Landscape regeneration project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Landscape regeneration project - Essay Example Landscapes are usually taken for granted and become so much a part of everyday life that they go unnoticed, till something happens to disturb the placidity. A landscape is never static; as cultures evolve, the concept and ideas underlying the definition of landscape also change. Landscapes contain myriad aspects, those of family history, familiar landmarks, historic buildings, art and antiques, plants and animals. Concerns with regard to landscape conservation are so widespread and growing so fast that it becomes extremely difficult to define a landscape. Most interpretations of the landscape reflect personal and collective self interest - things valued as mine or ours. Societies may be modest about what they are but are always proud of what they were. The Environment Act of 1995 places a duty on National Park Authorities aimed at 'conserving and enhancing natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park' and 'promoting opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of areas by the public'. National policy explicitly defines 'heritage' as ancient archaeological remains, sites and historic structures, and thus largely conceives of landscape in terms of the role it plays as a setting or backdrop for these remains, structures or sites. The time-depth this framing brings with it is clear: 'heritage' is to be defined more closely in line with the impressions it has of the past, as opposed to the impressions it may leave in the present. As such, the idea of heritage, and thus landscapes, as a process in itself is overlooked (Ross, 1995). In recent years, the world's waterfronts have provided a particular focus for culture led regeneration. Marshall (2001, p. 3) describes the waterfront as space "in the city which allows expressions of hope for urban vitality". "These waterfront redevelopment projects speak to our future, and to our past. They speak to a past based in industrial production, to a time of tremendous growth and expansion, to social and economic structures that no longer exist. . . ." (Marshall, 2001, p. 5). In this paper, we revisit the regenerative development work carried out in Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside and the West End to discover whether the stated objectives of the project have actually been achieved and to examine how the new developments have achieved different results in localities adjacent to each other. Landscape and Regeneration The meaning of the English word landscape both encompasses framed views of specific sites and the scenic character of whole regions; it applies equally to graphic and textual images as to physical locations (Daniels and Cosgrove: 1989). Landscape holds a broad intellectual scope as a theoretical concept across the arts humanities, and social sciences. It is easy to theorise and redefine landscape into distinct parcels of 'culture', 'history', 'environment', 'prehistory', 'associations' and 'nature' (Cosgrove, 1998, Olwig, 2002, Corner: 1999, Smith: 2003, Bender: 1993), but what and how does one combine these to define a landscape that takes all these within its ambit. How a person interprets a landscape depends upon the individual's background, knowledge and experience. The opinion of the 'expert' and that of the 'common man' on the street may, and is most likely to, be substantially different as to what represents the landscape of a