Tools and methods for evaluating and designing the perceived landscape. 3D-GIS, viewshed analysis, big data.

The need to improve the quality of the landscape from the morphological point of view suggests that it is necessary to consider in the planning process some rules for the aesthetic control of urban spaces. This means for example understanding and recognizing the modalities for monitoring and assessing the territorial transformations by identifying the scenic elements of a landscape and their interrelationships. The fundamental aim is therefore to overcome the simple conservative landscape approach by putting the research focus on “active” management tools.Recent innovations in ICT are significantly changing the technology-society relationship. At the same time, the procedures used to conduct scientific research are being revolutionized by the exponential increase in the amount of available data (Nielsen, 2012). The big data revolution is having a profound influence on methodologies which are used to analyze, study and develop scientific research related to urban planning. With the advent of information technologies, the computerization of spatial data and the creation of DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) and DSM (Digital Surface Models), the development and implementation of new algorithms helps to determine the visible areas in a more precise and automatic way (Travis, 1975; Yoeli 1985). The understanding of visual relationships between every element that characterizes a landscape can indeed be pursued in an automated way using GIS. a new methodology for supporting landscape-perceptive analysis is presented. This methodology aims at integrating different information, which originates from social media datization, and in particular from Flickr, through the use of a GIS/CAD environment.