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New book explores the interface between landscape and planning

News published:  28/05/2025

From floods in New Orleans to forest fires in Västmanland. In a new book, researchers from a range of disciplines come together to examine how contemporary social and environmental changes are shaping new landscapes – and what role planning can play.

The book takes the reader through historical and contemporary case studies from around the world. Chapters on landscape conflicts in the energy transition are complemented by sections on humans’ relation to biodiversity loss and cultural landscape heritage of Indigenous peoples. Some chapters focus on landscape change, while others problematise the role of planning or explore its potential.

What makes the book unique is its breadth – both in terms of content and perspective. Researchers from fields such as landscape architecture, human geography, and history contribute with different approaches and complement each other with their specialisations in landscape and planning research.

– The strength of the book lies in its exploration of the intersection between research fields that rarely meet. We capture a wide range of aspects on how environmental conflicts shape landscapes, and how landscapes are understood and worked with in planning, says Mattias Qviström, Professor of Landscape Architecture at SLU and editor of the book.

The book is the result of close collaboration between the contributing authors, leading to both breadth and depth.

– We are used to working across disciplines, but this time we challenged ourselves a bit further. We often work in our own bubbles, but in this case we discussed each other's texts and co-wrote a final chapter, says Mattias Qviström.

Download the book for free as pdf

The book is aimed at researchers, doctoral and master's students in landscape architecture, planning, cultural geography, environmental history and other interdisciplinary environmental studies.
 

About the book:

A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning.
Editor: Mattias Qviström. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Chapters

  1. On the necessity for landscape studies of planning
  2. Planning for trouble: landscapes shaped to defend against water in New Orleans, USA
  3. Landscape and extinction
  4. Energy landscapes and the transition to sustainable energy
  5. Forest fires, conflict, and disrupted landscapes
  6. Insurgent Indigenous practices and the guardianship of cultural landscapes
  7. Troubling urban therapeutic landscapes
  8. Unlocking peri-urban planning potential through a landscape lens
  9. Recognising the voluminous agencies of extractive landscapes: a critical agenda
  10. Urbanism histories of landscape and ecology
  11. Landscape ethnography as an ‘undisciplined’ methodology for design and planning
  12. Rethinking the right to landscape in Norra Sorgenfri, Malmö
  13. Landscape futures: weaving together past, present, and future
  14. On moving ahead, staying put, and engaging fully with landscape studies of planning

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