New challenges in the field of spatial planning: landscapes

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) highlights the landscape as an holistic concept, which is important for individual and social well being and for quality of life. Landscape questions tend today to fall between the responsibilities of different sectors of society. The implications of the Convention for giving ‘landscape’ a higher status in spatial planning are discussed. Important challenges for planning that need to be focused from a landscape approach are discussed: the growing urbanization; the development and new roles of the urban fringe areas; new infrastructure landscapes; the mental landscapes of tomorrow; an holistic approach to landscape ecological planning and environmental policies and the need for co‐ordination of European planning issues that concern landscapes. Planning for good landscape qualities is not a new issue; many landscape architects and landscape planners have worked in the spirit of the ELC for decades. The importance of educating landscape architects and planners with an holistic approach is particularly addressed. Efforts for a more integrated landscape education, such as the European network LE:NOTRE, already exist and contribute to the implementation of the ELC.     

New challenges in the field of spatial planning: landscapes

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) highlights the landscape as an holistic concept, which is important for individual and social well being and for quality of life. Landscape questions tend today to fall between the responsibilities of different sectors of society. The implications of the Convention for giving 'landscape' a higher status in spatial planning are discussed. Important challenges for planning that need to be focused from a landscape approach are discussed: the growing urbanization; the development and new roles of the urban fringe areas; new infrastructure landscapes; the mental landscapes of tomorrow; an holistic approach to landscape ecological planning and environmental policies and the need for co-ordination of European planning issues that concern landscapes. Planning for good landscape qualities is not a new issue; many landscape architects and landscape planners have worked in the spirit of the ELC for decades. The importance of educating landscape architects and planners with an holistic approach is particularly addressed. Efforts for a more integrated landscape education, such as the European network LE:NOTRE, already exist and contribute to the implementation of the ELC.     

Transforming landscapes and identities in the south Wales valleys

Abstract

In contrast to the declining socio-economic legacy of the loss of coalmining and heavy industry, the landscapes of the south Wales valleys have witnessed a remarkable environmental transformation within living memory. Yet an apparent paradox exists between reported community pride in these landscapes with emerging community-led economic initiatives, and seeming indifference towards or disconnection from them. In this paper, we draw upon analysis of qualitative material from two pieces of research in different Valleys’ localities to explore landscape relationships with respect to radical landscape changes, reported disconnections and emergent community-led countryside activities. We consider these in the context of emerging models and notions of landscape identities. We conclude that the changed landscape character in the Valleys is impacting on landscape perceptions, valuation and uses with new existential identities emerging amongst some. Greater insights into evolving landscape identities might inform better land use policy and natural resource management to bring about socio-economic and environmental benefits.     

The role of the spatial dimension within the framework of sustainable landscapes and natural capital

A new paradigm of Natural Capital and Sustainable Landscapes has been suggested. It implies the integration of economic, environmental and social-cultural qualities in a physical setting while focusing on functions in terms of goods and services for people. Due to its anthropocentric perspective it pays less attention to landscape structure and spatial arrangement compared to the widely applied patch-matrix concept. The matrix of land use elements provides the key to understanding land use systems and land use changes and it can play an important role in understanding land use pattern and their dynamics. But one of the remaining constraints for a direct application of landscape ecological concepts in practice is the lack of agreed ways to combine environmental, socio-economic and societal/cultural views. This paper examines both paradigms, asking: does the spatial arrangement of land use types add specific qualities beyond statistical measures of their existence and quantity? For instance, can a landscape be sustainable, as long as 20% of the land use is extensive, 10% is protection area, etc., no matter where the respective patches are, which typical size and shape they have, how connected patches are and how often incompatible land use types are adjacent? This paper elucidates spatial concepts for sustainable landscapes with an emphasis on the role of GIS.     

Foraging for identity: the relationships between landscape activities and landscape identity after catastrophic landscape change

ABSTRACT

In this article, we deal with landscape activities in relation to changing landscape identity after a major wildfire in Sweden in 2014. The aim was to investigate the relationships between 22 landscape activities (before the fire) and 2 components (emotion and cognition) of landscape identity (before and after the fire). A total of 656 respondents living nearby the fire area participated in this study. Before the fire, a positive association was found between the activities of enjoying nature and foraging, and both components of landscape identity. This suggests that the more participants enjoyed nature and picked berries and mushrooms, the stronger their attachment to the landscape (emotion), and the more they remembered and reasoned about the landscape (cognition). Post fire, these relationships were found only between the two components of landscape identity and foraging. This implies a significant role of this type of activity for keeping ‘alive’ landscape identity.     

New wilderness in the Netherlands: An investigation of visual preferences for nature development landscapes

The present research investigated visual preferences for nature development landscapes among 500 residents from six plan areas in The Netherlands. Significant differences in relative preferences for wild versus managed scenes were found between landscape types and respondent groups. Development of wild nature was evaluated less positively in a forested area than in more open, rural areas. Among the background variables included in the study, place of residence, age, socio-economic status, farming background, preference for green political parties, and recreational motives were found to be systematically related to relative preferences for wild versus managed nature scenes, accounting for 16% of the variance in preference ratings. These findings are discussed within an applied decision making context in The Netherlands.     

浅析现代雕塑在公共景观中的应用和发展

阐述了现代雕塑艺术在公共景观设计中的应用特点,分析了现代雕塑与公共景观在多样的形式中的共同点和二者在发展中的相互影响,探讨了现代雕塑在公共景观空间中的发展趋势,从而揭示了雕塑的重要作用。     

Relationship between landscape visual attributes and spatial pattern indices: A test study in Mediterranean-climate landscapes

The analysis of the relationships between landscape visual quality and landscape structural properties is an active area of environmental perception research. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between landscape spatial pattern and the rating of visual aesthetic quality. Eight landscape photographs were evaluated for 11 visual attributes by 98 respondents. The scores obtained for these 11 attributes were subjected to principal components analysis in order to summarize the qualities used by the respondents and thus determine their visual preferences. For each photograph, three window sizes were defined (with respect to a landcover map) to cover the different areas corresponding to the visual field (foreground, mid-ground and background). The landscape spatial structure for each window was analyzed using spatial metrics. The correlation between each dimension and the spatial pattern indices of the landscape were then calculated. Positive correlations were obtained between visual aesthetic quality and a number of landscape pattern indices. The results suggest that landscape heterogeneity might be an important factor in determining visual aesthetic quality.     

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.     

Exploring farmer's knowledge as a source of information on past and present cultural landscapes: A case study from NW Spain

The primary goal of this research was to explore the potential of farmer's knowledge as a source of information on the past and present cultural landscapes, focusing on the land-use system, the cultural heritage, and the farmer's perception of landscape changes, from the 1950s to the present day. For this purpose, 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted from a random sample of 10% of the villages in an area of the Northern Mountains of Galicia (NW Spain). As shown in farmers’ reports, the main crops in the 1950s were wheat or rye, potatoes or maize (only near the coast) and turnips. Scrubland areas were an essential resource for pasture, litter, temporary crops and charcoal, whereas deciduous forest was mainly used as a source of wood for carpentry, firewood and litter. Agriculture was the main economic activity, whereas crafts and other activities in the fisheries or forestry industry were secondary. Granaries, watermills and stone laundry basins were the most frequent elements of built heritage that was mentioned in the interviews. Farmers were also comprehensively aware of the broad changes that occurred in the landscape. The results indicate that farmer's knowledge is a valuable source of information for documenting past and present land-use practices, local cultural heritage and changes in the landscape, all of which are helpful for the design of landscape-orientated policies. Moreover, observed ancestral cultural practices, such as extensive grazing in scrubland areas, may be promoted as strategies for helping the sustainability of cultural landscapes in the study area and in other areas with similar characteristics.     

The Landscape Inventory of Galicia (NW Spain): GIS-web and public participation for landscape planning

The European Landscape Convention recognises the importance of public participation for landscape planning in order to capture local knowledge, sensitive issues and conflicts, boost exchanges of information and democratise the process. However, traditional public participation methods are frequently restricted to public exposure at the final stage of the planning process. New public participation movements call for a greater role for the people at all stages. The growing development of ICT and geospatial information technologies provides new means of improving the participation process. This paper describes the public participation procedure and the participation geographic information system used to develop the Landscape Inventory of Galicia, whose results were used for the characterisation of landscape types, the delimitation of special interest areas from the locations identified by citizens and the definition of special attention areas from the degraded areas located by population.     

Frozen landscapes: climate-adaptive design interventions in Ladakh and Zanskar

During the course of the past three decades, a number of subsistence agricultural villages in the Himalayan mountain range have witnessed ever-shrinking glaciers and an increasingly erratic supply of glacial meltwater. Having relied on these relatively stable reserves for crop irrigation for centuries, today’s high-Himalayan farmers must now contend with irregular weather patterns and events, such as drought, mudslides and cloudbursts. In the face of this shifting landscape, many farming villages have responded by altering long-standing agricultural practices in an effort to adapt to a changing climate. In this context, the incorporation of frozen landscape infrastructures can help to control the flow of surface meltwater, direct valuable water resources and stockpile irrigation reserves in the form of ice and snow. This article describes three types of frozen landscape design interventions currently employed in northern India: artificial glaciers, ice stupas and snow barrier bands. Although these constructs have been designed by engineers rather than landscape architects, they contribute to a larger body of climate-adaptive design solutions that suggest a way forward in the face of the unstable environmental pressures of the future. As landscape architects and designers look for opportunities to intervene in the climate crisis, the nascent frozen landscapes of northern India present ideas for climate change adaptive design work to build upon.     

Folk classification as evidence of transformed landscapes and adaptative strategies: a case study in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil

How do people classify the living world? Solid theoretical and methodological foundations advocate for utilitarian or intellectual strategies. Some authors argue that people tend to classify natural resources that are necessary for their survival. However, in the case of landscapes, we do not know the true criteria that people use to classify their space. We present strong evidence that people name landscapes according to utilitarian (economic) criteria. We also seek to identify which factors and variables explain people’s knowledge about landscapes and how this knowledge can generate information about landscape modifications. This study was conducted in the Brazilian National Forest of Araripe (FLONA Araripe), NE Brazil, with local people who live near this forest. A total of 304 nomenclatural types of landscapes were recounted, and these landscapes were mainly associated with indicators of current or past use. The variables that best explained the knowledge about landscapes were useful species known and the number of categories of use, showing that utilitarian features are strongly associated with local forest classification. Our findings suggest an adaptive strategy in which people name the landscape based on past and current uses, either as a whole or with respect to particular features of certain areas. In addition, we interpret this finding as a mnemonic strategy for optimising the use of the landscape.     

A question of what matters: landscape characterisation as a process of situated,problem-orientated public discourse

Abstract

Sustainable development is a principle with the potential to inspire and guide action, but it is also a nebulous idea which is hard to operationalise. The concept of landscape character helps to turn this principle into practical action. Landscape character can be defined as ‘the things that matter’ about a landscape. Landscape characterisation is the process of determining what matters by identifying and assessing the complex interactions and relationships between people and their environment. The central argument of this paper is that existing approaches to characterisation are failing to realise the full potential of the process for the pursuit of more just and sustainable landscapes. A transformed process of characterisation is needed: one which is situated, problem-orientated and rooted in public discourse. This approach is outlined in theoretical terms and its fuller potential is signposted through the particular example of Govan, an urban landscape in Scotland.     

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.     

Fauna in wetland landscapes: a perception approach

Perception and observation of the faunal component of the landscape have not been sufficiently examined for wetlands in the past. In the present study, a methodological approach is followed based on a questionnaire that is used with different population groups involved in a wetland in southern Spain. Using this questionnaire, it is established that fauna, especially birds, is seen as a distinctive element of wetland landscapes. This study shows how the importance of the animal component goes beyond visual perception of the landscape, making a particular contribution to its sound dimension. Also identified are several factors that have a significant effect on the perception and observation of wetland fauna: knowledge about, interest in and familiarity with the subject. The results can be applied to the citizen participation policies favoured by the European Landscape Convention, as well as to the characterisation, protection, management and planning of landscapes where fauna is an appreciable element.     

Residents’ sense of place and landscape perceptions at the rural-urban interface

Rural residents have different expectations concerning what the rural landscape should be like and what it should be used for. This is especially the case at the rural-urban interface, where the characteristics of rural and urban landscapes have become blurred. In this article, the concept of sense of place is used to explore the relationship between humans and landscape at the rural-urban fringe. Based on a quantitative survey data set, this article examines how the landscape perceptions of local residents can be understood from the basis of their sense of place in Nurmijärvi, a municipality located close to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area in southern Finland. A factor analysis revealed four clusters: Socially connected, Weak bonds, Roots and resources and Committed to place. The clusters differed by their socio-economic profiles as well as their sense of place. The Roots and resources cluster differed most of the other clusters, but in general the differences between the clusters in general landscape perceptions were relatively small. Although a strong sense of place is often assumed to lead to care of place, the willingness to contribute to the landscape did not differ significantly between the clusters. In addition the study revealed the existence of two different approaches to landscape in the rural-urban interface: landscape as a scenery and landscape as a dwelling place.     

Assessment of landscape composition and configuration via spatial metrics combination: conceptual framework proposal and method improvement

Landscape transformations have been a central topic in landscape ecology due to their influence on ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Landscape dynamics can be very complex and one of the most difficult issues to analyse is the contribution and the effects of landscape composition and configuration changes to the overall impact. We enhanced an existing approach designed to assess landscape transformation via metrics combination. Based on the area and the number of patches, we defined a Landscape Dynamics Typology (LDT) with eight different dynamics. The agro-forestry areas dynamics between 1990 and 2006, in Portugal, is presented as a practical example to show the implementation steps and the outputs obtained. A diagnostic tree is provided to help identify which dynamics are present. This new method provides detailed results concerning the location of the different dynamics within a landscape. The LDT is a versatile tool and is able to accommodate upgrades.     

Nearby Nature and Experiential Farming: How are their Roles Perceived within the Rural–Urban Fringe?

This paper presents the preferences of residents towards green areas and, in particular, for agricultural environments in Vantaa City, southern Finland. The study area includes three growing suburbs and farming land immediately adjacent to the city centre. During the study period, new residential areas in the fringe area, combined with a simultaneous build-up of the road network, resulted in fragmentation and increased land use diversity. We found that the farming land at the fringe of the city had a greater recreational role than its basic function linked to either food or fodder production. Visual mapping of pleasant places proved the importance of public traditional farms and that preserved nature areas were preferred more than constructed parks for residents living in the urban fringe. This suggests that an emphasis in careful urban land use policy might be placed more upon the maintenance of natural areas that remain unchanged.     

Abandoned farmlands as components of rural landscapes: An analysis of perceptions and representations

In spite of its importance in some agricultural landscape, abandoned farmland remains relatively little studied. Yet it is central to several land management issues: ecological (biodiversity), economic (agricultural or forest productivity) and landscape issues. In order to better address these issues, this study proposes to define how abandoned farmland is perceived in an intensive agricultural landscape. Using photographs, the perceptions of abandoned farmland (herbaceous and shrub dominated) and 5 other land uses (hay fields, corn fields, pastures, woodlots and plantations) were measured from a sample of 33 abandoned farmland owners in order to compare and rank the perceptions of abandoned farmland to that of other types of land use. Perceptions of landscape changes and the importance of abandoned farmland within properties were studied. The statistical analyses used allowed us to establish relationships between the different perceptions and the socio-economic characteristics and value indicators of the land owners. The analyses establish that abandoned farmland produces the most negative perceptions, followed by corn fields. Conversely, woodlots are the land use that is the most appreciated. The attitude towards the environment was one of the variables most often significant in explaining the perceptions encountered. Analysis of landscape evolution reveals an intensification of agricultural practices that may lead to the conversion of abandoned farmlands into cultivated land. Finally, abandoned farmland is perceived, at the scale of the individual property, as the land use having the least value (as opposed to corn fields) and being the least appreciated (as opposed to forests).