84 Full Paper Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture, 4-2019, pp. 84-94. © Wichmann Verlag, VDE VERLAG GMBH · Berlin · Offenbach. ISBN 978-3-87907-663-5, ISSN 2367-4253, e-ISSN 2511-624X, doi:10.14627/537663009. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/). ILAS: Intrinsic Landscape Assessment System for Landscape Design and Planning in the National Capital Region Madeline Brown 1 , Timothy Murtha 1 , Yan Wang 1 , Luwei Wang 1 1 University of Florida, Florida/USA · madelinebrown@ufl.edu Abstract: This study assesses the usefulness of social media for identifying public perceptions of in- trinsic landscape values for landscape design and planning. We examine the ways individuals and in- stitutions value and publicly discuss landscape perceptions and issues with an aim to inform landscape design and planning. We also assess the spatial distribution, content and sentiments of tweets. Our aim is to develop a methodology for landscape planners and architects to employ social media data to assess landscape values and perceptions in a variety of spatial and cultural contexts. These data could be used to develop design, planning, and conservation priorities, but our initial study offers clear directions for how to better capture and analyze these data for landscape design and planning. Keywords: Landscape assessment, social media, conservation planning, crowdsourcing data, big data 1 Introduction Social media is an integral component of contemporary social interactions and mass commu- nications. However, the potential for social media to inform landscape planning and design has not been clearly identified. Recent studies suggest potential opportunities for social media to inform landscape planning through enhancing understanding public spatial and environ- mental preferences, effective public outreach and communication strategies, as well as the spread of ideas and behaviors through online channels (LEVIN et al. 2015, HAUSMANN et al. 2017, DI MININ et al. 2015, PARSONS et al. 2014, SHIFFMAN 2012, GUERRERO et al. 2016). This study explores a new avenue, namely how Twitter data may be mobilized to understand public perceptions and values around landscape and conservation issues. We aim to identify variation between Twitter topics and sentiments discussed across both spatial and social di- mensions, including rural to urban and institutional to individual. This study primarily fo- cuses on the National Capital Region of the United States of America (as defined by the National Park Service), however the methodology developed is intended to be applied in diverse contexts. By creating a novel Intrinsic Landscape Assessment System (ILAS) based on Twitter data, we aim to advance methodology for landscape planners and architects to leverage big data and social media to inform theory and practice in the field. Landscape conservation planning increasingly involves input from diverse stakeholders and across broad spatial scales. However, traditional field studies and surveys can sometimes be both time consuming and costly, which may limit the level of effective community engage- ment among some landscape planning initiatives. Social media, including Twitter data, has shown promise as an avenue for gauging public use of protected and unprotected spaces (e. g. LEVIN et al. 2015, HAUSMANN et al. 2017), improving science and conservation communi- cation (DI MININ et al. 2015, PARSONS et al. 2014, SHIFFMAN 2012, DEMETRIOUS 2017, LOVEJOY et al. 2012, RYBALKO & SELTZER 2010), and assessing cultural ecosystem services (FIGUEROA-ALFARO & TANG 2017, OTEROS-ROZAS et al. 2018). Social media also has