ABSTRACT
In this chapter 1 we adopt a theoretical perspective, one of environmental aesthetics, which enriches the concept of landscape and reinforces its possible role in the participation of inhabitants in large development projects. One of the themes which allows us to reflect about the relevance of participatory democracy is the aesthetic aspect. The theme of aesthetics, which will be taken into consideration within the framework of this chapter, will not only be based on environmental issues, but on an environment which does not consist in collecting problems requiring public policies, but in an ordinary environment the understanding of which lies in the plurality of aesthetic categories which qualify it – landscape is one of them. We are therefore referring to ‘environmental aesthetics’ (Berleant, 1992, 2010; Blanc, 2008; Blanc and Lolive, 2009).
