ABSTRACT

The colourful history evident in art-deco architectural heritage in historic neighbourhoods such as Parklands in Nairobi is barely discernible now. Swamped in drab tenements, this heritage has faced an avalanche of economic and development pressure used to justify its destruction to pave way for contemporary edifices. Discrepant intrusions have overloaded the heritage space detracting its scale, historic colour and visual quality. This paper sought to assess the range of visual preferences for the built environment in historic Parklands in an aim to identify values necessary for urban conservation. Two theories, the Informational Processes Theory and Tuan’s Topophilia theory were examined and are drawn from environmental psychology. The first considers how environmental image affects the perception of individuals in relation to urban space, whilst Topophilia was used to identify cognitive landscape concepts. 302 study respondents were exposed to a photo-based schedule containing 25 old and 25 contemporary building scenes rated on a 7-degree Likert scale designed for responses. Statements with shared variances were grouped together under factor analysis and the degree of variability within shared variances distilled 4 visual preference dimensions. Coherence as a predictor of landscape preference scored the highest mean of 5.4 followed by verdancy with a mean of 4.8, historicity with a mean of 4.7 and finally complexity with the lowest mean of 2.34. The results established that, one, contradictions between built heritage and contemporary edifices resulted in a low preference. Two, historicity is an important preference predictor ascertained by the age, rarity and diverse detailing of built heritage. Three, verdant spaces whose vegetation component is highly fragmented and ill maintained is a reducer of landscape preference. This study recommends designation to classify, protect and conserve built heritage in an established urban conservation zone. There should be aesthetic control regulated under architectural character appraisals to restrict unsympathetic character of proposed developments and protect patrimony from discrepant intrusion. Finally, complementary adaptive re-use to enhance continuity with change to preserve heritage image, history and cultural values.

摘要

在内罗毕的帕克兰等历史街区的装饰艺术建筑遗产中展现的丰富多彩的历史现在几乎看不到了。这一遗产淹没在单调的公寓中，面临着雪崩式的经济和发展压力，这些压力被用来证明其破坏是正当的，为当代建筑铺平道路。不一致的入侵使遗产空间超载，削弱了其规模、历史色彩和视觉质量。本文试图评估历史公园内建筑环境的视觉偏好范围，旨在确定城市保护所必需的价值。研究了两个理论，即信息过程理论和段的Topophilia理论，这些理论来自环境心理学。第一个考虑环境形象如何影响个人对城市空间的感知，而 Topophilia 则用于识别认知景观概念。302 名研究受访者接触了一张基于照片的时间表，其中包含 25 个旧建筑场景和 25 个现代建筑场景，按照专为回答设计的 7 度李克特量表评分。具有共享方差的陈述在因子分析下分组在一起，并且共享方差内的可变性程度提炼了 4 个视觉偏好维度。作为景观偏好预测因子的连贯性得分最高，为 5.4，其次是青翠性，平均为 4.8，历史性平均为 4.7，最后是复杂性，平均为 2.34。结果表明，一是建筑遗产与当代建筑之间的矛盾导致了低偏好。二、历史性是由时代确定的重要偏好预测因子，建筑遗产的稀有性和多样化的细节。第三，植被成分高度分散且维护不善的青翠空间是景观偏好的减少因素。本研究建议指定对已建立的城市保护区内的建筑遗产进行分类、保护和保存。应该在建筑特征评估下进行美学控制，以限制拟议开发的无情特征，并保护遗产免受差异入侵。最后，补充适应性再利用以增强变化的连续性，以保护遗产形象、历史和文化价值。保护和保存已建立的城市保护区内的建筑遗产。应该在建筑特征评估下进行美学控制，以限制拟议开发的无情特征，并保护遗产免受差异入侵。最后，补充适应性再利用以增强变化的连续性，以保护遗产形象、历史和文化价值。保护和保存已建立的城市保护区内的建筑遗产。应该在建筑特征评估下进行美学控制，以限制拟议开发的无情特征，并保护遗产免受差异入侵。最后，补充适应性再利用以增强变化的连续性，以保护遗产形象、历史和文化价值。