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The Instrumentalization of Landscape in Contemporary Cities
Today, cities are redefining their relationships with the natural world, spurring a new dynamic between the built environment, man-made landscapes, and nature. Nature is no longer seen as the antithesis of the city and civilized life, or as something simply to support urban dwellers’ social life, but also as a means of fighting challenges such as climate change, urban health and well-being within the city. This approach to landscape and nature in cities has evolved as a response to the human–nature crisis and the need to limit urban development in open areas of ecological importance. In terms of planning, this approach called for the preparation of pre-development surveys, including a comprehensive land survey that relates to climate, geology, hydrology, flora and fauna as means to better planing the built environment. In addition, and in parallel, to the discussion on the conservation of land resources outside urban space, there was also recognition of the need to address the natural systems in cities (Scheer, 2011). This recognition led to investigation of flora and fauna in the city and examination of the city’s ecosystems, which in turn led to new design strategies viewing landscape as a key component in creating new hybrid ecosystems (Mossop, 2006). At the beginning of the twenty-first century this ecological emphasis in cities is associated with two prominent concepts: landscape urbanism (Waldheim, 2006) which emerged from architecture and planning, combining design with ecological approaches, and urban ecology (Mostafavi and Doherty, 2016; Steiner, 2011) whose roots are in ecological positivist studies. Viewing landscape and nature as a means/tool that can ‘solve’ some of the major challenges of contemporary urbanization also contributed to their presence in our daily life. Recycling, greening and rehabilitating nature in the city have not been merely theoretical-utopian ideas but rather translated into practice through policy documents, designated campaigns, and legal initiatives. This condition contributed to the centrality of landscape in our daily city life and also, as suggested by W.J.T. Mitchell (2002), contributed to the use of landscape as a verb. As he further argues, landscape is not just an object to be seen, or text to be read, but a process by which social and subjective identities are formed; as such, landscape is not merely signifying power relations; it is an instrument of cultural power, perhaps even an agent of power that is independent of human intentions (Ibid., p. 1).
Urbanism and Anthropogenic Landscapes
Annual Review of Anthropology, 2016
Humans consistently modify their environments—both directly and indirectly. However, the linkage between human activity and anthropogenic landscapes intensifies in urban situations. The artificial landscapes and dense concentrations of human populations encountered in urban environments create a centripetal pull for resources that results in continual and distant landscape changes, thus inextricably linking urbanism and anthropogenic landscapes. Examining past and present patterns of urban settlement and environmental impact provides context for this symbiotic relationship. Archaeological data, methodology, and technology offer insight into the similarities and variations in urban anthropogenic landscapes across time and space, suggesting that ancient practices can be compared with contemporary ones and that ancient models may have applicability for future-focused urban planning.
Nature in the man-made landscape
This essay looks to explore the typologies of nature and the result of human intervention. It discusses the origins of man’s dissociation with natural world as a result of permanent settlement and sense of superiority. Examining the changing balance of nature through the development of agricultural, urban and industrial landscapes and the subsequent narratives. Additionally looking at environmental issues and the current dilemma of climate change faced by modern society and how this relates back to the ideas discussed within. The main aim is to show that ultimately man’s involvement with nature is of self-interest.
Landscape as a Founding Element of the Contemporary Urban
Built Environment, 2018
This paper discusses how landscape transformations and uses redefine the features of urban and non-urban (sub-extra-urban, or rural) contexts in collective imaginaries, and their role as a key element in planning policies. More specifically, the study investigates landscape transformation processes by discussing changes in the perception of the territory among inhabitants and visitors. As argued in this paper, due to its use as a cultural, economic, and political tool, landscape strongly in fluences territorial marketing strategies and individual living choices, contributing to the rise of new issues on the urban question. This argument is based on research into the social perception of landscape in the mountain area of Montagnoli, near Madonna di Campiglio, in the Trentino Province (Northern Italy), where a project for a water storage basin for artificial snowmaking caused significant material and cultural changes to the territory. Using this case study, the paper discusses the role of nature in the evolution of the founding myths of an urban environment.
Landscape as medium and method for synthesis in urban ecological design
a b s t r a c t "Landscape" refers both to a conceptual field that examines how humans affect geographic space and to real places, and the word has both analytical and experiential implications. Pairing the analytical and the experiential enables landscape to be a catalyst for synthesis in science and for insight in urban ecological design. Emphasizing that science is fundamental to ecological design, this essay broadly interprets urban ecological design to include intentional change of landscapes in cities, their megaregions, and resource hinterlands. The essay offers two laws and two related principles for employing landscape as a medium and a method for urban ecological design. The laws observe that landscapes integrate environmental processes and that landscapes are visible. Two related principles explain how these inherent characteristics can be used to effect sustain ability by using landscape as a medium for synthesis and in a method that invites creative invention.
ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, 2020
For several decades, the notion of landscape has been instrumentalised by various fields of study and with the most diverse views and interests. This is a notion that brings together all the features of liminal spaces, areas characterised by their mediating nature. The success and rapid extension of the concept of landscape, however, has not yet seen a similar development in the methodological field nor is it achieving sufficient consensus to be applied to the administrative scope. In this contribution we will adjust our reflection around the idea of historic urban landscapes, highlighting the need to address the “change management” approach demanded by 21st-century cities. To this end, we shall delve into some new urban management initiatives, in which the “prosumer citizenship” is beginning to be a key element in the construction of the identity of the spaces inhabited. In the same vein, the scope and content of the emerging discipline of tactical urbanism will also be discussed, paying special attention to the limitations of “design thinking” in historic city centres; areas affected by environments that are frequently problematic, where the complex regulations of individual or collectivetutelage that cultural assets require come into play.
Landscape and urbanism in the 21st century: some reflections on the state of affairs
ACE: Architecture, City and Environment, 2020
Durante varias décadas, la noción de paisaje ha sido instrumentalizada por diversos campos de estudio y con los puntos de vista e intereses más diversos. Esta es una noción que reúne todas las características de los espacios liminales, áreas caracterizadas por su naturaleza mediadora. Sin embargo, el éxito y la rápida extensión del concepto de paisaje aún no ha experimentado un desarrollo similar en el campo metodológico ni está logrando un consenso suficiente para ser aplicado al ámbito administrativo. En esta contribución, ajustaremos nuestra reflexión en torno a la idea de paisajes urbanos históricos, destacando la necesidad de abordar el enfoque de "gestión del cambio" exigido por las ciudades del siglo XXI. Con este fin, profundizaremos en algunas nuevas iniciativas de gestión urbana, en las que la "prosumer citizenship" comienza a ser un elemento clave en la construcción de la identidad de los espacios habitados. En la misma línea, también se discutirá el a...