Understanding a Landscape

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is one way to understand a landscape or place. The definition of Landscape Character (below) helps us to break whole landscapes down into their constituent ‘elements’.

This makes a whole landscape easier to understand and allows us to better consider how it might be able to change.

A distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that makes one landscape different from another, rather than better or worse.

Importantly this means we use LCA to understand landscapes in an objective way, free of any judgement.

Landscape Elements

These can be categorised in many ways, but one simple example is:

Landform and Water (including; soils, geology, air, climate)
Roads, Tracks and Paths
Settlements, Buildings and the Spaces around them
Fields and Heathland
Woodlands and Trees

Together the pattern and relationships of elements combine to create;

Perceptual Qualities and Views (includes, tranquillity, dark night skies and sense of place).

Each element will importantly have a history, broadly speaking, the older it is the more sensitive it might be to change.

Each element also has a pattern and will have relationships with other elements.

For example, the spring-line villages so characteristic along the foot of the Downs are settlements that closely relate to landform and water.

Understanding these patterns, relationships and history is the first part of getting to know a landscape, its character and sense of place.

Using Landscape Character Assessment

Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is a good starting point for the landscape-led approach to design:

It works at any scale – so helpful for all applications, big or small.
Characterises all of the landscapes within the SDNP, explaining how the patterns and relationships of different elements combine to produce local distinctiveness and sense of place for each area.
Anyone working on a development, whether a householder, drainage specialist, or architect can easily see patterns of elements, and so design schemes that use and integrate with these patterns instead of working against them.
Can help to identify elements most critical to a proposal early on. These areas of focus can be agreed with officers during a pre-application.
Provides a holistic starting point for understanding a place.
Many larger applications will need to be supported by their own, more local landscape character assessments to help them design a scheme that conserves and enhances their landscape.
Some applications may need to engage specialists to provide more understanding of each element of landscape – for example, arborists, drainage specialists, historic building specialists and ecologists.
LCA may provide sufficient evidence for a smaller application alongside making some local observations.
LCA explains key sensitivities, functions and considerations for change all will help determine what changes might be acceptable.