ABSTRACT
We explore the implications of the multifunctional transition for planning in rural landscapes. First, to illuminate the concept of multifunctionality, we examine it as a framework for understanding recent changes in the ways rural landscapes are used, the multifunctional transition. We then assess how the multifuctional framework can inform rural planning. As a framework, multifunctionality is a helpful tool for describing and analysing the perceived changes in the ways rural landscapes are used. The basic idea is that the historically dominant use of rural landscapes has been for agriculture and natural resource production, including serving as a reserve for future urban expansion. The multifunctional framework identifies a shift toward a more complex and often overlapping mix of uses. In addition to production, rural landscapes are the site of consumption, using the landscape without using it up, as in tourism and recreation; and protection, maintaining, conserving, and restoring the landscape. Moreover, production, consumption, and/or protection often occur simultaneously on a given landscape. Beyond its descriptive and analytic role, the multifunctional framework offers a prescriptive message to rural planning about how rural landscapes can (and should) be managed to strengthen the environmental, social, and economic character of rural areas – to move toward greater rural resilience and the triple bottom line.
