Evaluation of the Perception and Experience of Rural Natural Landscape among Youth Groups: An Empirical Analysis from Three Villages around Hefei

• Published in: Sustainability 2022-12, Vol.14 (23), p.16298
• Main Authors: Guo, Yanlong, Chen, Pengyu, Zhang, Han, Jiang, Zuoqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptability; Agricultural industry; Agricultural research; Agriculture; Censuses; Climatic conditions; Construction; Cultural heritage; Economic aspects; Evaluation; Landscape; Landscape assessment; Landscape ecology; Perception; Perceptions; Questionnaires; Reliability analysis; Rural areas; Rural development; Rural environments; Social change; Sound; Soundscapes; Sustainable development; Tourism; Urban areas; Villages; Young adults
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su142316298

Research on the perception and evaluation degree that the rural natural landscape plays an important role in improving rural sustainable development and construction. However, the views of young people, who play a key role in social development, on the natural landscape of the countryside have been neglected. Based on the perspective of the rural natural landscape in China, this study combines the field research of Ma Ying, San Shi Gang, and Shen Fu villages around Hefei, Anhui Province, and constructs a perception and experience evaluation index and questionnaire of the rural natural landscape from four dimensions of rural landscape ecology, water environment, climate, and sound. Through the online questionnaire, 316 questionnaires were distributed to young people aged 18 to 35 years old, and 283 valid questionnaires were recovered with an effective recovery rate of 89.56%. The Cronbach coefficient was 0.954, and the KMO value was 0.968. The reliability and validity were good. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) combined with the entropy method was used to calculate the weight of each index and analyze the influencing factors of young people’s perception evaluation of the rural landscape. Firstly, young people have a good perception of rural climate conditions, but the planning and layout of rural landscape ecology need to be improved. Secondly, sound comfort, air cleanliness, and landscape adaptation in a rural environment are the key factors that affect young people’s perception and experience of rural areas. Thirdly, improving the adaptability of the rural natural landscape to the local environment and the richness of vegetation is conducive to improving young people’s favorable understanding of the rural environment.