Utilizing history to establish cultural and physical identity in the landscape

Abstract

The physical character of a landscape, especially a rural landscape, has its roots in the historical development of that landscape. An understanding of the historical component, in conjunction with biophysical and cultural resources, social fabric and political factors can provide insight for landscape planners and other professionals to determine the most sensitive approach to planned change in the rural landscape. The character and form of the Southern Ontario rural landscape are largely a result of the earliest settlement pattern determined by the British Crown in 1783 and the pattern determined by immigrant German Mennonite Americans from Pennsylvania in 1800. The British imposed a rigid gridiron survey on the majority of the province, whereas the Mennonites brought a tradition of relating to the natural features of the landscape. These two approaches resulted in very different physical forms which are apparent almost 200 years later. In the last 20 years, the rural Southern Ontario landscape has undergone the most radical physical change since the early nineteenth century. Conservation and preservation practices are possible in this rural landscape, and may be an appropriate means to plan for future change. An understanding of the history of the physical form in concert with the history of social change is a useful tool to establish a new identity for the rural Southern Ontario landscape.