Introduction | Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Throughout time, our environment has symbolized natural beauty, human ingenuity, and spiritual freedom. Historically, humans and their environment have been intertwined, with humans dividing the land into natural, rural, and urban spaces. Today, these boundaries are more distinct than ever before (Pregill and Volkman 1993). Farmers began the process of reconstructing natural environments into productive landscapes. Clearing forests for pastures and fields, they have exposed soils to erosion, altered the path of water, and fenced off landscapes into parcels. The altering of landscapes may have begun with farmers, but today they are not the only contributor to landscape change. Engineers, developers, city planners, and landscape architects all have significant impacts on the environments we live in and rely upon (Marsh 1964).

Landscape architecture and sustainable agriculture are both growing fields seeking to address the increasing needs of urban and rural populations. The two professions overlap significantly in their study of ecology, economics, aesthetics, and sociology. Despite significant progress being made in each discipline, limited effort is being made in either community to bond and collaborate with the other in order to more thoroughly design and create multifunctional landscapes. Multifunctional landscapes are those that meet multiple goals and provide multiple functions. These landscapes are generally more desirable than traditional single-purpose landscapes and are often based on the multifunctionality of natural systems, saving space and energy in urban environments (Kato and Ahern 2009). Multifunctional designs offer the opportunity to maintain a productive landscape while allowing for economic growth and considering the future needs of communities and the environment (Hansen and Francis 2007).

RESEARCH QUESTION

What lessons can landscape architects learn from sustainable agriculture to inform the design and assessment of multifunctional agricultural landscapes in peri-urban settings while simultaneously increasing the collaboration between the two professions?

Due to the complexity of the research question, there are several factors in finding an answer. Prior to asking what lessons can landscape architects learn, it is important to understand the rich and dynamic histories of landscape architecture and sustainable agriculture. What do the disciplines have in common? What key differences are there in the professions today? Because the research question is looking towards improving the design of multifunctional agricultural landscapes, it is first important to understand what these landscapes are, why they are beneficial, and how improving them would benefit landscape architecture, sustainable agriculture, and society as a whole. What steps do designers need to take towards improving these landscapes? How can a greater degree of collaboration between landscape architects and sustainable agriculturalists lead towards the improved design of multifunctional agricultural landscapes? Lastly, any change comes with difficulty. What dilemmas lie in adjusting how landscape architects design and assess these landscapes, and how can they be addressed?