Landscape planning as an asset for regional development in Latvia

Abstract

In Latvia sustainable development strategies of all five planning regions acknowledges landscape planning as an asset for regional sustainability. Moreover, there are now various frameworks that can promote landscape planning, the most important of them are the National Landscape Policy and the thematic plan framework. Therefore, landscape aspects in territorial planning from a mere landscape description as part of territorial characterization have shifted into more integrative and functional part of territorial planning process. Yet, landscape planning is still a marginal activity in Latvia. This paper aims to analyse and expand challenging issues around the elaboration of landscape plans as part of territorial planning processes in Latvia through legislative framework and planning analysis. We reviewed the three most recent landscape planning cases, discussing different planning situations in the context of European Landscape Convention and territorial planning in Latvia. Three planning situations are distinguished: landscape thematic plan as a policy and landscape assessment document, landscape thematic plan as an assessment and the recommendation document, and landscape assessment as part of territorial plan. All three approaches show integrity with territorial planning and reveal the benefits for sustainable territorial planning and regional development, however they still lack the locals’ participation aspects, as well as the focus on ordinary landscapes, social capital and land economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]