Cultural landscape:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with
natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.[1] A
landscape includes the physical elements of geophysical defined landforms such as mountains,
hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover
including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of land use,
buildings, and structures, and transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions.
Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created
over millennia, landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place.

Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to
describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage
Committee, it is the "cultural properties [that] represent the combined works of nature and of
man" and falls into three main categories, namely:
(i) The most easily identifiable is the clearly defined landscape designed and created
intentionally by man. This embraces garden and parkland landscapes constructed for
aesthetic reasons which are often (but not always) associated with religious or other
monumental buildings and ensembles.
(ii) The second category is the organically evolved landscape. This results from an initial
social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed its
present form by association with and in response to its natural environment. Such landscapes
reflect that process of evolution in their form and component features. They
fall into two sub-categories:
- a relict (or fossil) landscape is one in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some
time in the past, either abruptly or over a period. Its significant distinguishing features are,
however, still visible in material form.
- a continuing landscape is one which retains an active social role in contemporary society
closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still
in progress. At the same time it exhibits significant material evidence of its evolution over time.
(iii) The final category is the associative cultural landscape. The inscription of such landscapes
on the World Heritage List is justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic or cultural
associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be
insignificant or even absent.
Geographer Otto Schlüter is credited with having first formally used “cultural landscape” as an
academic term in the early 20th century. In 1908, Schlüter argued that by defining geography as
a Landschaftskunde (landscape science) this would give geography a logical subject matter
shared by no other discipline. He defined two forms of landscape: the Urlandschaft (transl.
original landscape) or landscape that existed before major human induced changes and the
Kulturlandschaft (transl. 'cultural landscape') a landscape created by human culture. The major
task of geography was to trace the changes in these two landscapes.[7]

It was Carl O. Sauer, a human geographer, who was probably the most influential in promoting
and developing the idea of cultural landscapes. Sauer was determined to stress the agency of
culture as a force in shaping the visible features of the Earth's surface in delimited areas. His
classic definition of a 'cultural landscape' reads as follows:
"The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture is the
agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result"
In 1992 the World Heritage Convention became the first international legal instrument to
recognise and protect cultural landscapes. The Committee at its 16th session adopted guidelines
concerning their inclusion in the World Heritage List.

The Committee acknowledged that cultural landscapes represent the "combined works of nature
and of man" designated in Article 1 of the Convention. They are illustrative of the evolution of
human society and settlement over time, under the influence of the physical constraints and/or
opportunities presented by their natural environment and of successive social, economic and
cultural forces, both external and internal
A cultural landscape is a place with many layers of history that evolves through design and use
over time. A cultural landscape embodies the associations and uses that evoke a sense of history
for a specific place. Physical features of cultural landscapes can include trees, buildings,
pathways, site furnishings, water bodies – basically any element that expresses cultural values
and the history of a site. Cultural landscapes also include intangible elements such as land uses
and associations of people that influenced the development of a landscape. Cultural landscapes
include neighborhoods, parks and open spaces, farms and ranches, sacred places, etc.

Cultural landscapes include tangible and intangible characteristics, including:

 Natural systems and features

 Spatial organization
 Land use
 Cultural traditions
  Cluster arrangement
 Circulation
 Topography
 Vegetation
 Buildings and structures
 Views and vistas
 Constructed water features
 Small-scale features
 Archeological sites

Similar to buildings, cultural landscapes are significant for their association with an historic
event, activity, or person.

WHY CULTURAL LANDSCAPES ARE IMPORTANT?

Cultural landscapes studies focus on how the importance of place in our heritage requires
recognition beyond the structures of the built environment.

The concept of cultural landscape is useful for the sustainable management and conservation of
heritage.

Cultural landscape preservation seeks to recognize significant landscape features and place-
making as a way to understand evolving community and cultural values. Everywhere people live
and move about they interact with their environment, creating cultural values through the use and
transformation of their surroundings.

The term "cultural landscape" embraces a diversity of manifestations of the interaction between
humankind and its natural environment. Cultural landscapes often reflect specific techniques of
sustainable land-use, considering the characteristics and limits of the natural environment they
are established in, and a specific spiritual relation to nature. Protection of cultural landscapes can
contribute to modern techniques of sustainable land-use and can maintain or enhance natural
values in the landscape. The continued existence of traditional forms of land-use supports
biological diversity in many regions of the world. The protection of traditional cultural
landscapes is therefore helpful in maintaining biological diversity.

The World Heritage Committee has identified and listed a number of areas or properties as
cultural landscapes of universal value to humankind, including the following:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/culturallandscape/
To date, 121 properties with 6 transboundary properties (1 delisted property) on the World
Heritage List have been included as cultural landscapes.

Afghanistan

 Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley

Andorra

 Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley

Argentina

 Quebrada de Humahuaca

Australia

 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park 1

 Budj Bim Cultural Landscape

Austria

 Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape

 Wachau Cultural Landscape
 Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape *

Azerbaijan

 Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

Belgium

 Colonies of Benevolence *

Brazil

 Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea
 Pampulha Modern Ensemble
 Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity
 Sítio Roberto Burle Marx

Canada

 Landscape of Grand Pré

 Pimachiowin Aki
 Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi
Chad

 Ennedi Massif: Natural and Cultural Landscape

China

 Lushan National Park

 Mount Wutai
 West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou
 Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
 Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

Colombia

 Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Cuba

 Viñales Valley
 Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of
Cuba

Czechia

 Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

 Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region *
 Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby
nad Labem

Denmark

 The par force hunting landscape in North Zealand

 Kujataa Greenland: Norse and Inuit Farming at the Edge of the Ice Cap
 Aasivissuit – Nipisat. Inuit Hunting Ground between Ice and Sea

Ethiopia

 Konso Cultural Landscape

France

 Pyrénées - Mont Perdu *

 Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
 The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes 2
 The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural
Landscape
  Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
 Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars
 The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy
 Taputapuātea

Gabon

 Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda

Germany

 Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz

 Upper Middle Rhine Valley
 Dresden Elbe Valley Delisted 2009
 Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski *
 Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
 Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region *

Hungary

 Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta

 Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape *
 Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape

Iceland

 Þingvellir National Park

India

 Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka

Indonesia

 Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of

the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

 Bam and its Cultural Landscape

 The Persian Garden
 Cultural Landscape of Maymand
 Cultural Landscape of Hawraman/Uramanat

Israel
  Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev

Italy

 Costiera Amalfitana
 Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
 Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archeological Sites of Paestum
and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
 Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy
 Val d'Orcia
 Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany
 Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato
 Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene

Japan

 Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

 Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape

Kazakhstan

 Petroglyphs of the Archaeological Landscape of Tanbaly

Kenya

 Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests

Kyrgyzstan

 Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain

Lao People's Democratic Republic

 Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural
Landscape

Lebanon

 Ouadi Qadisha (the Holy Valley) and the Forest of the Cedars of God (Horsh Arz
el-Rab)

Lithuania

 Curonian Spit *
 Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė)
Madagascar

 Royal Hill of Ambohimanga

Mauritius

 Le Morne Cultural Landscape

Mexico

 Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila

 Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca

Mongolia

 Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape

Netherlands

 Dutch Water Defence Lines

 Colonies of Benevolence *

New Zealand

 Tongariro National Park #

Nigeria

 Sukur Cultural Landscape

 Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove

Norway

 Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago

Palestine

 Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern

Jerusalem, Battir

Papua New Guinea

 Kuk Early Agricultural Site

Philippines
  Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras

Poland

 Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape

Complex and Pilgrimage Park
 Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski *
 Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region

Portugal

 Cultural Landscape of Sintra

 Alto Douro Wine Region
 Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture
 Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga

Romania

 Roșia Montană Mining Landscape

Russian Federation

 Curonian Spit *

Saudi Arabia

 Al-Ahsa Oasis, an Evolving Cultural Landscape

Senegal

 Saloum Delta
 Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes

Singapore

 Singapore Botanic Gardens

South Africa

 Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape

 Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape
 ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape

Spain

 Pyrénées - Mont Perdu *

  Aranjuez Cultural Landscape
 Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana
 Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape
 Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences

Sweden

 Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland

Switzerland

 Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces

Syrian Arab Republic

 Ancient Villages of Northern Syria

Togo

 Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba

Turkey

 Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape

Ukraine

 Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

 St Kilda
 Blaenavon Industrial Landscape
 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
 Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
 The English Lake District
 The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales

United States of America

 Papahānaumokuākea

Uruguay

 Fray Bentos Industrial Landscape

Vanuatu

 Chief Roi Mata’s Domain

Viet Nam

 Trang An Landscape Complex

Zimbabwe

 Matobo Hills