Landscape Analysis

Investigating the potentials of space and place

Per Stahlschmidt, Simon Swaffield, Jorgen Primdahl, Vibeke Nellemann

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317404231
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architektur
• Subtopic: Stadtplanung & Landschaftsgestaltung

A key aspect of town planning, landscape planning and landscape architecture is to identify and then use the distinctive features and characteristics of space, place and landscape to achieve environmental quality. Landscape Analysis provides an introduction to the field both in theory and in practice. A wide range of methods and techniques for landscape analysis is illustrated by urban and rural examples from many countries.

Analysing landscapes within a planning context requires both skill and insights. Drawing upon numerous concrete examples, together with an examination of some theoretical concepts, this book guides the reader through a wide range of different approaches and techniques of landscape analysis that may be applied at different scales, from elementary site analysis to historical and regional studies. This is an essential book for students and graduate practitioners working in landscape architecture, planning and architecture.

1
Landscape Change and the Need for Analysis

Introduction

In the famous story by Daniel Defoe, after arriving on an island as a castaway Robinson Crusoe decided to find the right location for his camp:

I soon found the Place I was in was not for my Settlement, particularly because it was upon a low moorish Ground near the Sea, and I believ’d would not be wholsome, and more particularly because there was no fresh Water near it, so I resolv’d to find a more healthy and more convenient Spot of Ground.

I consulted several Things in my Situation which I found would be proper for me, 1st. Health, and fresh Water I just now mention’d, 2dly. Shelter from the Heat of the Sun, 3dly. Security from ravenous Creatures, whether Men or Beasts, 4thly. a View to the Sea, that if God sent any Ship in Sight, I might not lose any Advantage for my Deliverance, of which I was not willing to banish all my Expectation yet.

In search of a Place proper for this, I found a little Plain on the Side of a rising Hill; whose Front towards this little Plain, was steep as a House-side, so that nothing could come down upon me from the Top; on the Side of this Rock there was a hollow Place worn a little way in like the Entrance or Door of a Cave, but there was not really any Cave or Way into the Rock at all.

(Defoe 1719)

Robinson decides upon the criteria for a camp location, interprets the landscape using these criteria, and identifies a site that responds to his requirements. Robinson’s needs, considerations, approach, and decision deal with the same basic issues as this book.

The wonderful diversity of landscapes in the world may be urban, rural or wilderness, but one feature is common – all landscapes change, sometimes fast, sometimes more slowly. Increasingly the changes are driven by people. We have entered the ‘Anthropocene’, when human population growth and actions are a major factor in landscape change at multiple scales, from individual sites, to watersheds, cities, regions, and the whole earth. Landscape change may be intentional, creating places for people to live, work, play, or visit, or producing energy, food, timber, or other resources. Other changes may be unintended, such as human-induced climate change. It is clear, however, that our future wellbeing depends upon making wise decisions about how all landscapes will change, in order to ensure that the health of the planet is sustained and the needs of people now and in the future can continue to be met.

FIGURE 1.1 Medieval farming The appearance of the landscape at any particular time reflects social, economic and technical conditions. Wider society and the local inhabitants influence the landscape and the landscape influences society and the local inhabitants. Source: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565): De Hooioogst / Hay Harvesting. Oil painting 117 x 161 cm. © The Lobkowicz Collections, Czech Republic.

To make wise decisions, we need to understand how landscapes are structured, function, are changing, and might change for the better. Many past decisions about landscape change have been based upon accumulated everyday knowledge of local communities, and this grounded knowledge remains vital. However, rapidly growing scientific understanding, the complexity of modern technologies, economies and societies, and interconnected global processes mean that it is impossible for any individual or small group to fully understand landscape change without a more systematic approach. This requires a process of analysis.

This book is about analysing landscapes in a decision-making context, as part of policy, planning and design decisions of various kinds and forms. It offers guidance to students, their teachers, and new professionals about practical ways to undertake landscape analysis in a range of settings and applications. The primary goal is educational and non-technical; it does not offer detailed instruction on all the specific analysis techniques used in landscape architecture, but aims to provide an overview of the types of analysis and their characteristics, with examples, to help those starting on their professional careers to understand the possibilities and potentials of systematic analysis.

Content and structure

This practical and educational aim is expressed in the content and order of the chapters in the book. Chapter 2 is focused on the question of landscape values, and what and whose values should be considered. Chapters 3 to 8 then discuss procedures and techniques relevant to specific types of analysis. The aim of this structure is to guide the choice of appropriate methods for work- or study-related assignments that would benefit from landscape analysis. The different types of analysis discussed are suited for different tasks. Each can be used to examine a given landscape that is the object of analysis.

The task may be to examine natural factors, biophysical attributes and land cover of the landscape in question (Chapter 3), its history (Chapter 4) or the spatial patterns and their visual expression (Chapter 5). The assessment of landscape character is addressed in Chapter 6, Chapter 7 focuses on site selection, and Chapter 8 discusses impact assessment and futures analysis. Finally Chapter 9 draws the technical chapters together, and discusses contemporary developments which are broadening citizen involvement in analysis as it becomes part of the discourse of landscape democracy. The final chapter also considers how analysis can be a form of inquiry that creates new knowledge in the same way or as part of a research project.

Each of the Chapters 3–8 features a case based on a published text that describes and explains a specific method and the relevant techniques. The case example is supplemented with variations that illustrate different techniques, each illustrated with one or two examples. The main cases have been selected for their usefulness, level and documentation. Usefulness means that the example is a helpful tool in relation to the task that is discussed in the chapter. Level implies that the technique is suitable for beginner’s courses. Finally, documentation means that the main example has come from a source that explains the method and the system from which the technique is drawn.

Variations are selected to be useful, representative of an application field, and simple and straightforward illustrations . The priority is to provide a clear presentation of the principle and idea of the method, rather than sophistication in visual appearance. Often, the examples illustrate the outcome of the analysis rather than the analytical process, but the intention is to enable the reader to gain insight into the process by studying the outcome.

The terminology is based upon contemporary northern European practice, influenced particularly by the European Landscape Convention and related practice guidance documents, including the landscape character assessment procedures in the UK and Denmark. We include specific definitions in relevant chapters, starting below with the concepts of landscape and analysis.

The landscape concept — origins and definitions

There are many definitions of landscape and interpretations of its multiple meanings. A useful and influential framework is the European Landscape Convention (ELC 2000) which defines landscape as ‘an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’ (Figure 1.2). By this definition the delineation of a ‘landscape’ is contextual, and depends on how people perceive what belongs to their particular ‘landscape’. The broad landscape concept expressed in the ELC is used in this text. It differs from some disciplines and other contexts which focus either on physical patterns and attributes only, with little attention to the cultural dimension, or upon perceptual and scenic dimensions, which deal only with landscape as a pictorial visual phenomenon.

There is extensive scholarship tracing the linguistic and cultural development of ‘landscape’ from its North–European origins expressing collective management of an area of land and water (Olwig 1996), which has since evolved along multiple intersecting pathways. Many contemporary writers focus on landscape as a living place, with growing interest in the relationship between landscape and personal and community identity, and in landscape functioning as a dynamic socio-ecological system. Relevant essays on the landscape concept and its analysis and representation from different disciplinary perspectives can be found in Jackson (1984), Olwig (1996), Corner (1999), Antrop (2000), Buttimer (2001), Jones (2003), Mitchell (2001), Wylie (2007), and Howard (2011).

The landscape concept is also scale-dependent. Framstad and Lid (1998, p. 267) define landscape as ‘an area large enough to contain patterns and processes that are necessary for the ecological or administrative issues that are of interest’. They suggest that in practice landscapes may range from a few hundred square metres to hundreds of square kilometres. This covers a wide range of scales and reflects the diversity of definitions and meanings of landscape – indeed some usages extend even larger, talking of landscapes that may extend over millions of square kilometres. Antrop (2000) distinguishes between thinking of landscape as a type of area (e.g. agricultural landscapes) and the landscape of a particular area (e.g. the Argentine Pampas) and this is a useful reminder of how analysis can be both general and particular depending on its purpose.

FIGURE 1.2 Palazzo Farnese, Italy Formalised landscape analysis has a short history, but landscape considerations have always been part of settlement and building. Palazzo Farnese north of Rome was formerly a stronghold which was reconstructed by Vignola as a summer residence in the 16th century. The house sits on a sloping crest above the village of Caprarola with a view of the countryside – useful both for defence and pleasure. Source: Photo by Stahlschmidt, P .

Analysis

Analysis means conceptually separating the parts of the whole (such as a landscape) and examining their interrelationships, in order to improve understanding. Analysis derives from Greek analusis, from analuein ‘unloose’ (ana ‘up’ + luein ‘loosen’), and means ‘detailed examination of the elements or structure of something’ (Oxford Dictionaries 2011) by separating its constituent elements. It is often contrasted with synthesis, which refers to ‘putting things together’, and synthesis typically follows analysis. Indeed, most if not all professional ‘landscape analyses’ include a synthesis stage, or are closely linked to a synthesis process, as they are typically focused upon some need and opportunity for action. While scientists may use analysis to improve knowledge, landscape architects and spatial planners are committed to helping people and communities improve their lives in a practical way. Landscape analysis in the sense used in this text is therefore an examination of a landscape with the purpose of understanding its character, structure and function, in order to make policy, planning or design decisions concerning its future condition and management.

There are many ways to undertake landscape analysis. One early but still useful classification of land analysis (Mabbutt 1968) distinguishes between a parametric approach (i.e. looking at what Antrop (2000) describes as themes or components, such as soil, geology, etc.); a spatial or areal approach (sometimes desc...