ABSTRACT
Practising landscape scale planning, as we have seen, is not a neatly identifiable task concerned with enforcing a single body of legislation in a narrow range of situations. Rather, it involves mediating decisions through the imaginative deployment of a repertoire of complementary planning instruments in pursuit of multiple objectives across numerous terrains and networks. It involves matching styles of intervention to different scales of place – for example, neighbourhood, district, regional, national, global – and network – such as greenway, sub-regional green infrastructure, and transnational ‘string of emeralds’.1 Although diverse, the tasks of landscape scale planning are broadly three-fold, namely, the protection of areas that display special qualities, the regeneration of damaged and degraded terrains, and the reconnection of linear structures to achieve a more favourable complementarity. Further, it recognises that all areas have character, and that this requires recognition, safeguard, reinforcement and celebration. It is evident that tasks vary greatly according to attributes and condition. Thus, some landscapes need special attention by virtue of their heritage qualities, and their protection will require both statutory safeguards and positive management. At the other extreme, some landscapes will need remediation before they can deliver multiple functions that sustain environmental services and human quality of life.
