Landscape Planning

Stress and stress-related illnesses, as reflected in medical records, have in- creased dramatically among adults and children in Western societies. A growing part of the budget for medical service in Sweden is used for individuals suffering from different stress-related illnesses such as burnout syndrome, insomnia and fatigue, depression, feelings of panic, etc. In this paper, we present results from a study in which 953 ran- domly selected individuals in nine Swedish cities answered a questionnaire about their health and their use of different urban open green spaces in and close to the city. The results indicate that city landscape planning may affect the health of town-dwellers. Statistically significant relationships were found between the use of urban open green spaces and self-reported experiences of stress - regardless of the informant's age, sex and socio-economic status. The results suggest that the more often a person visits urban open green spaces, the less often he or she will report stress-related illnesses. The same pattern is shown when time spent per week in urban open green spaces is measured. The distance to public urban open green spaces seems to be of decisive importance, as is access to a garden, in the form of a private garden or a green yard immediately adjacent to, for instance, an apartment building. People do not usually compensate for lack of green environments in their own residential area with more visits to public parks or urban forests. According to our results, laying out more green areas close to apartment houses, and making these areas more accessible, could make for more restorative environments. Out- door areas that provide environments free from demands and stress, and that are avail- able as part of everyday life, could have significant positive effects on the health of town-dwellers in Sweden. This may also apply to other Western societies.

Scenario-based investigations of possible futures have been used since the middle of the 20th century to help decisionmakers cope with alternative courses of action and elements of uncertainty. Since the early 1970s, they have been increasingly used for landscape planning. Each scenario-based study is founded on assumptions of possible change. Often these beliefs are only implicit among scenario creators and scenario users. I discuss the beliefs and perceptions about the future of scenario creators and scenario users, and argue that they should be explicitly addressed before an investigation is undertaken in order to avoid methodological biases in the creation of the scenarios and misunderstanding of the results. As part of this discussion, the basic features of a scenario-based study are reviewed, and applications to landscape and environmental planning are considered, with examples drawn from two studies that were focused on the same concerns and in the same region but which employed different kinds of scenarios.

Since the introduction of 'potential natural vegeta- tion' (PNV) as a concept in vegetation science by Tiixen (1956), many PNV-maps with different scales have been made. Tiixen emphasized the great value of PNV-maps for different purposes in land use, landscape planning and nature conservation, in particular with regard to forestry, agriculture and landscape management. Different aspects are discussed in order to examine the validity and applicability of PNV-maps in landscape planning and nature conservation. PNV-maps are useful for the differentiation of natural and landscape units on a small scale ( 1 : 100 000). Problems arise, for example, from the often highly hypothetical character of the construction and the practice of taking remnants of 'natural' vegetation as a reference object for the PNV. With regard to the goals of modem landscape planning and nature conservation purposes (e.g. conserving biodiversity in the cultural landscape of Central Europe) the exact documentation of the actual real vegetation (ARV) on intermediate and large scales gives much more detailed information than a hypothetical PNV.

Greenways are systems and/or networks of protected lands that are managed for multiple uses including: nature protection, biodiversity management, water resources, recreation, and cultural/historic resource protection. Greenway planning is defined here as a strategic action that integrates theories from landscape ecology with theories and methods of landscape planning to focus on the goal of realizing a sustainable "greenway" network of protected lands, managed for compatible multiple purposes. A greenway system or network includes linear corridors and larger areas of protected land that are physically and functionally connected. Greenways are strategic and spatially efficient for protecting and managing land because greenway resources are not randomly distributed but rather are concentrated in corridors. This thesis argues that greenways originated in the United States of America (USA) but are spreading internationally because the greenway concept is: (1) based in part on scientific knowledge, (2) understandable and image-able to the public, and (3) strategic in realizing multiple goals. Greenways are supported by theories from landscape ecology, particularly those concerning spatial configuration and connectivity. Because Greenways are a relatively new concept in landscape planning, new theory, planning strategies, and planning methods are needed. The application of greenways as a component of sustainable landscape planning requires new approaches which integrate abiotic, biotic, and cultural resources and issues. This thesis includes reviews of international greenway literature, and makes original contributions to this emerging theory, planning strategies, and planning methods. Case studies and case applications in the USA and The Netherlands are used to explain and test the theory, strategies, and methods. Key concepts in the emerging greenway theory and methods include: alternative future scenarios, and adaptive management/planning. Scenarios are useful in conceiving alternative future landscapes and greenways feature prominently in many scenario studies. Both scientific knowledge and creative concepts are needed to formulate effective greenway scenarios. Greenway planning is often conducted with uncertain or incomplete knowledge. Adaptive planning/ management offers a framework for planning and implementing greenways in an experimental manner that yields new knowledge through application, plan implementation, and monitoring. A framework method for greenways and landscape ecological planning is proposed which integrates these key theories from landscape ecology, spatial concepts and scenarios, and adaptive management. The framework method is applied in several test applications in the USA and discussed in the Dutch context. Principles from landscape ecology relating to spatial and temporal scales are also important and are understood in a hierarchical framework. The landscape scale is appropriate for sustainability planning because it is large enough to accommodate heterogeneity and disturbance regimes, yet small enough to survey, assess, plan, design, and manage for specific landscape structure. Operating at the landscape scale planners can hope to understand and manage fundamental pattern and process relationships and dynamics. Three fundamental principles are posed in support of greenways: 1) The hypothesis of co-occurrence of resources in greenways, 2) The inherent benefits of landscape connectivity, 3) The concept of compatible, or synergistic multiple use in greenways. This paper asserts that these three fundamental greenway principles derive from landscape planning theory; are supported and strengthened by emerging landscape ecology theory; and that their application as greenways supports the contemporary international policy goal of sustainability. The thesis identifies contemporary greenways trends based on an original survey which found that: 1) Greenways are increasingly integrated with comprehensive landscape planning at the state level in the USA, and 2) Greenways are often initiated to provide trail and recreational use, but evolve to support multipurpose/multi-functional planning goals and objectives. A future prognosis for greenways in the USA is offered including an expected shift from locally initiated to regional and interstate greenway planning and implementation, and more explicit integration of multiple uses in greenways. This research raises a larger set of questions that transcend and cut across many of the issues, theories and strategies identified. If the world is engaged in a quest for sustainability, what is the role of ecology, and how does ecology relate with design? What do ecologists need to know about planning and design? and what do designers and planners need to know about ecology? Landscape ecologists might reply: spatial and temporal pattern and scale, dynamics of process, and disturbance processes. Planners and designers might reply: a better understanding of the role of humans' in creating, transforming and restoring landscapes, the value and place of aesthetics (including historical precedent), and perhaps the ultimate cultural construct, economics. The questions are many and complex. The challenges will grow in number and intensity as most of the world's landscapes continue to intensify and change. Greenways is an idea that promises to contribute to the resolution of some of these questions and challenges. Progress has been made. I hope that my thoughts and ideas can contribute to this quest for sustainability in some useful way.

Landscape planning and ecological networks - an introduction, E. Cook and H. van Lier landscape ecology and ecological networks, I. Zonneveld conceptual integration of landscape planning and landscape ecology, with a focus on the Netherlands, F. van Langevelde a strategy for ecological and urban development, R Vrijlandt and K. Kerkstra assessment of urban biotypes for nature conservation, U. Starfinger and H. Sukopp the hydrological landscape structure as a basis for network formulation a case study for the Regge catchment (NL), M. van Buuren design principles for a combination of recreation and nature, A. Dietvorst and P. van Bolhuis greenways as ecological networks in rural areas, J. Ahern river systems and landscape networks, L. Baschak and R. Brown beyond park boundaries, C. Shafer recreation, reproduction and ecological restoration in the Greater Copenhagen region, J. Hansen-Moller habitat network schemes in Stuttgart, M. Kleyer urban forestry and landscape networks of the Black Country, England, C. Baines and N. Jones an ecological main structure for the European Union, R. Jongman ecological networks - a conspectus, H. van Lier and E. Cook.

This paper reviews the approaches to multiple objective landscape planning that have developed in Swedish forestry in the 1990s. The objectives of such planning include primarily timber production and maintenance of biodiversity, but also aspects such as aesthetics and recreation. The variety of approaches and models that have emerged is caused by regional differences in land-use history, forest conditions, recreation pressure, and ownership. We distinguish three approaches: The species approach and the naturalness approach integrate conservation aspects, while the multiple aspects approach integrates several aspects (biological, social, economic, spiritual, etc.) into commercial timber-producing forestry. The species approach is exemplified by the key habitat n corridor model in which key habitats and corridors are preserved to support certain species. The natural landscape model illustrates an example of the naturalness approach, as it integrates natural forest features from a fire-disturbed landscape and gives examples of management implications at the landscape as well as at the stand level. The multiple aspects approach combines several objectives and defines important structures rather loosely. This approach was developed in areas where private nonindustrial forestry dominates. Nontimber and nonconservation aspects therefore become relevant to forest management. The supportive feature model exemplifies an application of that approach.

Ecological corridors have many functions such as biodiversity conservation, contamination filtration, erosion prevention and flood control. As an important element in landscape planning and design, ecological corridors can be used to reduce the negtative impact of landscape fragmentation. According to their different structures and functions, ecological corridors can be classified into linear, strip, and stream corridors. The planning and design of ecological corridors are mainly composed of several key elements including number, context, width, connectivity, component, key points and areas. The width of ecological corridors is usually an uncertain parameter depending on the complexity of the structures and functions of the ecological corridors themselves, and it is the function of a number of parameters such as target species, vegetation, functions of corridors, surrounding land uses and length of corridors. Scientific and appropriate width of ecological corridors should be determined based on the research of defferent ecological processes within the corridor. Starting from the analysis of the structure and function of landscape, this review analyzed the width of ecological corridors and its determinants from the perspective of biodiversity conservation; appropriate ranges of width were summarized from several case studies. Principles to define width were also proposed.

This thesis examines the typical nature of design thinking, which is compared and contrasted with scientific and political thinking. A theretical framework is formulated and applied to landscape planning and design. During the 20th century the established operational orientation in landscape architecture was accompanied by an emerging strategic design approach, referred to as 'research by design'. Two cases of large scale landscape planning and design in the netherlands are given in this publication: the restructuring of sandy soil areas programme and the Stork Plan for Rhine-Meuse floodplain in the central belt of the Netherlands

Abstract : The two-year research program, "Biodiversity and Landscape Planning: Alternative Futures for the Region of Camp Pendleton, California," explores how urban growth and change in the rapidly developing area located between San Diego and Los Angeles might influence the biodiversity of the area. The study was conducted by a team of investigators from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Utah State University, the National Biological Service, the USDA Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and the Biodiversity Research Consortium, with the cooperation of the two relevant regional agencies, the San Diego Association of Governments and the Southern California Association of Governments, and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

In this paper we address two challenges that are faced by scientists who engage in transdisciplinary landscape planning. In building a common understanding and application of the knowledge they bring in, they face the need to integrate knowledge from a range of scientific disciplines to create comprehensive solutions, while aligning the diverging values and perspectives on the future of involved actors. Boundary management has been proposed as a strategy to support the decision-making of actors by reconfiguring the boundaries between different forms of academic and non-academic expertise and between facts and opinions, interests and values. In this paper we investigate how landscape concepts can play a role as a boundary concept in transdisciplinary landscape planning. By analysing three Dutch case studies, we conclude that collective views and coordinated actions within the local planning groups grew during the planning process. We argue that the characteristics of the landscape concepts contributed to this emerging collaboration by creating a discursive space for actors with different values and knowledge bases. We find that this role evolved during the planning process, from conceptually binding, via broadening the planning focus and the coalition, towards facilitating the implementation of collective action to adapt the landscape. Thus, whereas in the early phases of the planning process the concept linked landscape value to landscape functioning, later on it connected landscape functioning to landscape structure.