ABSTRACT
Most people with an interest in landscape would agree that multi-functionality is a good idea. At its core is the principle that any given tract of land should provide multiple services (or functions) that benefit people and their environment. In this chapter it will be argued that landscapes can be multi-functional in a way that individual parcels, sites and areas within landscapes cannot. As such, geographical scale becomes a critical issue in the analysis and planning of landscapes for the attainment of multiple objectives. However, over much of the twentieth century, policy instruments and planning frameworks effectively militated against multi-functionality. This period, what may be termed the productivist era, saw the singular promotion of food and fibre production as the dominant function and land use in rural areas. Associated with this, nature conservation interests in
provision was dominantly focused on relatively limited areas, often in designated areas such as National Parks, and often in urban-fringe settings (e.g. Country Parks). Forestry became primarily associated with an industrial model that was dominated, in landscape terms, with coniferous plantations of limited aesthetic appeal, little ecological diversity and few recreational opportunities. Over the course of the late twentieth century concerns over the landscape, ecological, ethical and public health dimensions of this productivist era began to gain increasing attention and support, ultimately stimulating far-reaching policy shifts. When articulated at the level of individual sectors, primarily agriculture and forestry, the changes in agenda, in focus and in language were clear. New terms began to gain currency, including sustainability, environmentallyfriendly, biodiverse, ethical, accessible, integrated, multi-purpose and multi-functional. Approximately 25 years into the real shift from productivism as the dominant model, towards post-productivism (Ilbery and Bowler, 1998), these terms still abound. This chapter establishes the background to the shift from productivism towards post-productivism, reviews key conceptual frameworks for considering landscape management in a post-productive rural environment and evaluates the real prospects for multi-functionality as a set of principles and an organising framework for landscape policy, planning and management at a variety of different scales.
