Developing a landscape sustainability assessment model using an analytic hierarchy process in Korea

With the increasing interest in integrative sustainable development, there has been a strong need for a landscape sustainability assessment tool independent from the existing green building rating system. This study aimed to establish an assessment model to objectively evaluate landscape sustainability using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Through an extensive literature review and expert survey, an initial list of assessment items was derived and used to set up an AHP model. An AHP survey with landscape architects and architects/engineers was then conducted to determine the importance of the assessment factors. In addition, the model was applied to three projects that were previously certified by a green building rating system in Korea. The AHP results showed that “site context” ranked as the most important factor of landscape sustainability followed by “soil and vegetation,” “maintenance,” “water,” “health and wellbeing,” and “materials.” Among the 20 assessment factors, “monitoring plan” was evaluated as the most important index, followed by “protection of cultural heritage” and “long-term management plan.” Landscape architects evaluated “soil and vegetation” as the most important in the assessment, while the engineers/architects group rated “site context” as the most important. When tested by applying them to the previously certified projects, the developed factors provided more objective and detailed information on landscape sustainability.