Threatened landscapes-the presence of the past in today's planning

Abstract

Increasing mobility over the last 30 years has added to the population density in the south-eastern regions of Norway. This article focuses on the effects of the landscape changes that take place in the outskirts of towns and cities, with special focus on how pressure on land resources effects the preservation of cultural heritage. It is based on the project Threatened landscapes - A study of the decision-making , legitimacy and practice of cultural heritage management in local planning. The project aims at shedding light upon two main questions: What happens to the cultural and historical values in an area during a process of area development? To what extent has the cultural heritage management authorities succeeded in setting the terms for the developmental procedure? To tackle the first question, a mainly humanistic approach is appropriate, as it sets a need for knowing what sort of material structures from former times are embedded in the landscape. The second question highlights the impact of the planning procedure and its possibility to ensure that the cultural heritage is appropriately handled. The pressure on the fringe of the cities is caused by expansion of housing-estates as well as transport systems and it leads to a division and separation of integrated areas. The requirement for cultural heritage work increases parallel with the growing fragmentation process. Despite the activities from several local idealists, the study shows that the cultural heritage work still primarily is taken care of on a formal basis - through the formal planning process in the hands of the regional responsible bodies. Particular attention is paid to handling the controlling perspective, but heritage work kept on this level represents a minimum-standard where the commitment brought in by enthusiasts to a large extent is missing [l].