research shows that people across cultures have an affinity for savanna-like landscape characteristics, such as deep sight lines, a view of the horizon, and a lack of understory vegetation that blocks movement and visibility. Studies by biologist Gordon Orians and environmental psychologist Judith Heerwagen also reveal a cross-cultural preference for trees that look like the acacias that flourish on a healthy savanna, with spreading, umbrellalike canopies and trunks that fork near the ground.
