The Ecological Basis Of Planning

When Artur Glikson died in July 1966 he was still comparatively unknown; yet paradoxically he had an international reputation that went beyond town planning and architectural circles. As far back as 1955, when he was forty four years old, he was an active participant in the notable Wenner-Gren Conference on "Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth," where he presented the first paper in the present book. Seven years later he was the only nonscientist represented in the even more selective Ciba Foundation conference on Man and his Future. Though Glikson attended many other important international conferences, notably the International Seminar on Regional Planning in The Hague in 1957, and the International conference of Landscape Architects in Amsterdam in 1960, he has yet to leave his mark on the thought and practice of architects and planners, his own professional group. The fact that Artur Glikson's activities as a pioneer in sociological plan ning are still relatively unknown, might seem a handicap from the point of this book's getting the public or professional attention that it deserves. But this is perhaps the best reason for bringing out the assembled papers and giving a picture of their background in his personal experience.

When Artur Glikson died in July 1966 he was still comparatively unknown; yet paradoxically he had an international reputation that went beyond town planning and architectural circles. As far back as 1955, when he was forty four years old, he was an active participant in the notable Wenner-Gren Conference on "Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth," where he presented the first paper in the present book. Seven years later he was the only nonscientist represented in the even more selective Ciba Foundation conference on Man and his Future. Though Glikson attended many other important international conferences, notably the International Seminar on Regional Planning in The Hague in 1957, and the International conference of Landscape Architects in Amsterdam in 1960, he has yet to leave his mark on the thought and practice of architects and planners, his own professional group. The fact that Artur Glikson's activities as a pioneer in sociological plan ning are still relatively unknown, might seem a handicap from the point of this book's getting the public or professional attention that it deserves. But this is perhaps the best reason for bringing out the assembled papers and giving a picture of their background in his personal experience.

When Artur Glikson died in July 1966 he was still comparatively unknown; yet paradoxically he had an international reputation that went beyond town planning and architectural circles. As far back as 1955, when he was forty four years old, he was an active participant in the notable Wenner-Gren Conference on "Man's Role in Changing the Face of the Earth," where he presented the first paper in the present book. Seven years later he was the only nonscientist represented in the even more selective Ciba Foundation conference on Man and his Future. Though Glikson attended many other important international conferences, notably the International Seminar on Regional Planning in The Hague in 1957, and the International conference of Landscape Architects in Amsterdam in 1960, he has yet to leave his mark on the thought and practice of architects and planners, his own professional group. The fact that Artur Glikson's activities as a pioneer in sociological plan ning are still relatively unknown, might seem a handicap from the point of this book's getting the public or professional attention that it deserves. But this is perhaps the best reason for bringing out the assembled papers and giving a picture of their background in his personal experience.

From its inception, the U.S. Department of the Interior has been charged with a conflicting mission. One set of statutes demands that the department must develop America's lands, that it get our trees, water, oil, and minerals out into the marketplace. Yet an opposing set of laws orders us to conserve these same resources, to preserve them for the long term and to consider the noncommodity values of our public landscape. That dichotomy, between rapid exploitation and long-term protection, demands what I see as the most significant policy departure of my tenure in office: the use of science-interdisciplinary science-as the primary basis for land management decisions. For more than a century, that has not been the case. Instead, we have managed this dichotomy by compartmentalizing the American landscape. Congress and my predecessors handled resource conflicts by drawing enclosures: "We'll create a national park here," they said, "and we'll put a wildlife refuge over there." Simple enough, as far as protection goes. And outside those protected areas, the message was equally simplistic: "Y'all come and get it. Have at it." The nature and the pace of the resource extraction was not at issue; if you could find it, it was yours.

This book provides a comprehensive description of the landscape-ecological planning system LANDEP, and introduces the methodical procedure. LANDEP was developed at the Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava and has been applied in various planning processes at home and abroad. Despite the fact that the LANDEP methodology was defined in 1979, the methodological content, sequence of procedures and the application of concept in practice are still valid. The first two steps – analyses and syntheses – have the nature of fundamental research and result in the design and characteristics of complex landscape-ecological-spatial units. The final two steps – evaluations and proposals – address the needs of planning practice. The intermediate step – interpretations – has the character of applied research and forms the arguments and criteria for the assessment of landscape for its utilisation by humans.

Eco-city planning is a key element of urban land use planning in perspective and of ongoing debate of environmental urban sustainable development with a spatial and practical dimension. The conceptual basis of ecological planning is that we can no longer afford to be merely human-centred in approach. Instead, the interdependency of human and non-human species has forced us to appreciate the ‘rights’ and ‘intrinsic values’ of non-human species in our pursuit for a sustainable ecosystem. This volume has as approach an emphasis on environmental planning policies whereby, for example, energy saving, anti-pollution measures, use of non-car modes, construction of green buildings, safeguarding of nature and natural habitats in urban areas, and use of more renewable resources are promotional norms. Their aims and leading outcome serve to protect the Earth from adverse effects of global warming and different sources of pollution threatening the quality of life of human societies.

Our day-to-day experiences over the past decade have taught us that there must be limits to our tremendous appetite for energy, natural resources, and consumer goods. Even utility and oil companies now promote conservation in the face of demands for dwindling energy reserves. And for years some biologists have warned us of the direct correlation between scarcity and population growth. These scientists see an appalling future riding the tidal wave of a worldwide growth of population and technology. A calm but unflinching realist, Catton suggests that we cannot stop this wave - for we have already overshot the Earth's capacity to support so huge a load. He contradicts those scientists, engineers, and technocrats who continue to write optimistically about energy alternatives. Catton asserts that the technological panaceas proposed by those who would harvest from the seas, harness the winds, and farm the deserts are ignoring the fundamental premise that "the principals of ecology apply to all living things." These principles tell us that, within a finite system, economic expansion is not irreversible and population growth cannot continue indefinitely. If we disregard these facts, our sagging American Dream will soon shatter completely.