Landscape planning
Landscape planning guides land use and development to shape landscapes while coordinating ecological, social, cultural, and visual values.
Landscape character assessment: A method for identifying and describing the distinctive patterns and qualities of a landscape. It supplies a systematic account of landscape character for planning decisions.
European Landscape Convention: A Council of Europe treaty that recognizes landscapes as important to people and calls for their protection, management, and planning. It establishes a shared policy framework for integrating landscape into public decisions.
Landscape ecology: The study of how spatial patterns in landscapes affect ecological processes and organisms. It explains how land-use patterns influence habitat, movement, and ecosystem function.
Ecological planning: A planning approach that organizes land use around ecological processes, constraints, and opportunities. It places ecological conditions at the center, while landscape planning also coordinates cultural, social, and visual values.
Strategic environmental assessment: A process for evaluating the environmental effects of proposed plans and programmes before adoption. It brings environmental effects into plans before individual projects are approved.
Green infrastructure: A strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas that provides ecological, social, and environmental benefits. It links habitat, recreation, and climate functions across planned settlements and regions.
Ecosystem services: The benefits people obtain from ecosystems, including food, water regulation, recreation, and climate regulation. It makes ecological benefits relevant to choices among competing land uses.
Regional planning: The coordination of land use, infrastructure, and development across a region that spans multiple local jurisdictions. Its geographic and institutional scope can exceed landscape planning’s focus on landscape character and values.
Environmental impact assessment: A process for predicting and evaluating the environmental effects of a proposed project. Unlike plan-level assessment, it examines the effects of a specific development proposal.
National parks: Large protected areas designated to conserve natural or cultural landscapes and provide for public enjoyment. Park plans coordinate conservation and public access across extensive landscapes.