“This is what we did last time”. Uncertainty over landscape analysis and its procurement in the Swedish road planning process

In some European countries, landscape analysis has long been used in support of large-scale planning or major projects such as new trunk roads and mainline rail routes, in line with both the UN's Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment and the European Landscape Convention. Some countries, however, lack a regulatory framework for what should be analysed, how a landscape analysis should be conducted, or even how it should be procured. Sweden is one such country. The research project on which this article is based uses in-depth interviews with twelve key Swedish officials to consider landscape analysis issues in the planning and procurement of road and railway infrastructure. The findings point to the fact that skilled transport planners are not entirely comfortable with the current situation, and the way landscape analysis is handled in daily planning practice varies enormously. For example, nearly all the respondents believe that the way formal landscape analyses are procured is important, not least to ensure quality, yet at the same time they are rarely commissioned separately, even when this is explicitly stipulated by the regulations. There is no generally accepted notion of what ‘landscape’ might be, and the terms in which respondents describe the landscape do not correspond to the official landscape terminology as set down in the ELC.     

Assessment of regulation of legal relations of territorial planning: A case study in Lithuania

Land management is inevitably linked to the regulation of activities of its proprietor or operator stipulated by legislation and documents of territorial planning. In Lithuania, as in many European countries, territorial planning is a key measure for the formation of landscape and the alteration of its elements. With the help of territorial planning documents, governing authorities has the opportunity to orderly regulate the layout of long-term stable elements of landscape and the sustainable territorial development. However, in comparison with other European Union (hereinafter – EU) countries, territorial planning system valid in Lithuania until January 1, 2014 is still “young” and having specific features with former countries of the Soviet bloc legal regulation. The system did not provided a consistent and sustainable territorial development mechanism: there was the lack of measures allowing to manage the development processes of residential areas and implementation of territorial planning documents (especially the municipal master plans) solutions for the creation of a harmonious functional spatial system. The aim of the present paper is to assess the regulation of legal relations of territorial planning in Lithuania and the EU member states. The assessment summarizes processes of the formation of a landscape during the territorial planning, introduces new opportunities to more accurately predict the results of the current process of landscape planning, and highlights legal and sustainable elements of territorial planning system optimization. As can be seen from the assessment carried out, one of the most important territorial planning objectives was and still remains the balance of mutual relations (hierarchy of plans) of territorial planning documents in shaping the cultural landscape to ensure the rational distribution of the land fund, combining a variety of activities as well as often different land users’ and public interests. Therefore, the implementation of the territorial planning reform of Lithuania capacitates for the transition to an integrated territorial planning, ensuring sustainable development.     

A method for analysing and planning rural built-up landscapes: The case of Sardinia,Italy

The implementation of the European Landscape Convention has paved the way for innovative tools able to analyse scattered and medium-small size elements, far beyond the usual isolated relevant landmarks. In this context, planners have been confronted with the problem of defining those characteristics of rural landscapes which are typical of agricultural and forestry activities and ecosystems. The specific focus on rural landscapes has attracted the interest of international scientists. They have approached the question from many perspectives, but have rarely analysed the interplay between landscapes, buildings, and settlements. In this paper we design and apply a method which is able to define, analyse and plan built-up rural landscapes. This method is based on organizing qualitative and quantitative landscape information in fact sheets, a tool that was often used in the last generation of landscape atlases in Italy. We have investigated three landscape units in Sardinia, Italy, one of the first administrations to approve a regional landscape plan which conformed with the European Landscape Convention. Our evidence demonstrates that the method is powerful, as it helps in the identification of the main characteristics of each rural built-up landscape and the drafting of general planning propositions. In particular, the method proves useful in stressing the cross-fertilization between building types and the shape of the rural landscapes: single story buildings on plains and multi-story buildings in mountainous areas. While the method is clearly influenced by the European Landscape Convention and the Italian local regulations, it is based on general principles and can be applied, with proper adaptations, to other cases worldwide.     

Public participation in defining landscape planning scenarios and landscape quality objectives (LQO): Landscape Guidelines for Galicia (NW Spain) case study

Since the adoption of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in 2000, greater importance has been given to citizen participation in landscape policies and, specifically, in defining landscape quality objectives (LQO). Although the task of identifying and defining LQO is undertaken by professionals, the ELC provides for a compulsory public consultation. In most cases, no clear relationship between the results of public participation and the resulting definition of LQO and planning scenarios has been found. The objective of the present study is therefore to propose a methodology for designing landscape planning scenarios and defining LQO by the systematic, objective and quantified analysis of the results of a public participation process and taking advantage of the capacity of a Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) to capture public perception of landscape. The results of a picture-based survey and of the assessment of more than two thousand landscape scenes through the PPGIS allowed us to calculate indices of satisfaction and of the level of intervention required for each landscape type and area. From the values of these indices, four types of landscape planning scenarios were identified (protection, planning and management focused on protection and on planning), and the LQO for each landscape type and area were determined according to the resulting scenario. Application of the proposed methodology to the Landscape Guidelines for Galicia revealed information about the public perception of each landscape type and the preferred measures for landscape improvement involving protection, management and planning.     

Agricultural landscape dynamics in response to economic transition: Comparisons between different spatial planning zones in Ningbo region,China

Many major agricultural regions worldwide are experiencing drastic landscape transformations. Examining the complex links among agricultural landscape dynamics (ALD), land use and land cover (LULC) change, socioeconomic development and government planning is pivotal to enhance the efficiency of agricultural landscape management. With a case of the Ningbo region (China), this paper employs the structural equation modeling (SEM) to quantify and compare the relationships between ALD and economic transition as well as the mediating LULC factors in different spatial planning zones. ALD are quantified by time series remotely sensed imageries and a set of landscape metrics; and economic transition is described by a set of indicators from three aspects (globalization, decentralization and marketization). Results show that ALD present similar trend in the two spatial planning zones between 1979 and 2013. However, the magnitude of ALD is larger in the non-urban planning zone. In particular, agricultural landscapes change into the fragmented, irregular, decreased, and isolated patterns at a more rapid pace. Economic transition drivers and LULC mediators differ remarkably between the two spatial planning zones. For the urban planning zone, economic transition influences ALD through construction land morphological changes and water body spatial density increases. For the non-urban planning zone, economic transition influences ALD through forest morphological changes and construction land spatial density increases. In addition, the relative importance of ALD determinants differs between the two spatial planning zones. Marketization plays a more critical role in driving ALD in the urban planning zone, while decentralization has a stronger impact on ALD in the non-urban planning zone. It is argued that land use master plan for agricultural landscape protection should be implemented in the non-urban planning zones and land use plan in the two spatial planning zones should be integrated. This study contributes to the understanding of the complex mechanism of ALD in response to economic transition.     

In landscape management all of us have something to say. A holistic method for landscape Preservability evaluation in a Mediterranean region

Landscape assessment methods have traditionally valued the landscape through a panel of experts with little or no participation of the population. However, after the adoption of the European Landscape Convention (ELC), the perception and the participation of the population has played an increasingly important role in landscape evaluation and planning. In this regard, the goal of this paper is to develop a model able to evaluate and integrate both the objective and subjective landscape factors into a new concept: the Preservability. This model, as well as selecting and classifying the landscape attributes according to the bio-geographic features of the study area i.e., Ricote Valley (Region of Murcia, Spain), includes two online surveys: one to assess the populatiońs landscape preferences and the other to obtain the specific weight of each objective and subjective landscape factor from a panel of experts. These landscape factors were incorporated into a GIS. To obtain the best model, the Preservability was assessed from three different approaches: objective, objective-weighted and weighted. The final results demonstrate how the Preservability weighted method returns different thresholds appropriate to the landscape attributes, the population’s perceptual preference and the protected areas. The different thresholds allows for priority areas to be identified for protection, as well as the adoption of appropriate management and planning strategies according to the landscapes characteristics, current state and uniqueness.     

Protection of coastal areas in Italy: Where do national landscape and urban planning legislation fail?

Italian coastal areas have been subject to strong anthropogenic pressure and urbanization processes over the past 60 years. Urbanization of the protected 300-m strip from shoreline has reached levels of over fifty per cent in some parts of the country. This article, by building on previous quantitative analyses and by providing some more quantitative data on the urbanization processes of coastal land at the provincial level, seeks to understand whether a con-cause that has led to a considerable urbanisation process is to be found in the way national landscape legislation has been designed, in its relationship with urban planning, and in the institutional and administrative fragmentation that characterise the management of coastal areas in Italy. After analysing landscape legislation and assessing its relationship with urban planning functions, following an approach based on concept of nomotropism the article highlights, for Italy as a whole, that national landscape legislation while seeking to protect and safeguard coastal areas paved the way for increased urbanization and development. Drawing on regional data on illegal development, the concept of nomotropism is also used to emphasise the impact that building amnesty laws have had on the practice of illegal development so contributing to increased urbanization processes.     

The struggle to achieve holistic landscape planning: Lessons from planning the E6 road route through Tanum World Heritage Site,Sweden

Since the EU introduced the European Landscape Convention (ELC) in 2000, the landscape has received growing attention in spatial planning and environmental impact assessments. To promote implementation of the ELC, the Swedish National Heritage Board proposed its Landscape Vision 2020, which addresses the goal of a ‘holistic landscape policy’. This study examined challenges and benefits brought by such a holistic approach to handling landscape protection/management within four issues in planning practice, namely cross-sector cooperation, local participation, integrating culture and nature, and bridging past and future. The analysis focused on a controversial road project passing through a World Heritage Site in Sweden. The results showed that the four issues were closely interlinked. In the case study, a new wave of cross-sector cooperation at authority level was observed, but it was also found to dominate the entire planning process and eventually limit the achievement of the other three issues. In conclusion, this study identified institutional culture and political context as key explanatory factors for understanding how the ELC and a holistic landscape view can be implemented in national practice.     

Local residents’ perceptions of energy landscape: the case of transmission lines

Although the transmission line network is relatively comprehensive in many countries, there are new needs to develop the networks due to the increased consumption of energy and new decentralized energy sources. However, compared with other large-scale infrastructure in the landscape, there has been relatively little research on the perceptions of transmission lines. Consequently, the aim of this study was to analyse how transmission lines are perceived in comparison with other landscape elements and how the perceptions of existing transmission lines differ from those concerning new lines. Finally, the heterogeneity of the perceptions was examined with the aid of the latent class method. The study was based on survey data from an urban fringe community in southern Finland. The results confirmed the presupposition that transmission lines are generally perceived as negative landscape elements, both when long-established and when new. However, the perceptions among the residents were heterogeneous. This heterogeneity was explained with environmental attitudes and leisure activities as well as knowledge and land ownership. The results have implications for planning, public communication and participation related to transmission lines, as well as other visually dominating man-made structures in the landscape.     

Historical and critical review of spatial and transport planning in the Netherlands

The spatial and transport planning have geographical, economic and environmental constraints and are closely linked to the social and political conditions of each country as well as are well under the influence of globalization forces. This makes it all a highly complex issue and requires a better understanding of the background and products of policies and the interaction of a number of key determinant factors in policy-making and implementation. Within this large picture, the long-term review of different cases may provide useful discussions for the guidance and reinforcement of policy assessment. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to critically analyze the planning in the Netherlands through examining the issues of governing structure, spatial policy-making, and transport re-structuring. The leading characteristic of the Netherlands is the scarcity of usable land that has raised high and early awareness on spatial development issues and its connections with natural and environmental protection. The functioning of planning systems, and policy aims and measures within the planning documents since the end of the 1950s, have been reviewed and the key planning concepts have been examined by bringing in general and current discussions on the issues. The success and failure in past policy-making and implementations have been highlighted. The policies of the current spatial and transport planning documents have been evaluated by their main policy titles such as compact city, network of cities and sustainable mobility. There is a general consensus that the Netherlands has been developed into a well planned and organized society and has designed leading policies such as the ABC firm location policy. However, a number of issues such as increasing vehicle kilometres, urban decline and sprawl, and some gaps in policy making remain to be the critical planning challenges.     

Adaptive responses to landscape changes from onshore wind energy development in the Republic of Ireland

Covering 26 years of Irish onshore wind energy development, this article tracks patterns in landscape changes from wind farm construction and identifies adaptive responses in public policy and by stakeholder groups. Wind farms face well-documented challenges with social acceptance due to landscape changes; however, little research has examined interactions between landscape change and social adaptations over the long-term. This article systematically reviews 20 policy documents, undertakes spatio-temporal linear modeling of 212 wind farms using 9 landscape change metrics, and analyzes 5 stakeholder group interviews on adaptive responses to landscape changes. Upward trends occur in turbine height, impact accumulation, placement in agricultural landscapes, construction delays, and new farms built per year. Downward trends occur in the number of turbines per farm, visual disruption of protected areas, and placement in wetlands. Key patterns in stakeholder groups’ adaptations include conflicting interpretations of landscape amenities and evolution, and expanded community outreach, networking, and public participation after exposure to infrastructure. Stakeholders adapt to existing infrastructure separately from adapting strategies to respond to new wind farms. Overall, a mutual relationship emerges wherein landscape changes from wind farms respond to policies and stakeholder activities, while policies and stakeholder groups adapt to the physical realities of landscape change.     

Wind power planning in France (Aveyron), from state regulation to local planning

The development of wind energy in France presents an exemplary case of contrast between the policy instrument and its effectiveness in terms of installed wind power capacity. After 7 years of one of the highest feed-in tariffs in the world, the installed capacity in France is still very low. This is notably due to a diffuse pattern of administrative landscape protection which impacts on the construction of wind power potential. In turn, the pace of wind power development can be understood only by looking in more detail at the way in which landscape is dealt with in local planning processes. This paper examines the question using the case of Aveyron in southern France. We follow the shifting ways in which landscape is enrolled in wind power planning, in a context where new planning instruments favor an incipient decentralization in wind power policy. The case points to a change in both the networks and the concepts involved in the design of landscape representations that underlie the construction of wind power potential. We show that this change has been forced by the far-reaching and decentralized visual impacts of wind power technology, suggesting that technology is recomposing the social as part of its development process and questioning the very meaning and perception that is given to landscape.     

Understanding the term green infrastructure: origins,rationales, semantic content and purposes as well as its relevance for application in spatial planning

Recently the term green infrastructure has come to shape professional and scientific debate, political strategies and practical approaches concerning green space development, particularly in urban areas. Actors from all fields of spatial development and planning are referencing this as an emergent approach, which is expected to have a considerable environmental and socio-economic impact. The wide and ubiquitous use of the term in planning debates fosters an impression of agreement in its definition and meaning. Yet several theoretical studies and manifold practical observations confirm a variety of definitions and meanings of this “new” approach in the scientific, political and practical arenas, ranging from simply a buzzword to a mature approach. Clearly, this confusion in meaning has a practical relevance for planning. It seems wise, therefore, to raise awareness and deepen our understanding of the different conceptions of the term green infrastructure. This paper aims to systematically analyse and clarify the contextual, geographical and temporal origins of green infrastructure, as well as its impact on rationales, semantic content and main purposes for spatial planning. To this end, a content analysis of relevant literature has been conducted to reveal the strands which influence the current debate as well as the application of green infrastructure in planning practice. These results are used to derive key statements as a foundation for further critical reflection and conscious application of the term green infrastructure within spatial planning.     

Promoting planning for housing development: What can Sweden learn from Germany?

In the years 2006–2014, urban planning reform was seen as the major remedy against housing shortage in Sweden. The present government has the continuation of such reform on its agenda, but as of yet has made no proposals; instead, other housing policy measures have been introduced.In light of the uncertainty as to the future course of urban planning reform, possible future steps can be discussed. This article accordingly investigates whether German urban planning law and implementation could provide interesting reference points for discussion of further urban planning reform in Sweden, and if so, what parts of the German experience should be the center of attention.The article covers three aspects of German planning that influence the uncertainty, duration, and cost of residential planning as well as social goals addressed through planning: planning law, focusing on facilitated planning procedures of German planning law, measures taken in the organization of planning authorities to make development planning more efficient, and planning-related city demands for affordable housing.The conclusions encompass proposals for the further reform of the Swedish planning process in the form of a facilitated and accelerated development planning procedure for housing projects, as well as the introduction of private initiative in development planning. Further improvements to the organization and incentives of planning authorities are proposed. More research is required into municipal demands for affordable housing in the form of inclusionary zoning; such research should draw on the extensive international experience of such zoning, relating it to a Swedish pilot project.     

Urban green infrastructure in Europe: Is greenspace planning and policy compliant?

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) planning, based on certain principles, has emerged as a way to conceptualise connected greenspace in urbanised environments. This is achieved through the application of processes and approaches linked to policy themes to which the concept can significantly contribute. Taken together the processes, approaches and policy themes constitute the principles of UGI, which when adopted can promote, maintain and enhance quality of life in resource-efficient, compact and climate-resilient cities. In this study we explore the extent to which strategic greenspace planning in Europe is UGI compliant, as we hypothesised that the above principles are presently under-represented in planning documents and policies. This was accomplished by conducting a comparative analysis of the adoption of UGI principles in current practices of greenspace planning across European city-regions based on a systematic review of previous data and reports. The study found that many UGI principles and related concepts are present to some degree in strategic greenspace planning in Europe. However, gaps exist with regard to their scope and level of consideration. Presently, conservation emerges as the predominant task in strategic urban greenspace planning. However, enhancing network connectivity is key to the development of UGI, hence a greater focus on the restoration and creation of greenspace is required in the future. Based on our analysis it can be concluded that the advancement towards UGI planning is well established and progressing, although some areas are markedly under-represented. Strategic greenspace planning in Europe, with a few exceptions, requires further development to be effectively considered as UGI compliant.     

Delineating boundaries of social-ecological systems for landscape planning: A comprehensive spatial approach

An increasing number of studies demonstrate the need of applying a social-ecological system approach for landscape planning. However, there is a lack of empirical research that operationalizes the concept of social-ecological system for landscape planning through the characterization of social-ecological interactions. In this study, we develop a methodological framework to delineate the boundaries of social-ecological systems and to characterize their main social-ecological units in a spatially explicit way. Social-ecological units represent the interactions between the biophysical and socio-economic sub-systems at local scale. The methodology is structured in four phases: (1) ecological regionalization, i.e. identification and mapping of consistent ecological units based on biophysical variables; (2) socio-economic regionalization, i.e. identification and mapping of homogeneous groups of municipalities based on socio-economic variables; (3) identification of social-ecological systems boundaries and characterization of social-ecological units; and (4) validation of the social-ecological systems boundaries with key informants through participatory mapping. By applying the proposed methodological framework to three different Mediterranean cultural landscapes, we define the boundaries of social-ecological systems and illustrate how social and ecological sub-systems interact at local scale. We conclude that the proposed methodological framework is useful to operationalize the concept of social-ecological systems in landscape planning.     

A review of spatial planning in Ghana's socio-economic development trajectory: A sustainable development perspective

This study provides a review of spatial planning in the context of Ghana's socio-economic development trajectory. Spatial planning has been integral to the economic policies of the country since colonial rule. Yet, its role has been overshadowed by the domain of socio-economic planning. Drawing from published literature, policy documents, legislative frameworks and interviews, this study reveals the different context and scope within which spatial planning has been implemented in Ghana, and the successes and failures thereof. While the colonial governments employed spatial planning on limited scale and for exploitative purposes, post-colonial governments have implemented broad-based planning grounded in the ‘genuine’ aspiration to promote a spatially balanced development. This study argues that post-independence planning has not been successfully implemented compared to pre-independence planning due to a myriad of factors including rapid urban growth, inadequate staffing, low capacity, lack of institutional coordination, political interference in planning, complex land tenure and evolving land markets among others. Consequently, urban centres in Ghana are beset with problems such as poor environmental conditions, poor infrastructure and service delivery, and uncontrolled growth; and these are inimical to sustainable urban development. The study lauds renewed efforts to transform planning in the spirit of sustainable development through the national urban policy framework and a proposed land use and spatial planning bill; the latter proposes planning based on spatial development framework, and a repeal of an obsolete 1945 planning ordinance that has underlain planning since. It is argued that if supported and harmonised the two initiatives present the best planning framework in the 21st century Ghana.     

The impact of collaboration on research about rural buildings and landscape: A case study in Italy

The importance of collaboration among peers in science is widely investigated: an essential issue is the relevance of credits shared among scholars for the good faith and cooperation in research projects. Despite its significance, so far in Italy the usefulness of collaboration in research activities is not taken in due consideration by both scientific community and research assessment bodies. In this study, the main aim is at investigating the actual up today extent of scientific collaboration among colleagues belonging to the Italian Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SDS) “AGR10 Rural buildings and agro-forest land planning”. We focus on research projects dealing with territory, landscape and rural buildings with the scope of raising consciousness on the key role of collaboration with other SDSs, international institutions or organizations. We harvested data through an on-line questionnaire about several research projects, scrutinized the responses, and found that the core area of current research developed by AGR10 colleagues includes topics concerning the analysis and planning of landscape. Furthermore, we found that the design of international project proposals attains mostly rural buildings and rural heritage analysis, reuse and enhancement, rural buildings and landscape integration, and rural buildings design. While the size of partnerships on international research activities is still limited, as for external synergies the SDS AGR01 ‘Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal’ is the most representative, and other SDSs involving ‘Ecology’ and ‘Informatics’ deserve to be mentioned. So, this study has been designed with the secondary aim of stimulating Italian -as well as other international- scientific communities in promoting similar investigations concerning the importance of collaboration and cross-fertilization for successful research activities. As a major output, official national or international research assessment authorities would be provided by a method for better appreciating the usefulness of collaboration and interdisciplinarity.     

Urban–rural ecological networks for landscape planning

Urban–rural landscape planning research is nowadays focusing on strategies and tools that support practitioners to design local areas where human and natural pressures interfere. A prominent framework is provided by ecological network studies, whose design regards the combination of a set of green areas and patches (nodes) interconnected through environmental corridors (edges). Ecological networks are key for biodiversity protection and enhancement, as they are able to counteract fragmentation, and to create and strengthen relations and exchanges among otherwise isolated elements. Biodiversity evolution, indeed, depends on the quantity and quality of spatial cohesion of natural areas. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework based on network modelling for the study and modelling of ecological networks. We use network properties and centrality measures (degree, clustering coefficient, and betweenness centrality) and take into account the intensity of the dispersal capacity by introducing the corresponding weighted centrality measures. We simulate the dynamics of ecological networks by monitoring the residual dispersal capacity and the number of connected components from three perspectives: random attacks, deterministic attacks according to decreasing betweenness centrality and influence of master plans. We demonstrate that spatial network analysis is useful to monitor the performance of ecological networks and support decision-making, management, and planning.The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of the peri-urban and urban areas of the town of Nuoro (Italy). Patches (nodes) have been selected among the ecosystems with target vegetal species Holm oak and cultivated and wild Olive while the connecting corridors (links) enable for seed dispersal.     

An assessment of ordinary landscapes by an expert and by its residents: Landscape values in areas of intensive agricultural use

The expert-based approach to landscape assessment developed in North America during the 1970s is still largely used in planning. It has proved its usefulness for the protection and the management of landscapes with remarkable visual attributes. However, facing growing social demands for the quality of surroundings, ordinary landscapes also raise great challenges for planning. But, to what extent is the expert-based approach to landscape assessment able to capture the value of these ordinary landscapes? What might be the more appropriate method for this purpose? This paper addresses these questions through an empirical research project in areas of intensive agricultural use in Quebec (Canada). The aim of this research was to measure and compare the ability of an expert-based approach and of a lay people-based approach, also named experiential approach, to capture the most valued components of ordinary landscapes. These methods were applied to two study areas. The first one has no recognised landscapes in any planning document while the second one has recognised landscapes for regional tourism. Forty-six inhabitants and an expert were invited to evaluate the landscapes of the study areas. The results have allowed comparison of the components valued by the expert and by the inhabitants as well as the criteria used in the assessment. They revealed differences between the expert and the lay people assessment. For inhabitants, the value of ordinary landscapes is based on a set of criteria related to emotion, to everyday experience and to their intimate knowledge of places. Thus, the formal visual criteria used by the expert appear to be clearly less important in the evaluation by lay people. As the expert perspective in landscape assessment is more closely associated to the experience of an individual which cross the territory (ex.: tourist), this paper concludes that to capture the value of ordinary landscapes in a planning perspective, a combination of approaches is necessary.