Regeneractive Landscapes: Balancing Visual and Ecological Values in Spatial Planning – A Case Study of Złotoria’s Suburban Landscape.
Six of nine safe limits were disturbed by anthropogenic impact on natural processes. Maintaining the stability of natural ecosystems, protecting the natural environment and supporting biodiversity is currently the main goal of corrective actions proposed both on a global and regional scale.
Regenerative landscapes, as an innovative approach to ecological design are perceived not only as a method of restoring the value of degraded areas, but also as a way to create spaces that harmonize with the natural surroundings, while offering aesthetic and relaxing experiences. Therefore, they are playing also a key role in shaping and protecting the physiognomic and scenic values of the landscape.
According to the provisions of the European Landscape Convention, landscape is an important part of the quality of life of people living in both urbanized and rural areas. It is also a fundamental component of natural and cultural heritage.
The underlying assumption of our research was the perception of the landscape as a cognitive process consisting in building an image of the environment in which people live, based on stimuli resulting from admiring physiognomic and visual values, is very important element of spatial planning, which fulfill one of benefits of regenerative landscapes definition.
Next, we will point out that protecting the beauty of a given landscape by protecting its visual values, we also contribute to the preservation of its physiognomic features and, as a result, to the preservation of the functions of a given landscape. Our research was conducted in the village of Złotoria (Toruń municipality), an example of a suburban landscape in Poland. Based on analyses of the ability of views to absorb changes, we will indicate the possibilities of using this method as an example of designing regenerative landscapes.
