Landscape and Territory: Cultural Dimension and Management

Study Notes

The landscape is a dynamic constituent that incorporates the subjective dimension, filtered by culture, and is a product of historical processes that have shaped the territory.
The relationship between landscape and territory is crucial, and every action taken in the territory has a reflection on the landscape, making it essential to manage change in a way that doesn't compromise cultural heritage.
The preservation of the landscape in its cultural dimension requires a series of premises, including understanding that landscapes are faces that reveal territorial forms, expressing geographical and ecological structures shaped by historical uses and exploitation of the territory.
Landscapes are forms that decant natural elements, characteristic of regional features, and are often products of historical processes over a natural potential, with human cultural sense being attributed to them.
The interpretation and representation of landscapes by culture have derived from the reading of the landscape, considering its cultural and qualitative dimensions, and the territorial context in the analysis and interpretation process.
Geography has evolved since the 19th century as a science of places, initially focusing on the natural environment, and now incorporating the science of landscape, given the territorial content in the analysis and interpretation process.
Human geography, in particular, has incorporated subjective aspects from the cultural and perceptual points of view, favoring the overcoming of a strictly natural or environmental reading.
One of the main difficulties in studying landscapes is establishing the boundary between the concepts of territory and landscape, as their consideration is often diffuse.
The nuclei of both concepts are distinguishable, although they are interconnected, and every territory formalizes into a landscape, while every landscape contributes to explaining a territorial structure.
To defend a landscape in a specific territory, it is necessary to identify, situate, and clarify it, giving it content and value, accompanied by political will that contributes to its conservation and conformation.
The landscape is a complex system of relationships that forms a recognizable part of the terrestrial surface, being the materialization of the relationship between spatiality and time.
There are two essential components of the landscape: understanding it as the image of the territory perceived and valued by humans, and as a real fact that exists on the terrestrial surface, with its nature and characteristics being interdependent on the meaning attributed to it by human groups.
The landscape is directly related to the territorial question, and its critical situation is reflected in the deterioration of valuable ensembles and the substitution of banal configurations, which is a reflection of the consumer society and globalization.
However, there is a growing social demand for high-quality landscapes, which has led to the landscape becoming a significant element in the context of life and well-being, referred to as landscape quality.
The landscape question has emerged in relation to the debate on territorial governance, demanding the territorialization of sectoral policies in nature conservation and heritage.
The advancement of territorial logic, fundamentally oriented towards defining an environmental policy, would contribute to a broader vision of conservation, greater attention to economic, social, and cultural processes, and favor improvement in environmental conditions.
The territorialization of the landscape has permeated heritage policies, surpassing the individualized reading of monuments to encompass the territory, cultural landscapes, urban landscapes, and historical landscapes, within a systemic reading.
The landscape is an element of affinity and territorial identity, as well as a manifestation of the diversity of a geographical space, which is reflected in the materiality of each landscape, its social representations, and even in the declaration of cultural landscapes of humanity by UNESCO.
From the perspective of planning and management, the territorial understanding of the landscape implies a commitment to all singular landscapes, and it is impossible to dissociate the landscape from territorial management and governance.
There is a need to incorporate landscape quality criteria into territorial planning and urbanism, and to work towards introducing the landscape dimension into sectoral policies.
The transversal nature of the landscape carries multiple implications, deriving from the need to introduce changes in management models, surpassing sectoral approaches and incorporating private sector and citizen participation.
Effective management models must be well-rooted in local realities and have adequate human and economic resources according to the characteristics of the landscape and its functions in the economy and society.

Description

Explore the complex relationship between landscape and territory, including their cultural and historical dimensions, and the importance of managing change to preserve cultural heritage. Learn about the role of landscape in territorial governance and the need for a transversal approach to incorporate landscape quality criteria into planning and management.