Architects have different aesthetic ideas than laypeople. Moreover, they are often mistaken about lay tastes, especially as their professional aesthetic concepts diverge further from those of the general public. This discrepancy between professional aesthetics and lay tastes is the subject of this study. On one hand, it aims to elucidate the aesthetic demands that the population has for urban open spaces; on the other hand, it seeks to determine the extent to which and in what ways these differ from the professional aesthetics of landscape architects. The thesis is that these differences have become more pronounced in recent decades.