Marc Antrop

Landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe

Abstract Urbanization is one of the fundamental characteristics of the European civilization. It gradually spread from Southeast Europe around 700 b . c ., across the whole continent. Cities and the urban networks they formed were always an important factor in the development and shaping of their surrounding regions. Polarization of territory between urban and rural and accessibility are still important aspects in landscape dynamics. Urbanization and its associated transportation infrastructure define the relationship between city and countryside. Urbanization, expressed as the proportion of people living in urban places shows a recent but explosive growth reaching values around 80% in most European countries. Simultaneously the countryside becomes abandoned. Thinking, valuing and planning the countryside is done mainly by urbanites and future rural development is mainly focused upon the urban needs. Thinking of urban places with their associated rural hinterland and spheres of influence has become complex. Clusters of urban places, their situation in a globalizing world and changing accessibility for fast transportation modes are some new factors that affect the change of traditional European cultural landscapes. Urbanization processes show cycles of evolution that spread in different ways through space. Urbanization phases developed at different speeds and time between Northern and Southern Europe. Main cities are affected first, but gradually urbanization processes affect smaller settlements and even remote rural villages. Functional urban regions (FURs) are a new concept, which is also significant for landscape ecologists. Local landscape change can only be comprehended when situated in its general geographical context and with all its related dynamics. Patterns of change are different for the countryside near major cities, for metropolitan villages and for remote rural villages. Planning and designing landscapes for the future requires that this is understood. Urbanized landscapes are highly dynamic, complex and multifunctional. Therefore, detailed inventories of landscape conditions and monitoring of change are urgently needed in order to obtain reliable data for good decision-making.

Changing patterns in the urbanized countryside of Western Europe

Urbanization refers to the complex interaction of different processes which transform landscapes formed by rural life styles into urban like ones. Urbanization causes profound changes in the ecological functioning of the landscape and gradually results in a changing spatial structure, i.e. forms new landscape patterns. The existing cities and urban network form the framework for this change, which is affecting increasingly larger areas in the countryside. Urbanization is mainly studied from social and economical viewpoints. Urban planners think about optimization of the land use and about aesthetics when reshaping the environment. Landscape ecology is lacking in urban planning because of different goals and concepts, but mostly because of missing significant information about these highly dynamical landscapes.

Background concepts for integrated landscape analysis.

Background concepts of the landscape research performed at the Department of Geography of the University of Ghent are described, discussed and illustrated with some examples. The integrated approach is based upon holism, perception and evolution. Holism allows the link between landscape ecology and perception. It explains the interaction between structure and functioning and the importance of the scale. Perception is linked to structure, pattern recognition and learning and, thus, also to behaviour and the practical results of planning processes. Landscape evolution is based on the dynamic interaction between structure and functioning and also on history, which makes each landscape unique. The rate and magnitude of the changes in the landscape are the most important factors relating to the evolution of our landscapes. Pressures upon the landscape and values of our landscapes can be defined according to their traditional characteristics.

Analyzing structural and functional changes of traditional landscapes: two examples from Southern France

Traditional landscapes are changing with increasing speed and an important cultural heritage is becoming lost. New landscapes replace the traditional ones gradually or sometimes abruptly. This article analyzes the characteristics and mechanisms of landscape changes at a settlement level, by using case studies in the countryside of southern France where landscapes are in transition between new residential urbanization and land abandonment. Structural changes in land use, building and field patterns between two time periods are studied using aerial photographs covering a period from 1960 to 1999. The photographs were scanned to allow on screen digitalization and interpretation of selected features and details, which were consecutively mapped and analyzed in a GIS. Changes observed on the aerial photographs were compared with the population statistic and the accessibility of the place. All cases show very different and unique trajectories of change with complex interactions between different driving forces. Agricultural intensification and land abandonment act simultaneously with different forms of urbanization in the countryside. Although easily recognizable on the aerial photographs, a quantitative assessment of the changes in the different structural components remains difficult and the results can hardly be related to changes in population characteristics and accessibility. Consequently, structural and morphological changes observed on the aerial photographs lead to other interpretations of the underlying functional processes than the statistical data do.

The concept of traditional landscapes as a base for landscape evaluation and planning. The example of Flanders Region

Abstract The concept of traditional landscapes was introduced in Flanders in 1985 and aimed to actualise the classical chorology of the geographical regions. Traditional landscapes have been defined as the landscapes which evolved during centuries until the fast and large scale modern changes in ‘tabula rasa’ style started. These large scale impacts became possible with the Industrial Revolution when the necessary technological power became available. Nevertheless, the modern impacts became really devastating after World War II with the economical boom that followed. These changes deform the traditional structures, and thus their functioning, of the existing landscapes. In some places the traditional landscape was even wiped away entirely to create a completely new landscape. The modern landscapes are mainly characterised by uniform and rational solutions and lack identity and personality. Remnants of the traditional landscape structures still exist but became isolated patches in a large scale uniformed space and are more and more difficult to recognise. The concept of an ensemble and its use as an anchor place proved to be a valuable approach for landscape management. The first aim of the mapping of the traditional landscapes was to reconstruct the pre-industrial spatial framework for the whole territory of the Flanders Region, based upon the natural regions and the cultural-historical landscapes which were superimposed during centuries. This was achieved using a hierarchical land classification showing the ‘familiarity’ between smaller units to form larger regions. Secondly, for all units the characteristics of their actual and past situation were described. This allowed to formulate models or ideal descriptions for the different types of traditional landscapes. As the detail and completeness of the available information is not yet equally available for the different regions, the method conceived the possibility of refining the mapping and modelling in the future. Examples of the traditional landscape mapping and modelling will be discussed to clarify the methodology.

Landscape change: Plan or chaos?

Landscape is a dynamic phenomenon that almost continuously changes. The overall change of a landscape is the result of complex and interacting natural and spontaneous processes and planned actions by man. However, numerous activities by a large number of individuals are not concerted and contribute to the autonomous evolution of the landscape in a similar way as natural processes do. Consequently, landscape changes in a somewhat chaotic way and man tries to control this evolution regularly by planned actions, which however, are seldom realised as they were intended. Landscapes are formed by many components which all have their own dynamics of change. Therefore, studying change must consider the nature of the component or feature looked to, as well as its specific frequency, pace and magnitude of change. To detect changes, the method to describe or measure the landscape features is important as well as the availability of adequate and comparable information in map-like format for different time periods. However, studying the change of landscape components separately seldom gives a good idea about the overall change of the landscape. The landscape as a whole looks more stable and much small change do not necessarily change its holistic appearance, its type or identity. Landscape holism is closely related to structural aspects, which reflect order and chaos. The main force behind change is the reorganisation of the existing structures to optimise their functioning. Existing landscape structures form the framework and constraint of all processes and activities in this geographical space. New needs for functioning will demand new adapted structures and will induce change. Structural order and disorder is also linked with entropy and information theory offers possibilities to describe the holistic aspects of a landscape and to measure and monitor the overall change of a landscape. A method is proposed to determine the distribution of the entropy in the landscape based upon transect sampling of landscape features on old and recent topographical maps, aerial photographs and by field survey in order to create time series. The results show that different landscape types are characterised by different entropy distributions and that changes in time can be monitored indicating different complex processes of overall landscape change.

Cognitive attributes and aesthetic preferences in assessment and differentiation of landscapes.

The increasing pace and scale of landscape changes involve objective measurements in order to estimate the effects of changes on peoples landscape preferences in a meaningful way. In the literature, some attempts have been made to provide a more conceptual base related to landscape preferences. These concepts and their indicators need to be tested empirically in different contexts and landscape types. In the present study, different items related to theoretical concepts of both aesthetic preference and cognitive rating were examined. They were combined in an in situ questionnaire, which was conducted among undergraduate students in geography during two different field excursions. Stimuli consisted of 11 landscape vistas selected during the excursions. All vistas represent rather rural landscapes but they vary with regard to relief, degree of urbanisation, and degree of agricultural land use. Statistical analysis of all data yielded significant correlations between aesthetic and cognitive ratings. However, these correlations did not appear to be very strong. When considering landscape vistas separately, the relations between all cognitive ratings seemed to vary. Further, not all cognitive aspects had an equal predicting value for aesthetic preference. Moreover, this predicting value appeared to vary between different landscape vistas. The groups of interrelated cognitive aspects could not be associated consistently with theoretical concepts. The results demonstrated the inconsistencies existing between the contents of the theoretical concepts and the indicators found within the landscape. The findings argued for the necessity to distinguish between different ratings and landscape types instead of using unitary preference measures and generalized data when studying landscape preference.

The language of landscape ecologists and planners - A comparative content analysis of concepts used in landscape ecology.

Landscape ecologists and planners are dealing with a largely similar area of interest. Scientists studying landscapes offer new insights about the processes acting in different spatial structures and scales. This understanding can be useful for planners who are principally involved in optimization of the use of space or the improvement of the environmental conditions. The basic key for a successful application of the scientific knowledge is good communication and reciprocity in understanding. The goals of landscape researchers and planners are different and so are many of their concepts and theories. Also, the time limits, the means and possibilities for realizing their objectives might be very different and follow different rules. A successful implementation of landscape ecology in practical applications of environmental and spatial planning demands careful thought how landscape ecological concepts and thoughts can be translated and communicated to people who have to consider much more aspects than just the one dealing with the landscape. Key concepts, theories and methods from landscape ecology and environmental and spatial planning are compared and evaluated. Possible connections and misunderstanding are discussed and suggestions are made to improve the interaction and to extend the interdisciplinary approach in landscape research.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPES - AN EXPERIENCE OF 25 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS.

Abstract For 25 years geographers of the University of Ghent, in close relationship with pedologists and archaeologists, carried out geographical surveying, landscape analysis and monitoring of recent landscape transformations in many regions of the Mediterranean. The surveys were done by intensive field work assisted with air photo interpretation and later also using remote sensing, which demanded field radiometry as well. Today most of the analysis is carried out using GIS. The approach was essentially holistic but, for descriptive purposes and due to the lack of detailed maps, many thematic maps have been realized as well. The transformations in the landscapes were always considered as structural changes and as the result of a complex interaction between many factors. Several mechanisms and processes could be recognized and are presented here in a synthetic and modelled way.

Eye-tracking Analysis in Landscape Perception Research: Influence of Photograph Properties and Landscape Characteristics

Abstract The European Landscape Convention emphasises the need for public participation in landscape planning and management. This demands understanding of how people perceive and observe landscapes. This can objectively be measured using eye tracking, a system recording eye movements and fixations while observing images. In this study, 23 participants were asked to observe 90 landscape photographs, representing 18 landscape character types in Flanders (Belgium) differing in degree of openness and heterogeneity. For each landscape, five types of photographs were shown, varying in view angle. This experiment design allowed testing the effect of the landscape characteristics and photograph types on the observation pattern, measured by Eye-tracking Metrics (ETM). The results show that panoramic and detail photographs are observed differently than the other types. The degree of openness and heterogeneity also seems to exert a significant influence on the observation of the landscape.