Every suburban area is individually formed by cultural, natural and historical aspects, as well as by its proximity to urbanised areas and the social, economic, and industrial development that such proximity incurs [Jaszczak et al. 2012]. The analyses of landscape function changes are essential to understand the development of the given area in order to make proposals for a sustainable land use management. On the other hand unique landscape values of today and the visitors' preferences for specific landscapes have to be involved in the process of landscape evaluation too [Jaszczak et al. 2012]. This article concentrates on the functional changes as well as on the actual analysis of the landscape and its' preferences by the visitors in the suburban area of Gottingen (Lower Saxony, Germany) called Kerstlingeroder Feld. Land use and landscape function changes were examined by historical and actual analyses based on historical maps, monographs as well as old pictures and paintings. Expert-based methods were used to choose characteristic landscape elements of the area today. The perception of cultural, visual and natural items of the landscape was tested by empirical methods using quantitative and qualitative interviews. The interviews showed that the most preferred areas were panorama views and dominant elements like deadwood and solitary trees. The study has several important implications: First, empirical methods have to be included in landscape evaluation systems to fully understand the preferences, social relationships, and the "rural identity" of what visitors perceive. Second, the development of Kerstlingeroder Feld in the urban forest of Gottingen should advance to multifunctional utilization, as it sets a positive example for sustainable land use.

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