The neglect of aesthetics in landscape planning in Switzerland

In this paper, landscape is defined as any part of the Earth’s surface in which various aspects, such as terrestrial, aquatic, natural and cultural interact with differing dominance. Within landscapes, energy and material flows over time are major driving forces of landscape dynamics. Such a comprehensive approach to landscape should also be applied in landscape planning, however this is rarely the case in Switzerland. The concept of landscape aesthetics in particular is neglected, therefore, four theses are formulated and discussed in this paper.The tourist industry promotes Switzerland with pictures showing beautiful scenery. Some of the landscape elements shown, e.g. ecclesiastical buildings and historical profane buildings, are widely recognised for their aesthetic values, and scientifically examined by art historians and other disciplines. Strangely enough, this is not the case for cultural landscapes, despite the fact that they also reflect the history of human culture. This paradox evolves from the dichotomy between natural sciences and humanities. There is a lack of multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approaches to studying cultural landscapes. The long-term genesis of the elements of the cultural landscape is illustrated by the typical structure of traditional cultural landscapes, i.e. “the hides of land” (i.e. strip-shaped forest clearings) (Hufenfluren).Between 1750 and 1850, many painters depicted the beauty of the traditional cultural landscape. Their paintings are acknowledged as a part of culture and treated accordingly, but this is not the case for the remains of the cultural landscape they painted. Comparing maps from different points in time reveal the loss of elements of cultural landscapes. Results show how traditional systems of land use led to highly structured landscapes, whereas today’s land-use levels out the scenery. Lack of public support significantly reduces the success of the legal tools to limit this process.     

Perception of Plants in Ancient Times and Their Use as Motifs Revealing Aspects of the Cultural Landscape in Side,Turkey

Landscape can be defined as a complex of human and natural interactions through time. Therefore, landscape identification requires a complete understanding of social, natural, economic, aesthetic and cultural values. Contributing to the aesthetic-visual integrity of the landscape, plants are a valuable indicator, recording the type and degree of the human – nature relationship over time. Our feelings, imagination and perception often contribute to the cultural dimension of the landscape and the role of plants in mythology can be used as a kind of linguistic code for helping to understand some aspects of cultural landscapes. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how a number of key plants were perceived in ancient cultures using some examples from the Mediterranean landscape and to use them to help to evaluate different dimensions of archaeological landscapes using the case of the ancient city of Side in Turkey. Multi-dimensional approaches in landscape evaluation which use symbolic meaning can generate valuable knowledge about cultural landscapes. This is precisely because cultural landscapes are the sum of biological, physical and cultural components, while plants as natural elements have bridged the biological and cultural dimensions.     

Past Human Activities Recorded in the Landscape: A Case Study from the Glenveagh National Park,Ireland

The aim of the research was to investigate the persistence of landscape changes induced by former human activity in the area of the present Glenveagh National Park (NW Ireland), which was subject to intense depopulation and land abandonment in the middle of the nineteenth century. The research involved a field survey, including the earthwork survey of old anthropogenic landforms, as well as examination of available source materials, such as cartographic data (maps of habitats, land use maps) and aerial photographs. The research shows that human-induced landscape changes, old anthropogenic landforms and human-altered plant communities, are persistent in the environment, even in depopulated areas. The long-lasting persistence of anthropogenic earthworks is mainly due to the local environmental conditions, while the contemporary vegetation cover is mainly the result of economic factors, especially the long-term variations of land-use and the local economy. The present state of Glenveagh represents a cultural landscape, with both biotic and abiotic features influenced by long-term human impact. Therefore, the well preserved relics of the past can serve as a characteristic example of long-lasting human–environmental interactions. Such historic cultural landscapes are of a high educative importance and can be perceived as valuable ‘laboratories’ of human-induced environmental changes.     

Remote sensing and GIS in modeling visual landscape change: a case study of the northwestern arid coast of Egypt

Land use planners in many countries have recognized the importance of the aesthetic values of landscape. Their desire to incorporate these values into decision-making processes has created a need to identify valid ways to quantify the scenic characteristics of landscapes. This has led to an increasing interest in the use of spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS) methodology in assessing visual attributes of the landscape. The objective of the present study is to assess the visual changes in a rapidly developing coastal area of Egypt using remotely sensed data (satellite images and aerial photographs) and raster GIS modeling. The analysis assesses changes between a period characterized by a vernacular, relatively natural landscape (1950s) and the beginning of the exploitation of the region for resorts (1990s). Using land use/land cover classes extracted from the satellite images and aerial photographs, four visual attributes of landscape are identified: land use/land cover diversity, activity (degree of naturalness), proximity to the shoreline, and topographic variety. A composite index is also developed. Although these attributes and the composite index rely mostly on the type of land use/land cover information on the landscape under consideration, the adopted techniques succeed in detecting several changes in the attributes, spatially locating them and mapping the magnitude of their changes. This study demonstrates what can be done to analyze and assess what is usually considered an incommensurable resource, the visual attributes of landscapes. It also reveals the extent of the impact of unplanned or ill-planned activities on one of the fragile resources of arid landscapes.     

Deciphering Historic Landscapes: A Case Study of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou,China

Historic landscapes today are changing gradually or abruptly, and the abrupt changes have caused the loss of much historic information. How to identify and protect the significant evidence of dynamic landscapes is a question that must be answered by each cultural community. This article establishes a decipherment process—an operational guide for landscape assessment in China. This is a methodology using European methods integrated with traditional Chinese ways of landscape appreciation, providing an effective approach to translate the cultural landscape framework into the conservation inventory. Using Slender West Lake as a case study, the decipherment process has expanded the existing landscape investigation theory using the factor of artistic conception to integrate intangible values into the assessment process. It has also established a unit-based method to classify and represent historic landscapes.     

Analyzing structural and functional changes of traditional landscapes—two examples from Southern France

Traditional landscapes are changing with increasing speed and an important cultural heritage is becoming lost. New landscapes replace the traditional ones gradually or sometimes abruptly. This article analyzes the characteristics and mechanisms of landscape changes at a settlement level, by using case studies in the countryside of southern France where landscapes are in transition between new residential urbanization and land abandonment. Structural changes in land use, building and field patterns between two time periods are studied using aerial photographs covering a period from 1960 to 1999. The photographs were scanned to allow on screen digitalization and interpretation of selected features and details, which were consecutively mapped and analyzed in a GIS. Changes observed on the aerial photographs were compared with the population statistic and the accessibility of the place. All cases show very different and unique trajectories of change with complex interactions between different driving forces. Agricultural intensification and land abandonment act simultaneously with different forms of urbanization in the countryside. Although easily recognizable on the aerial photographs, a quantitative assessment of the changes in the different structural components remains difficult and the results can hardly be related to changes in population characteristics and accessibility. Consequently, structural and morphological changes observed on the aerial photographs lead to other interpretations of the underlying functional processes than the statistical data do.     

太行八陉古道沿线的传统景观特征与景观 体系研究

太行八陉是中国古代陆路交通线路与线性文化遗产的 典型代表,在漫长的历史进程中,人们在陉道沿线设置关隘驿 站、营建聚落、发展农业,形成了自然环境与人工营建高度融 合的传统景观体系。通过梳理太行八陉的历史脉络、空间落位 和景观价值,从自然景观和人工景观2个维度系统性探究陉道沿 线的传统景观特征,并在此基础上构建太行八陉沿线的传统景 观体系,明确了自然景观与人工景观相互影响、耦合协调的陉 道沿线传统景观营建逻辑与人居环境营建智慧,以期从新的视 角为陉道沿线地区传统地域景观的转译复写和社会经济可持续 发展提供有效助力。     

传统村落景观地方性知识提取及体系构建研究——以关中地区为例

受自然地理环境和社会历史文化的地域性与复杂性影响,传统村落景观的地方性表达是一个地方区别于其他地方的根本差异性所在。为更好地保护传统村落,避免“千村一面”,以陕西关中地区现已公布确认的国家级传统村落为研究对象,运用人类学中的地方性知识理论,提出传统村落景观地方性知识的概念内涵、分类体系和提取路径。从大地格局景观、选址布局景观、空间形态景观、街巷格局景观、院落布局景观和民俗文化景观6个方面,开展关中地区传统村落景观地方性知识的提取与谱系生成,从而构建起传统村落景观“人-地”关系语境下的知识网络,使其具备探索、分析和解决“在地性”风景营建的能力。     

Transition of the satoyama landscape in the urban fringe of the Tokyo metropolitan area from 1880 to 2001

An explicit understanding of past landscapes is a basic and important issue, which enables deeper understanding of current landscapes in a longer context and gives useful suggestion to today's landscape planning. In this paper, transition of the traditional Japanese agricultural landscape (satoyama landscape) over a relatively long temporal scale (1880–2001), and its inherent dynamics in each of four socioeconomically based time periods in two topographically different areas around the Tokyo metropolitan area was studied. Information derived from historical records and interviews was used to differentiate four socioeconomic periods, and to support and explain the results of the analysis. Old maps and aerial photographs were used to create land use maps, which were analyzed using GIS. The results illustrated drastic landscape change from agricultural to urban landscape, with unique land use and transition patterns in each study area. A large part of both study areas was affected by bi-directional conversion between woodlands and crop fields in the early part of the study period, in the form of shifting agriculture. Our results also showed that the landscapes are becoming less dynamic and it may suggest reconsideration for land use planning, which will lead to more stabilized landscapes.     

Exploring the Heterogeneity of Rural Landscape Preferences: An Image-Based Latent Class Approach

Effects of depopulation, farm family income and changes in agricultural practices, etc. have resulted in the abandonment or destruction of traditional mountainous landscapes. An image-based stated choice survey was applied to explore the effects of various landscape change processes on the preferences of a mostly urban sample (N = 410). The 128 digitally generated landscape scenarios represented various kinds and intensities of agricultural and tourism use of a historic terraced area in Austria. Latent class segmentations identified four segments, with different preferences for natural, managerial and social landscape features. While a preference for a more complex, mysterious and natural landscape was found for three segments, one segment preferred more open landscapes. The results indicate that landscape change can affect humans in different ways, and that evolutionary and cultural preference theories are useful in explaining landscape preferences.     

Relationships between visual landscape preferences and map-based indicators of landscape structure

There is increasing awareness of the need to monitor trends in our constantly changing agricultural landscapes. Monitoring programmes often use remote sensing data and focus on changes in land cover/land use in relation to values such as biodiversity, cultural heritage and recreation. Although a wide range of indicators is in use, landscape aesthetics is a topic that is frequently neglected. Our aim was to determine whether aspects of landscape content and configuration could be used as surrogate measures for visual landscape quality in monitoring programmes based on remote sensing. In this paper, we test whether map-derived indicators of landscape structure from the Norwegian monitoring programme for agricultural landscapes are correlated with visual landscape preferences. Two groups of people participated: (1) locals and (2) non-local students. Using the total dataset, we found significant positive correlations between preferences and spatial metrics, including number of land types, number of patches and land type diversity. In addition, preference scores were high where water was present within the mapped image area, even if the water itself was not visible in the images. When the dataset was split into two groups, we found no significant correlation between the preference scores of the students and locals. Whilst the student group preferred images portraying diverse and heterogeneous landscapes, neither diversity nor heterogeneity was correlated with the preference scores of the locals. We conclude that certain indicators based on spatial structure also have relevance in relation to landscape preferences in agricultural landscapes. However, the finding that different groups of people prefer different types of landscape underlines the need for care when interpreting indicator values.     

区域尺度下的传统村落景观安全格局构建 与保护策略研究——以云南腾冲为例

传统村落是乡村地区具有代表性的文化景观,构建 传统村落景观安全格局是生态文明建设背景下区域尺度传统村 落保护及可持续发展的重要途径。综合风景园林、城乡规划、 景观生态等学科理论和方法,以文化遗产安全、自然生态安 全和休闲游憩适宜为目标,运用GIS空间分析工具和最小累积 阻力模型,识别构成要素、建立网络体系,形成区域尺度下传 统村落景观安全的一种新研究范式,进而以腾冲市传统村落 集中连片区为例展开实证研究。结果表明：1)传统村落景观 安全格局包含节点、廊道、环境3个关键要素,并可划分为不 同的安全等级;2)通过节点识别、阻力面构建、廊道提取、 环境划分、优化与联系等步骤,建立由4级节点、2级廊道和 3级环境组成的腾冲传统村落景观安全格局;3)基于获得的景 观安全格局,提出对应“村落-廊道-区域”的分级、分区保护 策略。以期为中国传统村落集中连片保护提供参考,并为区域 性文化遗产及其相关自然和人工环境的保护提出解决方案。     

论乡土景观及其对现代景观设计的意义

该文探讨了乡土景观的含义,论述了解读乡土景观对现代景观设计的意义,提出乡土景观是指当地人为了生活而采取的对自然过程和土地及土地上的空间及格局的适应方式,是此时此地人的生活方式和价值观在大地上的投影。因此,乡土景观是包含土地及土地上的城镇、聚落、民居、寺庙等在内的地域综合体。这种乡土景观反映了人与自然、人与人及人与神之间的关系。乡土景观的这种理解包含几个核心的关键词：即,它是适应于当地自然和土地的,它是当地人的,它是为了生存和生活的,三者缺一不可。这可以从乡土景观的主体、客体及相互关系方面来理解解读乡土景观对现代景观设计的意义在于理解景观是乡土经验的一种历史记载,帮助设计师用种新的、非自我的视角,设计内在人生活的景观,从种不自觉的、没有设计师的景观和唯设计师的景观,走向自觉的为使用者而设计的景观。     

Red Books for threatened Mediterranean landscapes as an innovative tool for holistic landscape conservation. Introduction to the western Crete Red Book case study

In view of the alarming threats to our planet Earth and its natural and cultural diversity, the IUCN World Conservation Organization must broaden the scale of its efforts from the species and ecosystem level to the landscape level. For this purpose new, more comprehensive strategies and powerfuls tools, based on holistic landscape planning and dynamic conservation management, are urgently needed. The Mediterranean Basin, presently undergoing an alarming process of biological, cultural and scenic degradation can serve as a good example for these needs. Here, as elsewhere, almost all conservation efforts have been devoted to the protection of restricted areas such as nature reserves or parks without much regard for the fate of the open landscape as a whole and the need for the conservation and restoration of its great natural and cultural assets. In order to gain greater public awareness and apprehension of these threats, to change the attitudes of politicians and decision-makers, and to provide practical guidance for holistic, sustainable and multibeneficial land use planning and management, a new tool of ‘Red Books for Threatened Landscapes’ is offered. These should present in clear non-technical terms, with ample maps and illustrations, recent, adverse biological, ecological, cultural and socio-economic changes in highly valuable and not yet irreversibly despoiled landscapes and their future threats, and suggest alternative, sustainable land use strategies with sounder conservation and restoration options. The Western Crete study, is the first Mediterranean Red Book case study, carried out by a multinational and multidisciplinary team. It will serve as an important example for a Red Book blueprint, to be prepared by the IALE-IUCN-CESP Working Group on Red Books for Threatened Landscapes.     

Relationships between visual landscape preferences and map-based indicators of landscape structure

There is increasing awareness of the need to monitor trends in our constantly changing agricultural landscapes. Monitoring programmes often use remote sensing data and focus on changes in land cover/land use in relation to values such as biodiversity, cultural heritage and recreation. Although a wide range of indicators is in use, landscape aesthetics is a topic that is frequently neglected. Our aim was to determine whether aspects of landscape content and configuration could be used as surrogate measures for visual landscape quality in monitoring programmes based on remote sensing. In this paper, we test whether map-derived indicators of landscape structure from the Norwegian monitoring programme for agricultural landscapes are correlated with visual landscape preferences. Two groups of people participated: (1) locals and (2) non-local students. Using the total dataset, we found significant positive correlations between preferences and spatial metrics, including number of land types, number of patches and land type diversity. In addition, preference scores were high where water was present within the mapped image area, even if the water itself was not visible in the images. When the dataset was split into two groups, we found no significant correlation between the preference scores of the students and locals. Whilst the student group preferred images portraying diverse and heterogeneous landscapes, neither diversity nor heterogeneity was correlated with the preference scores of the locals. We conclude that certain indicators based on spatial structure also have relevance in relation to landscape preferences in agricultural landscapes. However, the finding that different groups of people prefer different types of landscape underlines the need for care when interpreting indicator values.     

Valuing the Cultural Landscapes Past and Present: Tea Plantations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study focuses on tea plantation cultural landscapes in Sri Lanka and its historical formation, present issues and future considerations. [Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon before 1972. At present, the country uses Sri Lanka for all related documents.] According to the research, the tea estate is identified as the main building unit of tea heritage. This paper reveals the historical formation of tea heritage and its contribution to the existing landscape. This study focuses on the Nuwara Eliya region, as it is the main area for tea cultivation. The present condition of tea plantations in Sri Lanka is derived through a survey conducted in Labookellie estate, Blue Field estate and Pedro estate. Past and the present circumstances are examined through analysis of literature, topographical maps and site observations, while interviews with outsiders (foreign visitors) were used to strengthen the thoughts on tea plantation landscapes. This paper reveals basic concepts such as agriculture as a heritage, active agriculture and value added through future conservation and development procedure. The paper first discusses the formation of tea estates and governing factors. Second, the paper explains estate settlement as the main building block of tea heritage with researched case studies and explains existing landscape values. Third, the paper explains future thoughts on the tea plantation landscapes in Sri Lanka. Opinions of foreign visitors to the plantation are considered as a valuable contribution to the conclusions. The paper stresses the importance of understanding tea estate cultural landscapes and their heritage value for future planning and the conservation priorities in Sri Lanka.     

高层建筑户外景观空间感知机制量化 研究

高层建筑群的兴起为人类景观感知带来了新问题——高层景观,主要是指城市高空的聚居者由建筑或场所之内向外部周围观看引发的景观空间感知。高层景观为人类身心健康带来了新的机遇与挑战,对于聚居者“一览众山晓”的积极作用与远离绿化、缺乏户外活动场地的负面影响并存。然而,迄今关于这种高层景观的人类身心影响研究尚未开展。作为起步性研究,尝试从揭示基本规律着手,选取上海地区相对120m高度上的高层景观,研究面对城市空间、绿地和水景的景观时,个体生理和心理的反应影响：基于阶段性视觉刺激,借助脑电图、心率变异性和皮肤电导测量了20名被试者的压力水平,并使用改进的语义差异问卷评估了其心理反应。结果显示,面对绿色空间和水景的高层景观,会引起α相对波活动增加,使副交感神经活动显著增加,相比面对城市建筑的高层景观,被试者的放松程度更高。此外,相比于面对城市建筑景观,被试者在高层观看绿色景观和水景图像时表现出了更大的舒适感和放松感。这些发现初步揭示了居聚于城市高层建筑中的人类个体关于高层景观感受的基本规律,凸显了为高层聚居个体提供自然景观视觉刺激的重要性。     

闽江流域传统村落景观特征提取与区系划分

为准确识别闽江流域传统村落景观特征,以闽江流域111个国家级传统村落为对象,基于景观基因相似度理论,依据其民居景观特征将闽江流域划分为客家合院区、邵将合院区、闽中合院区、闽中围楼区、闽东合院区、闽东围楼区、闽东混合区、闽南合院区、闽北合院区9大景观区系,以期为整合区域传统村落旅游资源,凸显区域景观特色,提升区域旅游价值提供理论依据。     

The nature of cultural landscapes — a nature conservation perspective

This paper explores the reasons for the growing interest in cultural landscapes in nature conservation circles. It contains a brief discourse on nature and culture, emphasizing the declining power of the idea of pristine wilderness, the realization that many disturbed ecosystems are important to conservation, that agri-biodiversity is a resource to be protected along with wild biodiversity, and the need to find models of sustainable land use. Examples are given, at the global (World Heritage Convention), European and national levels, of the way in which the growing interest in cultural landscapes manifests itself; special attention is given to the category of protected area known as 'protected landscape/seascape'. Finally, the author identifies the major natural qualities found in cultural landscapes which will assist in understanding, identifying and protecting those features of value.     

基于森林景观恢复策略的庄园遗产景观设计探寻——以荷兰海德兰省巴克塞比克地区为例

庄园遗产景观是指包含花园和农业用地的历史乡村庄园集群。在气候变化、工业发展和快速城市化的背景下,庄园遗产景观正面临水生态环境失衡、空间碎片化和文化特征消失等挑战,而这些挑战只能从区域规划尺度去应对。以荷兰海德兰省巴克塞比克地区为例,在考虑地方景观异同的同时,以景观自身特性为基底,结合未来发展趋势,进一步诠释了一种旨在提升庄园遗产景观韧性的多尺度景观设计方法。发现森林砍伐为地域空间变化的主要因素之一,它对水系统与生态多样性造成了负面影响。基于在区域尺度上对庄园遗产景观历史发展的分析,森林景观恢复(FLR)作为主要设计策略,旨在从不同尺度上对“退化的”景观进行生态功能修复并提升人类福祉。这种新的空间设计方法将在不同尺度上促进文化遗产景观发展。