99 volumes later: We can visualise. Now what?

Abstract

The early years of landscape and urban planning coincided with the start of the era of digital landscape visualizations, and work published since then has contributed to advancements in representation, assessment, and decision-making in landscape planning and design. This paper examines the journal's articles on landscape visualization published over its 99 volume history (1974-2011), noting technological advances, case studies, and research topics and questions considered to be important during this time. This work is then examined in the context of subsequent developments in the field of landscape visualization in terms of distinct research areas, directions, and topics reflected in the publications. From this analysis, the paper presents an outlook on future challenges for research and practice that includes themes such as the diffusion of 3D visualization in our everyday environment, linking visualizations with underlying models, going beyond highly realistic but simply descriptive visualizations, using visualizations in an assessment and decision-making context, and incorporating multi-sensory experiences. It also considers the prospects for further technological advancements such as augmented reality for making decisions in the planning and design of our future environments. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.