ABSTRACT
Development planners and designers must take a wide view of environmental characteristics and advise, topic by topic, upon proposed relationships between development and context. There are but four logical alternatives for the relationship between two entities: Identity, Similarity, Difference and Coalition. The four contextual relationships can apply to many aspects of the environment, including functional and aesthetic matters. When an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is carried out, it should not be assumed that Similarity is the objective. It is important to have a well-considered environmental impact design (EID), as a target for the relationship between development and context. In landscape ecology, the most typical pattern is of patches and corridors. Land can be zoned for colour, historic character, materials, ecology, hydrology, culture and ethnicity. The picturesque theory established a logical basis for relating architecture to context, embracing such factors as climate, views, age, culture, colour, texture, materials and style.
