Built Landscapes of Metropolitan Regions: An International Typology

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Built landscapes—patterns of streets, blocks, parcels of land, buildings, and related infrastructure at the scale of an urban neighborhood or greater—are often difficult for decision makers and the public to understand, especially within the complex "collage city" of the postmodern era. Yet understanding the variety of these forms can help stakeholders make wise choices regarding how to plan and design urban regions in the future to meet goals such as livability and sustainability. Based on aerials, maps, and images available through Google and other sources, I develop a typology of built landscape forms found within 24 metropolitan regions worldwide and use GIS to map these forms and compare regions. The analysis shows that 27 basic types of built landscape make up metropolitan regions worldwide, of which nine are very common. Traditional urban types now make up a small fraction of most metropolitan areas worldwide, while suburban and exurban forms comprise the vast majority of the land area. There are noted regional differences in the mix of built landscape types.

Takeaway for practice: Each built landscape form offers challenges and opportunities for planning objectives such as livability and sustainability. It is important for planners to a) help the public and decision makers understand built landscapes and their implications; b) include landscape-scale elements, such as street patterns and networks of green infrastructure, when framing urban development alternatives; c) ensure that local codes and design guidelines enable desired forms of built landscapes and discourage those that are problematic for sustainability; and d) encourage built landscape change that promotes sustainability.     

Landscape Policy and Planning Practice: The gap in understanding,Ontario, Canada

Distortions inevitably occur between the creation of policy and its practical application. The gap that exists between the understanding of landscape held by the policy writers and that of the implementers of land-use planning legislation in Ontario, Canada is revealed. The story is told over a nine-month period between the passing and defeat of one planning act, and the introduction of another. A change of government and a substantive shift in governing ideology resulted in the radical transformation of the policies protecting landscapes in this Canadian province's land-use development process. The research documented took place over that crucial period and gives a window into the dynamics of landscape conservation that is created by upper- and lower-tier differences. Higher-level policy makers have a considerable task in protecting landscapes within land-use planning that demands rational and bounded terminology and processes. Conversely, the local implementers of that policy need more flexible and site-specific strategies to conserve those landscapes on the ground. It is this gap that has stalled the protection of landscapes in Ontario, where governments and communities struggle to conserve their valued landscapes - a phenomenon not uncommon in other locations. Some strategies on how to bridge that gap in understanding and improve the prospects for landscape conservation are given.     

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.     

Fluvial Landscapes, Catchment Administration and Land-use Planning: experience based on two rivers in Spain

The differences between urban, rural and fluvial landscapes pose challenges for land-use planning. In particular, the stable character of urban settlements and cultural landscapes contrasts with the instability of fluvial ones. In Spain, the administration of fluvial landscapes, via the main legal instrument (the Hydraulic Public Domain) and land-use plans, is conducted on the basis of administrative boundaries which cut across hydrological units. The characteristics and dynamics of fluvial landscapes (in particular two Spanish rivers) are studied and it is argued that land uses established within them should be compatible with their characteristics and dynamics. In order to implement this objective, two new concepts are proposed for adoption by the river agencies and for incorporation in local land-use plans—the Area of Fluvial Freedom and the Area of Flooding.     

Landscape Policy and Planning Practice: the gap in understanding, Ontario, Canada

Distortions inevitably occur between the creation of policy and its practical application. The gap that exists between the understanding of landscape held by the policy writers and that of the implementers of land-use planning legislation in Ontario, Canada is revealed. The story is told over a nine-month period between the passing and defeat of one planning act, and the introduction of another. A change of government and a substantive shift in governing ideology resulted in the radical transformation of the policies protecting landscapes in this Canadian province's land-use development process. The research documented took place over that crucial period and gives a window into the dynamics of landscape conservation that is created by upper- and lower-tier differences. Higher-level policy makers have a considerable task in protecting landscapes within land-use planning that demands rational and bounded terminology and processes. Conversely, the local implementers of that policy need more flexible and site-specific strategies to conserve those landscapes on the ground. It is this gap that has stalled the protection of landscapes in Ontario, where governments and communities struggle to conserve their valued landscapes - a phenomenon not uncommon in other locations. Some strategies on how to bridge that gap in understanding and improve the prospects for landscape conservation are given.     

Cultural heritage in suburban landscape planning: A case study in Southern Norway

In this study we ask how the planning process that coordinates the interests of various sectors on a municipal level affects the cultural heritage assets in suburban landscapes. Special attention is paid to the role the cultural heritage management sector plays in the overall planning processes that take place in such semi-urban regions.A case study is carried out in two suburban areas in Norway, Madla and Nannestad. The case-study design includes various methods; historical map overlay, visual methods, discourse analysis based on qualitative interviews and document studies. The case studies have been performed on two levels: a superior landscape analysis covering the total municipality, and a second and more detailed level.The results from this study show that the protection and caretaking of green interests in land-use planning is not necessarily a protection of cultural heritage interests. Cultural heritage is more to be seen as a derivate interest. Cultural heritage management seldom functions as a premise provider in municipal planning. The findings are discussed in conjunction with the need for comprehensive planning across administrative and disciplinary borders as cities grow into regions. There is also a need for the cultural heritage interests to play a stronger role in planning in order to obtain better preservation of the cultural monuments and landscapes.     

Fluvial Landscapes,Catchment Administration and Land-use Planning: Experience based on two rivers in Spain

The differences between urban, rural and fluvial landscapes pose challenges for land-use planning. In particular, the stable character of urban settlements and cultural landscapes contrasts with the instability of fluvial ones. In Spain, the administration of fluvial landscapes, via the main legal instrument (the Hydraulic Public Domain) and land-use plans, is conducted on the basis of administrative boundaries which cut across hydrological units. The characteristics and dynamics of fluvial landscapes (in particular two Spanish rivers) are studied and it is argued that land uses established within them should be compatible with their characteristics and dynamics. In order to implement this objective, two new concepts are proposed for adoption by the river agencies and for incorporation in local land-use plans—the Area of Fluvial Freedom and the Area of Flooding.     

Land-Use Planning’s Role in Urban Forest Strategies: Recent Local Government Approaches in Australia

Many urban development processes, supported by land-use planning, negatively impact urban trees. Urban forest strategies are one approach local governments take to protect and increase urban trees. We evaluate connections between urban forest strategies and land-use planning to achieve tree cover on private property, through a review of 18 Australian local government strategies. We highlight the importance of state-level policies for local land-use planning, and conclude that if state-level land-use planning is to aid the protection and enhancement of urban trees, more active engagement with and explicit links to urban forest strategies at both local and state levels is needed.     

Soft contractualism? Facilitating institutional change in planning and development relations in Scotland

Devolution in the United Kingdom has involved the creation of different quasi-autonomous political administrations. As part of an attempt to encourage institutional learning, there has been a turn to concordats to facilitate cooperation on matters of shared concern, to communicate appropriately and in a timely way, to work in a helpful and open manner and to treat information in confidence. In parallel, the reform of statutory land-use planning systems in the devolved United Kingdom has involved debates around the need for a cultural change to implement a relatively more positive model of planning and development amongst the diversity of stakeholders which have similarly invoked new forms of public diplomacy. The Edinburgh Planning Concordat sets out in some detail the agreed step-by-step actions to be effected and the respective responsibilities of the local authority and developers at the different stages in the land-use planning process. Such anticipated cooperation and coordination in the land-use planning and property development community could suggest a stronger basis for decision making and the articulation of the public interest. Locating the discussion against the backdrop of devolution and planning reform in Scotland, and within theories of new contractualism, this article examines the rise of ‘soft’ forms of public diplomacy as a means to facilitate cultural change and planning reform.     

Property rights and coastal protection: the case of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council

In 1986, David Lucas purchased two oceanfront lots on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Before he built on the lots, the South Carolina Legislature passed the Beachfront Management Act, restricting development along the coast. Unable to build a permanent structure on his property, Lucas sued the South Carolina Coastal Council. The case made its way to the US Supreme Court, and became one of the most significant cases in US planning history. This article situates the case in the context of the history of real property rights, chronicles the events leading up to the case, follows the case through the court system, and analyses its impact on planning practice. Although the case had less significant implications for planning than originally anticipated, it does carry important lessons for land-use planning, subdivision regulation, and planning in sensitive environmental areas. It was a defining moment for coastal conservation in the USA, and had a significant impact on implementation of the US Coastal Zone Management Act, which has been used as a model internationally.     

基于城乡样条分区的绿色空间规划方法研究

城市规划区绿色空间涵盖建设区绿化用地与非建设区水体、农林用地。土地利用系统属性差异与大相径庭的二元规划管控方法,人为拆解绿色空间内在空间、功能与过程上的系统整体性,滋生种种低效保护与利用症结。本文通过文献与规划实践研究,融合“城乡样条空间断面”与流域规划方法,形成基于城乡空间转化样条的绿色空间规划管控方法:分析并叠加城乡梯度转化样条分区与流域自然生态功能分区,形成规划区全覆盖样条分区;依据各样条分区绿色空间的自然属性与相应分区城乡建设功能诉求,确定分区绿色空间规划导向及用地空间布局;按照分区保护与利用管控导向,制定样条分区管控措施及设计导引。     

Landscape Continuity Analysis as a Tool for Landscape Planning: A Case Study in Istanbul

In the last decade the city of Istanbul has suffered a gradual decrease in green areas because of the growing need for space for new settlements, trade and industry. Landscape continuity analysis takes its starting point from the analysis of built areas rather than the landscape in between. This study aimed to demonstrate the applicability of landscape continuity analysis within a region adjacent to a large metropolis—Istanbul—that is utilised for multiple purposes and composed of an important amount of green areas including Belgrade Forest. The general framework of this research consists of two major steps: 1) quantification of the inferred influence of human activities on green areas; and 2) evaluation of the compatibility between the inferred influence of human activities, and implemented planning decisions (particularly the Forest Management Plan). The results support the use of landscape continuity analysis as a timesaving and cost-effective supplementary tool in decision-making processes. This is achieved by the development and comparison of alternative land-use options, aiming where possible to prevent the fragmentation and alteration of green areas.     

乡镇级国土空间总体规划的必要性、定位与重点内容

在充分认识我国乡镇总体规划的基本特征和问题的基础上,明晰国家空间规划体系改革对乡镇治理体系、城乡融合和高质量发展的要求,指出我国乡镇国土空间总体规划的必要性。继而在研判国际经验和县乡事权划分等的基础上,提出了乡镇国土空间总体规划的定位特征是传导落实县市规划、创新镇区空间用途管制方式和统筹引导详细规划编制。并指出乡镇国土空间总体规划的重点内容应包括自然资源管理、国土空间开发利用、镇城空间格局、镇区空间布局和村庄建设管控等。     

Planning Rural-Urban Landscapes: Railways and Countryside Urbanisation in South-West Flanders,Belgium (1830–1930)

In the international literature on today’s urban condition, Flanders is presented as prime example of urban sprawl, generally described as unplanned incremental development induced by the quantum leap of private car ownership. The research on rural-urban landscapes in south-west Flanders qualifies and substantiates this assertion by analysing pre-war keystone processes of infrastructure planning in relation to land-use patterns and landscape transformations. The research reveals that not only the development of rural-urban landscapes reaches back far beyond the welfare state, fuelled by railways prior to highways, but also shows that the supposedly chaotic hybrid landscape has its roots in drawn-out landscape ideologies inscribed in public works policy. The analysis—which crosses the divides between disciplines (landscape and infrastructure planning), concepts (rural-urban, modern-traditional), and geographical scales (national, regional, local)—reveals consistently planned mechanisms of public works policy and landscape change underlying both the diffuse regional urbanisation patterns and local landscape transformations, which are generally perceived as spontaneous or vernacular developments. Infrastructure planning facilitated a spatial organisation that attributed centrality to the transport network rather than the metropolis, and that conceived a resilient infrastructure framework rather than a stylistic spatial constellation in order to steer and geographically root heterogeneous modernisation processes within the landscape.     

论“反规划”

指出导致系统性的、全国性的城市环境危机和城市功能与结构混乱的主要根源之一是计划经济体制下形成的、“规模-性质-空间布局”为模式的物质空间规划编制方法论;基于现行方法论的城市空间发展规划是一种建立在不确定基础上的空中楼阁。在此基础上提出“反规划”途径:强调一种“逆”向的规划过程,“负”的规划成果,即生态基础设施,用它来引导和框限城市的空间发展。文章强调,人地关系的和谐是解决一切城市问题的关键“。反规划”途径试图通过建立保障自然人文过程安全和健康的景观安全格局,来综合地解决国土生态安全问题、城市的功能结构问题、交通问题、城市特色以及城市的形态问题。     

天然去雕饰——江南大学蓬莱学院校园规划设计

江南大学蓬莱学院的校园规划,以尊重蓬莱历史文化特色为前提,以保护规划地段山形地势和自然景观为条件,以直接、简洁的规划手段打造绿色之城、象牙之城、交流之城,创造自然山水、历史传统、人文内涵、时代精神和谐共生的校园空间环境。     

European and natural landscapes as carriers of place identity: a correlational study in Italian and Spanish regions

This study investigated whether European, Mediterranean and natural landscapes might trigger identification responses among residents of Mediterranean Europe. The participants (N = 546) were students from three Italian and three Spanish regions who rated their level of place identification by looking at eight pictures of prototypical landscapes, each depicting a unique combination of attributes in a 2×2×2 research design (European/non-European, Mediterranean/non-Mediterranean and natural/built). The results confirmed both European and natural landscapes as stronger carriers of identification than non-European and built landscapes, respectively, whereas no differences emerged between Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean landscapes. The statistical analysis of two-way interactions showed the amplification effect of the combined European–natural landscape, whilst a less clear picture emerged from the other two interactions. These findings suggest that landscape images may be used to foster a more inclusive identity at the supranational level and thus increase the sense of belonging among European citizens.     

阿道夫·克利尚尼兹的城·图·底

在欧洲,田园城市这一理念与19世纪社会学理念的发展息息相关。田园城市运动不只是要寻找城市生活与自然环境的和谐,更表达了一种政治诉求,与之相对的是丹尼尔·薛伯(Daniel Schreber)发起的城市住区花园运动,这一运动将城市中一定的自由空间以集合私人花园的方式提供给个人。二者有一个共同的目标——将建构以和谐的方式融入自然环境中。它们虽然都是工业社会的产物,但它们与农耕传统的关系也是不可割裂的。在阿道夫·克利尚尼兹的建筑实践中,这些住区花园传统与理论的影响与传承关系是不可忽视的。展出的项目关注建造与留白之间的辩证关系,有意识地推动建造观念的转变——不仅对20世纪末的欧洲来说有意义,也希望对成都以及201 1成都双年展有所启发。     

Developing and comparing optimal and empirical land-use models for the development of an urbanized watershed forest in Taiwan

The objective of this study is to demonstrate the utility of optimal spatial models for modeling specific spatial patterns to facilitate rational land-use planning of a watershed in northern Taiwan. Optimization was implemented using simulated annealing in a spatial pattern optimization model (OLPSIM), and developments predicted by the drivers of past land-use changes were modeled with the CLUE-s model. The landscapes simulated by the models were then input to a precipitation-runoff model (the Hydrologic Engineering Center's Hydrologic Modeling System; HEC-HMS) to assess the impact of land-use patterns on runoff in the watershed and sub-watershed scales. The results suggest that the three strategies produced very different landscapes under medium intensity scenarios. Specifically, maximizing the size of forest patches caused deforestation of small forest patches, resulting in a large, complex-shaped, dispersed forest; minimizing forest patch shapes resulted in the dissection of large, complex-shaped forests into smaller, simpler-shaped fragments; and land development based on past trends resulted in the aggregation of urbanized land-use in gentler terrains. The results of hydrological simulations suggest that the three land-use strategies differ less in their total hydrological outputs, but more in their distribution of hydrological outputs across different sub-watersheds. Investigating more spatially explicit hydrologic impacts of urbanization at the sub-basin scale may provide additional information that would help decision-makers evaluate proposed land-use policies more thoroughly.     

Spatial Planning Judgments and Computer Supported Collaborative Planning

The role of planning support systems has become closely aligned with the dominant theoretical paradigms – primarily collaborative planning and communicative rationality – within the field of urban planning. However, scholars from Human-Computer Interaction have built a theoretical tradition drawing on Activity Theory, among others, to describe computer supported collaborative learning. Collaboration, from this perspective, represents a form of distributed learning situated within a social interaction. Individuals work with each other and technology to converge on shared conceptual understandings of the problem space and to develop a shared praxis for collaboratively addressing those problems. Instead of the tools talking, technology plays a critical role in helping stakeholders develop a common ground for planning and supporting an activity-aware praxis. I use empirical examples from a planning process on Cape Cod, Massachusetts to illustrate these features of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) for a planning audience. I focus, in particular, on how planning support systems mediate group judgments about space and scale to account for spatial scale mismatches between the Cape’s watersheds and towns.