Landscape planning is a branch of
landscape architectureLandscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...
. Urban
park systemA park system, also known as an open space system, is a network of open spaces which are connected by public walkways, bridleways or cycleways. In modern landscape practice, the park system concept is being overtaken by the idea of planning greenways which run through urban and rural areas.One of...
s and
greenwaysGreenways is a set of three short atmospheric piano works composed by John Ireland in 1937; entitled The Cherry Tree, Cypress and The Palm and May. They were written when the composer was 57 and are amongst the last sets of piano works he wrote.Greenways sets out to depict in music quotations from...
of the type planned by
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City...
are key examples of urban landscape planning. Landscape designers tend to work for clients who wish to commission construction work. Landscape planners can look beyond the 'closely drawn technical limits' and 'narrowly drawn territorial boundaries' which constrain design projects.
Landscape planners tend to work on projects which:
- are of broad geographical scope
- concern many land uses or many clients
- are implemented over a long period of time
In rural areas, the damage caused by unplanned mineral extraction was one of the early reasons for a public demand for landscape planning.
Landscape planning is a branch of
landscape architectureLandscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...
. Urban
park systemA park system, also known as an open space system, is a network of open spaces which are connected by public walkways, bridleways or cycleways. In modern landscape practice, the park system concept is being overtaken by the idea of planning greenways which run through urban and rural areas.One of...
s and
greenwaysGreenways is a set of three short atmospheric piano works composed by John Ireland in 1937; entitled The Cherry Tree, Cypress and The Palm and May. They were written when the composer was 57 and are amongst the last sets of piano works he wrote.Greenways sets out to depict in music quotations from...
of the type planned by
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City...
are key examples of urban landscape planning. Landscape designers tend to work for clients who wish to commission construction work. Landscape planners can look beyond the 'closely drawn technical limits' and 'narrowly drawn territorial boundaries' which constrain design projects.
Landscape planners tend to work on projects which:
- are of broad geographical scope
- concern many land uses or many clients
- are implemented over a long period of time
In rural areas, the damage caused by unplanned mineral extraction was one of the early reasons for a public demand for landscape planning.
In Asia
In India, the history of landscape planning can be traced to the
VedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in Ancient India. The texts are composed in Vedic Sanskrit and form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature, and the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism....
and to the Vaastu Shastras. These ancient texts set forth principles for planning settlements, temples and other structures in relation to the
natural landscapeNatural landscapes are landscapes beyond cultural influence. "A natural landscape is one that is unaffected by human activity", SES501 Landscape Ecology and GIS, Keith Ferdinands, Charles Darwin University, July 2004, ....
. Relationships with mountains (the home of the gods) and with rivers (regarded as goddesses) were of particular importance. A square form represented the earth and a circular form represented heaven. A
mandalaMandala is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism...
explained the relationship between heaven and earth. Square plans, for both secular and religious structures, were set out with their sides facing north, south, east and west. The earliest surviving stone temple set out in this way is
SanchiSanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is located 46 km north east of Bhopal, and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh...
.
In China, landscape planning originated with
Feng ShuiFeng shui is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive qi...
, which is translated into English as 'wind and water' and is used to describe a set of general principles for the planning of development in relation to the
natural landscapeNatural landscapes are landscapes beyond cultural influence. "A natural landscape is one that is unaffected by human activity", SES501 Landscape Ecology and GIS, Keith Ferdinands, Charles Darwin University, July 2004, ....
. The aim was to find the most auspicious environment possible, one sited in harmony with natural phenomena and the physical and psychological needs of man' (
Chinese Architecture by Nancy Steinhardt et al. Yale University Press and New World Press 2002, p.255)
In Europe
In
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, the history of landscape planning can be traced to the work of
VitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer , active in the 1st century BC. By his own description Vitruvius served as a Ballista , the third class of arms in the military offices...
. In discussing the planning of towns, he wrote about site planning with regard to microclimate, about the planning of streets and about the role of metaphor in design. Vitruvius' theories were revived during the renaissance and came to influence the planning of towns throughout Europe and the Americas.
AlbertiAlberti may refer to:In places:* Alberti Partido, a partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina* Alberti, Buenos Aires, the main town of the partidoPeople with the surname Alberti:...
wrote on the need for town squares for markets. In North Europe this developed into the idea that residential squares should planned around green spaces. The first space of this type was the
Place des VosgesThe Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris.It is located in the Marais district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris.- History :...
. Residential squares were also made in Britain and their planning developed into the idea of incorporating public open space (public parks within towns.
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City...
gave momentum to this idea with his proposal for a
park systemA park system, also known as an open space system, is a network of open spaces which are connected by public walkways, bridleways or cycleways. In modern landscape practice, the park system concept is being overtaken by the idea of planning greenways which run through urban and rural areas.One of...
s in Boston - the famous
Emerald NecklaceThe Emerald Necklace consists of an chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. The Emerald Necklace includes:* Boston Common* Boston Public Garden* Commonwealth Avenue Mall* Back Bay Fens* The Riverway...
.
Patrick AbercrombieSir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie was an English town planner...
took up this idea and incorporated it in his great 1943-4 Open Space Plan for the County of London.
In the US
Landscape architects in the United States of America are active in landscape planning. But, unlike Canada and Europe, the US does not have a national
land use planningLand use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines which seek to order and regulate the use of land in an efficient and ethical way....
system.
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, landscape designer and father of American landscape architecture, famous for designing many well-known urban parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City...
and
Ian McHargIan L. McHarg was born in Scotland and became a landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design with Nature pioneered...
are the most famous American landscape planners. McHarg's work on overlay landscape planning contributed to the development of GIS and to the foundation of
ESRIESRI is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System software and geodatabase management applications. The headquarters of ESRI is in Redlands, California....
by
Jack DangermondJack Dangermond with his wife Laura co-founded the Environmental Systems Research Institute , a privately-held Geographic Information Systems software company in 1969....
.
Legislation
The principles of landscape planning are now incorporated in various types of legislation and policy documents. In America, the
National Environmental Policy ActThe National Environmental Policy Act is a United States environmental law that established a U.S. national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment and also established the President's Council on Environmental Quality ....
was influenced by the work of
Ian McHargIan L. McHarg was born in Scotland and became a landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design with Nature pioneered...
on
Environmental impact assessmentAn environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible impact—positive or negative—that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider...
. In Germany, the Federal Nature Conservation Act requires the preparation of landscape plans. For the Europe Union as a whole, the
European Landscape ConventionThe European Landscape Convention, also known as the Florence Convention, was initiated by the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities of the Council of Europe...
has wide-ranging implications for the design and planning of relationships between development and the landscape. In Asia, major development projects are taking place and illustrating the need for good landscape planning. The
Three Gorges DamThe Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, Yiling District,Yichang, Hubei, China. It is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind....
, for example, will have extensive impacts on the landscape. They have been planned to a degree but future monitoring of the project is likely to show that better landscape planning and design would have been possible.
See also
- Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is a the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the careful design of...
- Landscape management
Landscape managers are professionally qualified experts in landscaping management for conservation and recreation. They work on designed landscapes and on natural landscapes...
- Landscape ecology
Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving the relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes on a multitude of landscape scales and organizational levels. As a highly interdisciplinary enterprise, landscape ecology integrates biophysical and analytical approaches...
- Landscape Institute
The Landscape Institute is a British professional body for landscape architects. Founded in 1929 as the Institute of Landscape Architects, it was granted a Royal Charter in 1997. The Institute aims to promote landscape architecture, and to regulate the profession with a code of conduct that...
- Landscape of agriculture
The primary purpose of agriculture is food production but concern for other objectives have a long history and are of increasing importance in wealthy and urbanized countries. The European Union Set-Aside Policy was designed as a means of giving money to farmers to produce non-food environmental...
- Landscape urbanism
Landscape Urbanism is a theory of urbanism arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience. Landscape Urbanism has emerged as a theory in the last ten years and is far from being a coherent doctrine...
- Environmental impact assessment
An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible impact—positive or negative—that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider...
- Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
- Green roof
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and soil, or a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. This does not refer to roofs which are merely colored green, as with green roof shingles...
- Growth management
Growth management is a set of techniques used by government to ensure that as the population grows that there are services available to meet their demands. These are not necessarily only government services...
- Principles of Intelligent Urbanism
Principles of Intelligent Urbanism is a theory of urban planning composed of a set of ten axioms intended to guide the formulation of city plans and urban designs. They are intended to reconcile and integrate diverse urban planning and management concerns...
- Sustainable city
A sustainable city, or eco-city is a city designed with consideration of environmental impact, inhabited by people dedicated to minimisation of required inputs of energy, water and food, and waste output of heat, air pollution - CO2, methane, and water pollution...
- Sustainable landscape architecture
Sustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design concerned with the planning and design of outdoor space. This can include ecological, social and economic aspects of sustainability...
- European Landscape Convention
The European Landscape Convention, also known as the Florence Convention, was initiated by the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities of the Council of Europe...
- Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape
The Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape * is an international network of landscape researchers whose interest focus on the past, present and future of European landscapes;...
External links