environment-behavior and design theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The City as a Trip: Perceptual Selection and Memory in the View From the Road
Article
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