Identification of Values of the Designed Landscapes: Two Case Studies from the Czech Republic

Abstract

Designed landscapes or big landscape park-integrated gardens, agricultural and woody landscapes have created an environment for human well-being. Several of these areas were created in the Czech lands during the nineteenth century by rich noblemen and they covered one or more cadastral units. The designed landscapes were intentionally managed to be beautiful, sustainable and productive and they had, and in many cases, continued to keep outstanding cultural and natural values. Political changes in the second half of the twentieth century caused deep changes in the ownership of landscape and management. The designed landscapes were either totally or partially disintegrated; economical profit came first from disregarding sustainability. Nevertheless, the designed landscapes still were areas with serious cultural and natural value and many of them became protected areas with more sustainable management than a common landscape. Today, the same driving forces as in other European countries influence the landscape in the Czech Republic: landscape abandonment in marginalized areas and intensification in core areas. Designed landscapes are found in both types. The paper will present new management approaches and problems for preserving both cultural and natural values of designed landscapes based on two case studies from the Czech Republic (Petrohrad and Žehušicko).