Abstract
Farmland in mixed residential and agricultural land use areas are not necessarily utilized positively in terms of land use planning. Recently, the Ministry of Construction enacted the 1991 amendment of Japan’s ‘Productive Open Spaces Act’. This act aims to conserve farmland in these areas by designating them as ‘Urban Open Spaces’. However, the act does not function properly since it lacks a methodology to utilize the environmental functions of farmland. Constructing a methodology utilizing the environmental functions of farmland in these areas is needed. Among these functions, that of extent is seen to be an important as part of a regional planning framework, because it improves the residential environment. This research examines the relationship between the mixed residential and agricultural land use areas and the individual reactions to them. A psychological experiment was employed to find the desirable land use pattern in terms of evoking feelings of extent (Openness). The results show that purely residential or purely agricultural land use is not necessarily the best land use patterns to evoke the extent feeling. Based on these results, considerations for constructing a methodology for utilizing the environmental functions of farmland in these areas is proposed.
