Cultural Landscape Features Research Articles

Unveiling water legacy: an interdisciplinary exploration for comprehending Siraf’s historical water landscape

In the heart of southern Iran’s arid expanse lies Siraf, a testament to the enduring bond between water and civilisation. This port city flourished in the 9th and 10th centuries, sustained by ingenious water management. Exploring Siraf’s water heritage reveals a cultural landscape shaped by the symbiotic relationship between water and human innovation. Through meticulous analysis of technical reports, excavation records, interviews, and historical accounts, this research aims to understand Siraf’s water heritage landscape using an interdisciplinary landscape-based approach. This approach integrates insights from archaeology, geology, geohydrology, and agriculture to provide a holistic view of the interconnectedness of natural and cultural elements. These dynamic systems inspire sustainable practices through landscape-based solutions considering natural and cultural landscape features to address urban challenges. As we face climate change and urbanisation, understanding and preserving Siraf’s water heritage landscapes through an interdisciplinary approach provide a roadmap for a more resilient future.

Localized Canal Development Model Based on Titled Landscapes on the Grand Canal, Hangzhou Section, China

After the decline of water transportation along the Grand Canal, the integration of urban development and the preservation of cultural heritage along the canal has become imperative. This paper takes the titled landscape as its research perspective and investigates the cultural significance of the canal through its historical, spatial, artistic, and spiritual dimensions, identifying the “Ten Canal Scenes” (TCS) that encapsulate both the canal’s heritage and the unique characteristics of Hangzhou, with the aim of establishing notable urban cultural landmarks. Archival analysis, average nearest neighbor (ANN) analysis, nuclear density analysis, and clustering of resource sites are first used to identify cultural landscape features. Evaluation and decision-making techniques are then used to comprehensively assess and categorize the conservation and utilization value for the TCS based on the value evaluation framework. Finally, it proposes strategies for enhancing the comprehensive values of titled landscapes and addressing socio-economic and cultural dimensions. These efforts seek to reconcile the preservation of the canal’s cultural heritage with the ongoing regeneration and development of the city and propose references for a localized canal development model based on titled landscapes.

Protection and Regeneration of Historical Ancient Cities from the Perspective of Urban Historical Landscape Theory: A Case Study of Zhaoyu Ancient City in Qi County

In the face of the impact of rapid urbanization on historical and cultural ancient cities, the unique historical charm of ancient cities is gradually fading away, urgently requiring scientific theoretical guidance for their development and protection. In this context, the theory and methods of urban historical landscapes provide a viable theoretical framework. This paper, by analyzing the essence of urban historical landscapes, concludes that the protection and regeneration of historical ancient cities need to be approached from multiple dimensions. Taking Zhaoyu Ancient City as a case study, the cultural value and landscape features of Zhaoyu Ancient City are integrated through the dimensions of time and space. This integration serves to explore methods for the protection and regeneration of ancient cities, aiming to provide meaningful insights and references for the protection and revitalization of Zhaoyu Ancient City and similar ancient cities.

‘Sense of place’ and conservation: Toponym diversity helps to maintain vegetation naturalness

Abstract Place names are an important but vanishing part of cultural diversity, and their relevance for environmental sciences is increasingly acknowledged. Still little is known about whether the diversity of toponyms affects human–nature relationships and the decisions of humans on how to use certain parts of the landscape. To investigate this question, we combined approaches from social sciences and ecology in a comprehensive multidisciplinary survey of 1521 cultural landscape features in Hungary. The landscape features studied were ancient millennia‐old burial earthen mounds built by nomadic steppic tribes, that often hold the last remnants of grassland vegetation and provide safe havens for grassland specialist plant and animal species in the intensively used agricultural landscapes of Eurasia. In our research, we (i) compiled a comprehensive database of the mounds in the 5150 km2‐sized study region, (ii) collected all toponyms of the mounds recorded since the 18th century, (iii) derived the height and distance from settlements for each mound and (iv) visited all the mounds in a field survey, and evaluated their vegetation naturalness. We found that despite the intensive landscape transformation in the region, and independently of topographical factors, a higher number of toponyms was associated with a higher degree of naturalness of the vegetation on the landscape features. Independently of the protective effect of the height of the mound against ploughing, and the distance from settlements that reflects to decreasing land use intensity, we found that the vegetation on the mounds with more names had a higher degree of naturalness. Synthesis and applications. Cultural recognition of these places has eroded considerably in the past centuries, but its effect is still noticeable, suggesting an extinction delay of culture‐driven biodiversity patterns. Our results suggest that reestablishment of the lost cultural connections between people and nature can contribute to reversing the deterioration. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Cultural landscape perception of the Chinese traditional settlement: Based on tourists' online comments.

The cultural landscape in traditional settlements is an important historical and cultural resource created by human beings in the process of historical evolution, and is an important resource for the development of traditional settlement tourism. This paper selected 21 representative traditional settlements for research using online comments from tourists as data and content analytical methods including high-frequency vocabulary, semantic networks and emotional attitudes to explore the public perspective on the connotations of cultural landscape features in traditional settlements. There are four major findings, showing first that the cultural landscape of traditional settlements contains three core elements. Second, the semantic network relationships of the core elements show a significant central-edge tendency; and third, the emotional perception of cultural landscapes in traditional settlements is generally positive, and there is no significant difference emotionally between each core element. Last, the public's perception of the cultural connotations of the landscape is seriously insufficient. Based on the research results, planning suggestions and countermeasures for the conservation and utilization of cultural landscapes in traditional settlements are proposed.

Using social media photos and computer vision to assess cultural ecosystem services and landscape features in urban parks

Urban parks are important public places that provide an opportunity for city dwellers to interact with nature. In recent years, social media data have become a promising data source for the assessment of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and landscape features in urban parks. However, it is a challenging task to identify and classify the CES and landscape features from social media photos by manual content analysis. In addition, relatively few studies focused on the differences in landscape preferences between tourists and locals in urban parks. In this study, we used geotagged social media photos from Flickr and computer vision methods (scene recognition, image clustering and image labeling) based on the convolutional neural networks (CNN) and the Google Cloud Vision platform to assess the spatial preferences and landscape preferences (cultural ecosystem services and landscape features) of tourists and locals in the urban parks of Brussels. The spatial analysis results showed that the tourists’ photos were spatially concentrated on well-known parks located in the city center while the locals’ photos were rather spatially dispersed across all parks of the city. We identified 10 main landscape themes (corresponding to 4 CES categories and 10 landscape feature categories) from 20 image clusters by automated image analysis on social media photos. We also noticed that tourists paid more attention to the place identity featured by symbolic sculptures and buildings, while locals showed more interest in local species of plants, flowers, insects, birds, and animals. This research contributes to social media-based user preferences analysis and CES assessment, which could provide insights for urban park planning and tourism management.

The Spatial Perception and Spatial Feature of Rural Cultural Landscape in the Context of Rural Tourism

The development of rural tourism in the greater Xi’an area is in full swing, which is an important indicator for the implementation of rural revitalization. However, there are certain realistic challenges such as the lack of rural culture, the destruction of cultural context, and the loss of “rurality” of tourist areas. It is of vital significance to explore, integrate and revive the rural culture by advancing the rural cultural landscape based on the concept of cultural landscape in human geography. The specific categories of the rural cultural landscape were divided into three perspectives of agricultural production, famers’ lifestyle, and countryside ecology. Spatial reflections of various rural cultural landscapes were carried out based on pluralistic new data. The spatial characteristics of cultural landscapes were studied by using kernel density analysis and creating Thiessen polygons analysis and interpolation in ArcGIS spatial analysis, in order to show the spatial patterns of the special rural cultural areas and the cultural landscapes in greater Xi’an. Above all, our study inventoried and mapped the rural cultural landscapes in the context of rural tourism, identified spatial features of rural cultural landscape and rural tourism, and we proposed solutions that promote the cultural quality of rural tourism which are of vital significance in reviving rural culture.

The Role of Trees Outside Forests in the Cultural Landscape of the Colline del Prosecco UNESCO Site

The multifunctional role of Trees Outside Forests (TOF) is largely recognized in scientific literature, but they are still rarely considered in forest inventories and planning, with consequent underestimation of their role and amount. In addition, their cultural role has rarely been considered both at scientific and management level as well as in UNESCO sites. TOF characterize many European cultural landscapes, including the one of the Colline del Prosecco, inscribed in 2019 in the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of the reasons of the inclusion, in fact, is the landscape mosaic made of vineyards interspersed with small woodlands and tree rows. This paper focuses on two types of TOF, Small Woods and Linear Tree Formations (TOF NON A/U). Their detailed mapping and the performing of different spatial analysis allowed us to assess their role and to provide data for future monitoring and for local forest planning. Results confirmed that TOF NON A/U are one of the main features of the UNESCO site landscape: despite the limited overall surface (1.95% of the area), 931 different patches have been identified. Spatial analysis highlighted the key landscape and ecological roles, acting as intermediate features between large forest patches, and also an important role for hydrological protection (they can be found also in slopes above 80% of inclination). The study provided a detailed mapping and database of one of the main features of the Colline del Prosecco UNESCO site cultural landscape, verifying the multifunctional role of TOF NON A/U and the necessity to include them into local forest planning, but also suggesting their inclusion in national forest inventories.

Potential of airborne LiDAR data in detecting cultural landscape features in Slovakia

High-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanners provide detailed information on terrain surfaces, thus enabling the detection of the topographic signatures of historical anthropogenic landforms overgrown by trees or covered by the soil surface. This study aimed to examine the potential of incoming nationwide LiDAR data for detecting the cultural landscape features in Slovakia. We derived a detailed digital elevation model from LiDAR points and adopted upgraded visualisation techniques based on the combination of local relief models, sky view factor, slope steepness, and colour blending. We visually identified examples of different anthropogenic landforms and confirmed our findings with existing literature. In addition, we provide examples of previously unknown historical anthropogenic landforms discovered from LiDAR images. Finally, we discuss the potential and limits of LiDAR data in exploring and protecting different groups of historic anthropogenic landforms as remnants of past cultural landscapes in Slovakia.

High‐resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging data, ethics and archaeology: Considerations from the northeastern United States

AbstractPublicly available Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) datasets have become widely accessible in the northeastern United States and beyond in the past 10 years. The increase in dataset availability and accessibility coupled with a number of publications detailing the types of cultural features that can be identified has made it necessary to explore and discuss positive impacts and risks to cultural features on this landscape. Access to detailed, documented locations of archaeological resources at state or federal agencies in the United States is typically limited to those with certain credentials, yet many locations of features and sites, both documented and undocumented, are now available to anyone who can access these datasets and effectively interpret them. This presents a challenge for cultural resource management professionals and the field of archaeology; for while LiDAR datasets have had many positive impacts, it is not yet obvious what the unintended impacts of feature exposure might be. Risks to sites are worth considering in the northeastern United States, where (1) region‐wide LiDAR data are publicly available and accessible, (2) many cultural features are widely accessible and not well monitored and (3) case studies have been published that provide guidance on how to identify specific types of cultural landscape features using LiDAR data. We discuss the nuances of those topics here, provide examples of how the datasets have impacted archaeology in the northeastern United States and explore possible mitigation strategies to maintain data accessibility while also protecting important cultural features in this region.

Mapping Cultural Ecosystem Services (CESs) and key urban landscape features: a pilot study for land use policy and planning review

ABSTRACT Cultural ecosystem services (CESs), despite providing multiple non-material benefits associated with human well-being, have been overlooked in urban planning. Using as a pilot study the municipality of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we map and evaluate the inclusion of CESs into land use policy to better inform urban planning. We tested a framework for: (1) assessing the preferences of local inhabitants for CESs and landscape features; (2) evaluating land use policies; and (3) mapping CES hotspots in the city. We found sense of place and recreation to be the main CESs associated with parks, squares and cultural centres. No land use policy explicitly mentioned CESs, while the zoning plans do not reflect bundles of spatial non-material values and landscape features. This pilot study can play a vital role in developing more comprehensive insights to bridge urban planning and landscape preferences to help guiding land use policy review towards sustainable urbanisation.

Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

In the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

Typology of historical cultural landscapes based on their cultural elements

Historical cultural landscapes represent numerous values and meanings that are important for today’s society. These cultural landscapes document the specific development of local communities and may reflect their approaches or attitudes toward the environment. Man-made landscape elements are created for special purposes and represent specific values (historical, cultural, environmental, economic, etc.). The analysis of these landscape elements allows us to find out for what purposes the society decided to use the landscape, respectively what functions the landscape performs and what historical or cultural values it represents. The following text presents a typology of historical cultural landscapes based on a cluster analysis of cultural landscape features. Using this method, a typology of landscapes is created that reflects the functional use and values of landscapes based on the analysis of cultural-historical elements and differentiates the rates and methods of land use by human beings. The output of the cluster analysis is visualized in a dendrogram, based on which seven basic landscape categories were defined and described.

Kültürel Peyzaj Planlaması Kapsamında Tarihi Çevrelere Yönelik Kentsel Tasarım Önerileri: Tarihi İspir Kalesi ve İspir Evleri

Günümüzdeki koruma anlayışı geçmiş yıllara göre çağdaş, yenilikçi ve amacına daha uygun bir yaklaşımdır. Koruma anlayışı dünyada ve ülkemizde artık anıtsal yapı ölçeğinden, çevresel ögeleri de kapsayan bütünsel bir koruma anlayışına evrilmiştir. Ne yazık ki yasalardaki eksiklikler, kamuoyunun hala koruma konusunda bilinçsiz olması, devlet kurumlarının yetersizliği gibi durumlardan dolayı, tarihi çevreler ve kültürel peyzajlar tam anlamı ile korunamamakta, tahribata uğramaya devam etmektedirler. Bu çalışmasının amacı kültürel peyzaj alanlarının içerisinde bulunan tarihi sokak dokusunun bir bütün olarak ele alınarak, bu alanların tahribatını önlemek amacıyla korunmasına ve yaşatılmasına yönelik kentsel tasarım önerileri geliştirmektir. Bu bağlamda kültürel peyzaj özelliklerine ve özgün yöresel mimari ögelere sahip olan İspir ilçesi araştırma alanı olarak seçilmiştir. Araştırmanın kuramsal temellerini tespit etmek amacıyla, kültürel peyzajlar, tarihi çevreler, Türk kent ve sokak dokusu konuları başta olmak üzere tarihi çevrelerde kentsel planlama konularında yapılan çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Araştırma yöntemi kapsamında etüt, veri toplama, analiz ve sentez çalışmaları yapılmıştır. İspir ilçesinin kentsel dokusu detaylı bir şekilde incelenmiş ve elde edilen veriler bilgisayar ortamına aktarılarak haritalar oluşturulmuştur. Araştırma sonucunda, kültürel peyzaj alanlarının koruma kullanma dengesi içerisinde korunmasına, onarılmasına, yaşatılmasına ve yönetilmesine yönelik politikaların oluşturulmasının, ayrıca yerel yönetimler, yerel halk ve ilgili meslek gruplarından oluşan bir komiteyle söz konusu alanların ve çevresinin bütünleşik bir şekilde planlanmasının gerekli olduğu görülmüştür.

Contemporary distribution of Macrozamia dyeri (Zamiaceae) is correlated with patterns of Nyungar occupation in south‐east coastal Western Australia

AbstractIndigenous societies’ interactions with plants may result in contemporary distribution patterns that reflect these relationships, such as concentration of resource species close to occupation sites or transport routes. Seeds of the cycad, Macrozamia dyeri, are food of Nyungar First People of the south‐eastern Southwest Australian Floristic Region. Processing of seeds by leaching in soil or water enables detoxification and preservation of the pre‐colonial staple, a Nyungar technique archaeologically dated to at least 13 000 years BP. We measured the distance of M. dyeri populations to cultural landscape features and registered heritage sites. We also compared within‐population plant distribution characteristics to Nyungar occupation preferences around granite inselbergs. We found evidence of Nyungar influence on contemporary distribution of M. dyeri. Populations of M. dyeri occur close to surface water features in the west and granite outcrops in the east of Nyungar country, which corresponds closely to differential pre‐colonial patterns of Nyungar occupation. M. dyeri population frequency was negatively correlated with distance to registered Nyungar sites, and 75% of all M. dyeri populations occur within 3.2 km of a registered Nyungar site. We found no correlation between habitat availability and size of granite populations, but found that Nyungar occupation preferences in relation to ground surface aspect, slope and landform type correlated with intra‐population M. dyeri plant distribution, suggesting a mutualistic relationship with Nyungar people, has influenced the plant’s distribution. We suggest that contemporary M. dyeri distribution is therefore useful for interpreting past location‐specific Nyungar land practices to inform contemporary conservation management. Our findings demonstrate that along with edaphic, climate and other environmental factors, consideration of pre‐colonial human dispersal and land practices is important for plant conservation in Australia, particularly for taxa with prolonged use by humans. Further, we suggest that analyses of long‐lived Macrozamia elsewhere may be useful for interpreting past Aboriginal land practices.

KÜRESELLEŞEN YÜZYILDA BİR SÜRDÜRÜLEBİLİR KALKINMA VE NİTELİKLİ YAŞAM MODELİ OLARAK SAKİN ŞEHİR KAVRAMI: GÖKÇEADA ÖRNEĞİ

In the world, with the negative effects of globalization; various problems have arisen in cities and rural areas. The slow city movement was born in 1999 in response to globalization and capitalism. It aims to ensure the healthy development of cities without losing their locality and originality and to build a more livable life. Gokceada is the first and only island in the cittaslow international network. In this study; the effect of this status on the natural and cultural landscape features of Gokceada was tried to be determined. For this purpose, works conducted within the framework of 72 sub-criteria since the island was achieved the slow city status were evaluated with a scoring system. Thus, a scale was developed to determine the extent to which 7 main criteria of slow city movement were applied in Gokceada. “Energy and Environmental Policies”; high value, Infrastructure Policies”, Quality of Urban Life Policies, “Agricultural, Touristic and Artisan Policies”, Social Cohesion” and “Partnerships; middle value and “Policies for hospitality, awareness, and training received low value. In addition, recommendations were made for the sustainability of the local values of Gokceada.

A digital information system for cultural landscapes: the case of Slender West Lake scenic area in Yangzhou, China

The rapid development of digital technologies provides important opportunities for more effective cultural heritage conservation and management. While the concept of cultural landscape has been accepted by the academic community in the cultural heritage field for many years, the digital conservation of cultural landscapes still lacks pragmatic guidance. The aim of this article is to explore an approach for building a digital information system to support cultural landscape conservation and management. The Slender West Lake scenic area, a typical cultural landscape in China, was used as an instrumental case study. A geo-database was designed and established to integrate the information of the natural, cultural, tangible and intangible landscape features of Slender West Lake. The digital information system for cultural landscapes provides a more holistic, dynamic and specific cultural perspective on heritage for landscape conservators. The system provides comprehensive information support for heritage conservation, management and interpretation, which are not achievable with conventional tools. This article has expanded the cultural heritage theory by presenting a practical guide for the digital information management of cultural landscapes. The workflow for building a cultural landscape geo-database can be used as a reference for heritage projects in China and other countries.

Archaeological Remote Sensing Using Multi-Temporal, Drone-Acquired Thermal and Near Infrared (NIR) Imagery: A Case Study at the Enfield Shaker Village, New Hampshire

While archaeologists have long understood that thermal and multi-spectral imagery can potentially reveal a wide range of ancient cultural landscape features, only recently have advances in drone and sensor technology enabled us to collect these data at sufficiently high spatial and temporal resolution for archaeological field settings. This paper presents results of a study at the Enfield Shaker Village, New Hampshire (USA), in which we collect a time-series of multi-spectral visible light, near-infrared (NIR), and thermal imagery in order to better understand the optimal contexts and environmental conditions for various sensors. We present new methods to remove noise from imagery and to combine multiple raster datasets in order to improve archaeological feature visibility. Analysis compares results of aerial imaging with ground-penetrating radar and magnetic gradiometry surveys, illustrating the complementary nature of these distinct remote sensing methods. Results demonstrate the value of high-resolution thermal and NIR imagery, as well as of multi-temporal image analysis, for the detection of archaeological features on and below the ground surface, offering an improved set of methods for the integration of these emerging technologies into archaeological field investigations.

New Goddesses on Mt. Paektu: Transformation, Myth and Gender in Korean Landscape

Mountain worship has always been one of the central features of Korean cultural landscape. While specific traditions of mountain culture have been utilized by North Korea’s leadership for the purpose of promotion of the state ideology, in South Korea mountain culture has acquired different forms. We argue that contemporary South Korean ki suryŏn (氣 修練) practices for perfection of mind and body constitute such manifestation of mountain-related culture. The ancient tradition of mountain gods (山神, sanshin) is a source from which the legendary figures of New Goddesses on Mt. Paektu emerge. We study origination and development of Paektu-related myths of South and North Korea, focusing on two divinities. The first goddess is Ch’ŏnsŏnnyŏ (天仙女, the Woman of Heaven) from the contemporary legend of GiCheon (氣天, Kich’ŏn), one of the ki suryŏn training methods. Our second goddess is Kim Chŏng-suk, the first wife of Kim Il-sŏng, founder of North Korea. In order to study simultaneous processes of origination and development of Mt. Paektu-related myths of South and North Korea, we consider sources from different fields of knowledge, such as folklore, art, philosophy and religion, politics, literary criticism, political science and environmental science. We apply an interdisciplinary approach to two seemingly incompatible processes of mythmaking of contemporary South and North Korea. The two countries, divided geographically, politically, economically, have for many centuries been one nation and one people, one language and one culture. This commonality has not disappeared into the depth of history, but comes to the cultural surface even in this most difficult contemporary time.

Duinrellen en duinwateringen

Water from the dunes: ‘duinrellen’ Duinrel is the local term for a small stream in the coastal dunes of Holland, particularly in the Kennemerland region. A duinrel flows from the dune into the lower area inland. This clear water has been used by people for different purposes: making paper, bleaching linen, brewing beer etc. They were also used by the many gardens and estates as well as by market gardeners. In the southern part of Holland, many duinrellen have been adapted and were changed into straight channels (Dutch: wateringen). For their management it is necessary to see them as partly natural, partly cultural landscape features.