Visual capacity assessment of the open landscape in terms of protection and shaping: Case study of a village in Poland

Abstract

This article describes the methodology and results of research on landscape visual capacity. The aim of the project was to develop a tool that would support planning and design decisions at the level of communal management in rural areas in Poland through systematic application of visual criteria. Their importance in the protection, management and shaping of space is underlined by the document produced at the European Landscape Convention of 2000 (ELC). To date, ELC recommendations have not been fully implemented in Poland. The author of the study used the methods of the Krakow School of Landscape Architecture in assessing cultural landscapes and referred to the assumptions of the British Landscape Character Assessment (LCA). The analysis was based on the results of a landscape identification conducted in a part of the Cekcyn commune. The assessment of visual capacity was conducted for the village of Nowy Sumin, located in that commune. The effect of the study is the classification of open landscapes with respect to the assessment of visual changes resulting from potential residential development. The results obtained prompt the conclusion that the applied method can effectively support local spatial planning as it takes national conditions into account.