The landscape evaluation Method - Greta Girone- 2017 by Master Paisatge

THE LANDSCAPE EVALUATION METHOD About the assesment of the outskirts of Enschede and the role of landscape architecture for planning future climate adaptation developments

Greta Girone Master de arquitectura de paisaje Universitad PolitĂ¨cnica de Catalunya

INDEX: 1. INTORDUCTION 2. THE CASE STUDY 3. THE FIELD TRIPS 4. THE LANDSCAPE TYPES 5. THE FRACTAL STRATEGY 6. THE THEMATIC MAPS 7. THE EVALUATION 8. TAILORING A METHOD BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

“ When human beings built their first settlements some 10.000 years ago, the world around them, on the land and in the sea, was full of life. For generations, this stable Eden nurtured our growing civilisations. But now, in the space of just one human lifetime, all that has changed. In the last 50 years, wildlife population have, on average,declined by 60 percent. For the first time in human history, the stability of nature can no longer be taken for granted. But the natural world is resilient. Great riches still remain. And with our help, the planet can recover. Never has it been more important to understand how the natural world works, and how to help it.” Our planet_ documentary

According to the climate situation of the last decades, all Europe’s countries has to work and to commit themselves to decrease their green house gas emissions until the 2050. The continuous dramatic changing of the climate is a very contemporary thematic that affects the behaviour of the entireness of Europe, starting from countries, arriving to their inhabitants. EU has settled its standards for a substantial reduction of CO2 emission of the 20 % until 2020 and 80-95% until 2050, respect the levels of 1990. In the meantime, in order to fulfil these standards ensuring a sustainable future, there has to be an incrementation of the production of green energy and the energetic efficiency. For this, all the European countries have to promote the use of renewable energy sources as wind, solar and biomass in order to reach a good level of green energy production. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy represents one of the most complex challenges of the twenty-first century. The target to reach will require substantial changes in all the countries involved in many different ways and scales of intervention. Climate adaptation and mitigation, are the best ways of prevention and reaction to this huge problem, taking appropriate action to minimise the existing and future damages. Adaptation strategies are needed at all levels of administration: at the local, regional, national, EU and also the international scale of intervention. Due to the varying climate impacts between regions, most adaptation initiatives are taken at the regional or local levels. Cities and municipalities are therefore in the frontline of adaptation. In the absence of national or international climate policy direction, an increasingly number of cities and local communities have been focusing on solving their own climate problems. This happens because more than a half of all CO2 emissions originate in and around the cities. That’s why local authorities (provinces, municipalities…) have the freedom to pursue their own climate policies. This means that even if the climate change is a global issue, it is felt on a small scale and that energy is becoming a very transversal concept that moves through all the levels, from global politics to solar panels in private gardens or on roofs. One of the most helpful action is indeed applicable in the small scale of intervention. Not only provinces can decide their own plan to turn their landscape and cities into a more sustainable system, but also municipalities and villages can make an effort in this sense, creating a strategy proposal to better meet their own energetic standards. If a city wants to independently meet its renewable energy needs, it will need to deeply analyse and invest in the renewable energy potential, focusing on the improving and conversion of existing structures to raise energy output. What it has to be clear is that energy is not just an additional layer on the natural landscape or the built environ5

ment . The landscape itself is fundamentally reformed and revitalised as an energy source, and for the people, the landscape acquires a new meaning. The aim so, is to underline the potentiality of the landscape that produce clean energy in order to let it be more attractive for citizens. In some cases, this energetic changes are just the starting point for a bigger renovation of an entire territory that, taking advantage of opportunities that may arise, has the chance to reconsider itself through new themes and priorities that can allow a significant improvement (progress, upgrading, enhancement) of the complessive quality of that area. Building a climate-friendly, low-carbon society and economy is a big challenge, but can also be seen as a huge opportunity. These changes and adaptation, needs to be seen not only has a matter of â&#x20AC;&#x153;big policy systemsâ&#x20AC;? made by countries, but more as a relationship between people, the environment and energy, and it is something that will radically change with the passing of the time. To ensure that our environment does not continue to be sacrificed and depleted, in order to meet our current energy demands, we will have to work on a new balance between people, environment and energy. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, is either a task for professionals entities and a challenge that effects everyone in the modern society. The case study of this thesis is located in The Netherlands, that in the energetic scenario of European countries is at the moment one of the last in terms of reaching the target of decreasing gas emissions. (fonte) Of course, not all the countries have the same goals because they have different ways and capacity of reaching the same peak in the same time. Still, It is visible how several kind of entities are making a huge effort to improve this situation and to reach the maximum level of green energy production. Working in an office as H+N+S make me realise how many energy transitionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projects and ideas are currently in the phase of planning or actuation. Landscape architects are called from all over the country to activate energy transition plans. This phenomenon make me understand that it is not only a matter of the installation of a single solar park or some windmills, but it is something that really affects a bigger scale, a bigger landscape and it is a great opportunity for improving the qualities of the landscape and of the life of peoples who lives in it. The preliminary study concerning the energy transition, is about all the different themes of the landscape, qualities, problems and every aspect that defines its identity. That is why, at the very beginning of this project, I thought it would have been only centred on the positions of the energetic tools, but only going through it I could realise that it was turning in a deep analysis of the landscape of the municipality, of its society and its naturalistic qualities. At the end of this project, I realise how fundamental was not only the very concrete realisation of the project, but way more the understanding of how the modern society, in detail the dutch one, reacts and involves itself in the introduction of this big change in its home landscape. I felt amazed to see how many cities and provinces needs the landscape architects figure for this transition and how they can already see this process as a window of opportunities for a bigger change in a bigger view.

scale, those are not anymore small punctual interventions in a closed field or on a private house roof, but are big interventions that are seen and experienced by whom lives all around. In my opinion, this aspect is the most important to consider. There has to be an evaluation of all the aspects of the society and the landscape to be able to find the best compromise between the good actuation of the big change and the good way to do it in respect of the nature and the people. This evaluation involves so, both objective and subjective points of view: a very clear and unconditional study about the landscape types and conditions has to go along with a more personal point of view that has to be capable to understand how citizens, farmers and tourists feel about the landscape as it is now and its future possible development. So the question is : What is the better way to make this evaluation being respectful of all these aspects? Is there a unique way to do it? And if it is not, what are the main variables that makes you change the way of evaluating the complexity of the landscape? The aim of this thesis is to go through the utilised evaluation method for this specific case study in order to underline the multiple ways to understand and estimate a precise landscape and to set out, if it is possible, the main points for an unique evaluation method.

It is clear that the introduction of energy tools as solar panels and windmill is not easy and accepted from the entireness of the society, especially because in a bigger system 6

2. THE CASE STUDY

“Price is the easiest way to determine quality of art, but not the best” Art Dealer

The case study of this thesis is about the new energetic transition programme that the Municipality of Enschede has requested to H+N+S landscape architects. The Municipality intends to have a new vision to develop the outskirts of the city in order to be able to propose an energetic transition programme to become an energy neutral municipality. Since there is not a clear and defined energetic programme yet, our task was to evaluate the whole area in order to define which type of interventions and in which measure could be activate in the next future for the integration of energy production. The agreement between the two parts was about both energetic and climate matters and so about the evaluation of the entire municipality’s landscape in order to better understand which are the areas to preserve and where it is possible to actuate a development process. The first approach proposed was following three main points: 1- the study of the spatial qualities of the area 2- the elaboration of a territorial set-up based on the different characteristics of the area 3- the definition of the qualities of the entire area based on the landscape itself, its history and the further values for new developments. Enschede is a city located in the eastern part of The Netherlands and in the south-east part of the province of Overijssel. It is the biggest city of the province and the 13th of the country. Together with the cities of Almelo and Hengelo, Enschede forms the network of Twente and it is one of the economic centres of the country. The economic profile of the region of Twente has developed from a strong focus on textile and metal industry, to an important knowledge centre with a specialisation in technology (Technology Valley) and innovation. Twente is also one of the top five most famous touristic destination in the Netherlands, and it is still attracting more tourists from inland and abroad. That’s why the economy of leisure has grown in recent years, even if currently the recreational touristic product of Enschede consist mainly of urban facilities. The outlying area is also very important for the recreational offer, but its value can be implemented. Because of this, the Municipality wants to grow more with its leisure sector, but in a qualitative way that can also contributes to a liveable and sustainable city. The outskirts of the city is an area of around 10.000 ha and it is composed by a variegate landscape. Over the years, as a result of the development of industry and the creation of new residential areas, the city has expanded a lot in the surrounding territory. Because of this, a lot of county estates are now in the outskirts of the city and they are a consistent part of the tourists interest and routes through the landscape. From an urban perspective this natural area could be seen as a big garden of its city because it is very much used by all the citizens for various recreative activities. However, this

landscape is not only a leisure space for who lives in the city but is also the living and working space of many people. There are about 2000 houses and 580 companies located in the rural area: landowners, farmers and several organisations are the ones who live, work and manage the area. The municipality has - apart from roads, verges and ditches - only limited ownership, so its authority mainly concerns allowing initiatives and controlling the conditions under which development actions must take place. So, the Municipality is a sort of guardian of the spatial quality of the area, but it is up to the residents and owners to actually make and preserve a liveable and beautiful landscape.

ALMELO

HENGELO

ENSCHEDE

Map of Twente region

Already in the first phase of the work, although it was very clear what the request of the municipality was, it was not very clear what processes we should follow and consequently what could have been the best method to use. We knew that a large part of analysis, in the field and digital, would have been our main resource not only of informations, but above all, of inputs to arrive at a clear vision of the territory in order to be able to “judge” it. The main theme of our first discussions on the project was therefore what was the best methodology to follow to be able to make judgments on the landscape, which could clearly not be too subjective or only based on our perception in the field, nor be only objective and based on digital data obtained from the GIS. But how can we be only objective on the landscape? Even just by sitting in our own workstation, using only infographic material as the unique source of knowledge, we always get to have even a small part of personal idea about what we are working on. But if, on the other hand, we are directly in the field doing every type of investigation possible, from a simple walk in the territory to a talk with the inhabitants, taking photographs and notes on what we see and hear, the only objective view of the landscape is still compromised and we find ourself thinking that an area is more interesting than another not just because it is more valid from the point of view of agriculture or land use, but also because the atmosphere is more beautiful, the trees are more lush or the view more interesting. This was the most imposing obstacle of our work: to be able to unify and channel our perceptions with objective digital datas. Since it was not a “design project” where a client chooses an architect and relies on his ideas as a designer, but a huge area to be carefully evaluated for the future good of the landscape, the community and its economy, we could not be too carried away by emotions, but we had to be able to combine all the different aspects that result from a very multifaceted and anthropic area. This work, in a way, could be comparable to that of an art consultant who is about to evaluate a piece of art. Generally an art consultant cannot evaluate a piece of art for his personal emotions, but must express an opinion weighing many variables. This judgment, by convention, is based on three parameters: the market price, the aesthetic quality of the work and its reputation and that of its creator. Often facing the first phase of this project, I tried, to get to the bottom of my questions on how to actually assess the territory, studying the work of the art experts. It was useful to follow their evaluation criteria to establish a mental order. The market price, based in art on a mathematical formula therefore objective, was comparable to the informations obtained by the Gis i.e. digital datas. These for example are the types of landscape present, the amount of farms in the territory, the landscape areas protected by constraints and so on. The aesthetic quality of the work, in art based on precise canons built by both historical precedents and the subjective beauty, feelings and emotions aroused in those who admire it, was comparable to the feelings felt walking in the landscape during visits in situ, for example on how much more interesting a varied landscape full of lush vegetation could be rather than a monotonous succession of fields, or how important was to be able to read the small but visible changes in altitude in some parts of the territory. The reputation of the artist and its production, which in the art world is increasingly based on popularity and advertising, so on datas based on the consent of a majority, in my case could be seen as the opinion of the inhabitants of the place, from the people of the town hall who know perfectly every single corner of the territory to 11

the farmers who live on the land and citizens who use it, and so, seeing their opinions as a mediating element between the pure objective and subjective. But there is another theme that landscape designers cannot ignore and that art consultants do not often need to consider. The work of art is before and after the evaluation, however, an object, it can age and deteriorate, but it will have no other purpose than to be a “static” piece of art. Landscape, on the other hand, is living and dynamic, not only subjected to physical changes, whether positive or negative, but being targeted from both natural and humans dynamics, it is destined to one or more uses, which can change with the passing of the years. Therefore, our evaluation must also be dynamic, foreseeing changes, future uses, and last but not least, possible strategies that will lead to improvements or new developments of the territory and its resources. Our additional criterion is time. Once the guidelines of the evaluation had been established, it was essential to define what the ultimate aim of this operation was, namely, what improvements and transformations could be made. It was clear from the beginning that part of the territory would have been transformed into areas of sustainable energy production, and that therefore it would be invested in the future in the main sources of production of this: solar farms, wind power, geothermal energy and biomass. Our evaluations thus had to be always aimed at proposing a feasibility study and spatial choices for the application of these precise transformations of use and consequently of the territory. At the end of the work, our production would have to draw up guidelines for future investors about where it would be more plausible and appropriate to use the resources of the territory for this specific transformations. It was therefore always to keep in our minds that we were not the ones who could decide in a practical way how and where to convert parcels to other uses, that ours was a preliminary study to be taken into account at a later stage of implementation and that our valuation would have been just “suggestions”. The difficulty was, thus, also to know that the real transformation would come much later, with a specific plan only for the production of clean energy and that it was neither certain nor mandatory that all the lots designated by us, were then to be effectively transformed. On the contrary, knowing that one of the main transformations proposed by the municipality was the construction of clusters of solar parks, our attention had to be precisely to avoid that there was an abundance of solar parks in the same part of the territory, which would probably lead to the risk of a consequent loss of quality and biodiversity of it. The final proposal, therefore, had to be efficient and effective, had to take into account many aspects, from the natural to the social to the economic, and to ensure that these were in collaboration with each other through time. Map of the actual situation of the municipality

3. THE FIELD TRIPS

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I enjoy all phases of projects but I do love the beginning of a project when all is new and the process is so much about discovery. If I am able, I like to experience the site first hand without too much research. Remaining open to the first impressions of the site and imagining what could be without imposing or needing an answer usually sparks my immagination for the beginning of a conceputal framework.â&#x20AC;? Molly Bourne, Principal at MNLA

After clearly defining our objectives, the first real phase of work was the field trip in the project area. Before going to Enschede, we had just started the process of researching and assimilating digital data, which initially formed a single large map of the territory with a lot of overlapping information, among which the most important were the differences between the types of landscape present. There were three field trips during the course of the work, but the first one already made it much clearer how we should have to work later, i.e. trying as much as possible to understand the environment not only from a naturalistic point of view but from its sociological functioning. In each inspection, we were accompanied by three people from the town hall, who through detailed patrols by car, have allowed us to learn more about the territory and its many aspects. It was clear that they, who had always known and lived the area, had traced a precise route to follow, wanting to show us not only the main features of the landscape, but also the activities, the boundaries, the differences and especially the areas with more or less value according to their opinion. It turned out to be very instructive, because without their detailed and continuous explanations, we would never have been able to understand and know so thoroughly the culture and history of the place. It was enormously interesting to cross the vast territory by car and stop at strategic points to observe and read the landscape, but also to look for what was actually happening at that precise moment. I personally found very peculiar the fact that we never did an inspection without guides: on one hand I think that this has a positive connotation, as we were always in the presence of an explanation of the place able to answer to every question we asked ourself; on the other hand I find that it is also important to be able to have a completely personal perception of a territory that we had to study for a future purpose, stop to observe from points of view not already set but still interesting, to have a point of view not always filtered by the eyes and opinions of the natives, trying in this way to have an even broader view from different points of view of the whole situation. However, this was probably not possible due to a lack of time, especially because the visits always lasted the whole day, but even if in small part, I think that at the end of the three visits, there was the right balance between our personal opinions and the objectivity that was required. Probably, being completely without guides, we would have had a too personal idea of the site and our final evaluation would have been compromised. In my opinion, on-site visits were one of the fundamental parts of the evaluation process, because we not only must really know the work area on in all its aspects, but without being present on the spot, it would have been impossible to understand many of the social dynamics taking place in the municipality. Our role, in this sense, is biunivocal: on the one hand, landscape architects are called upon to restore and improve the natural systems affected by deforestation, large-scale agriculture, climate

change ...; on the other hand, we are called to introduce new technologies and new materials for the production of sustainable energy, changing in a partially definitive way not only the face of the landscape, but also that of society. Although this last part of our work was precisely required by the municipality, it is always a challenge to introduce such changes in a territory of agricultural and housing matrix, having to find a compromise between the implementation of these technologies in specific places and positions for their proper functioning and the willingness to cooperate and acceptance of citizens. For this reason, we have been shown how often the implementation of these processes does not pass by private means but by small cooperatives or policy makers that support farms for their participation and for changing the use of part of their agricultural land in favour of solar farms or wind turbines. In order for the change to give important results on a municipal scale, it is not only a question of placing solar panels on some roofs of houses or farms, but also of creating real plots at the size of an agricultural field used as a solar park. This is clearly a process not always accepted by citizens, especially if the lot in question is located near their homes, thus totally changing the perception and experience of the landscape. This is a fundamental point that has been taken into account from the very beginning, since for a proper implementation of these new measures, we can not therefore only choose which lot can be released for the aforementioned change of use regardless of the great impact for farmers and citizens living around it. In the face of these first impressions, how is it therefore possible to combine a public programme with climate adaptive interventions creating a synergy that can not only speed up the transition process by ensuring its implementation in the right way but also ensure that citizens accept and see this progress as a good thing? There is no a unique and direct answer to this question, in my opinion, as there are many factors and variables to consider in order to find the right balance between the two. The certainty, however, born from the experience of this project is that the starting point must be the “Genius loci”, i.e. the identity and essence of the place. Only by a careful and in-depth analysis of all the components of a place it is possible to can recognise and fully understand the true character of the place from which then derives a higher quality of the final intervention. With a correct understanding of the genius loci, it is possible to orient climate adaptation in the most correct direction in such a way as to satisfy not only all the criteria for implementing this, but also to arrive at a compromise and a qualitatively high network between the adaptation itself, the society and the landscape to be adapted. THE SENSATIONS The interest and attention given to the visits was therefore very high, especially since the character of these visits had to be outlined right from the start. As it was not a job where the final product has to be a physical project but an overall assessment, our approach to the site had to be in line with our final goal. One of the main qualities outlined from the beginning was the possibility that different points of view could give to perceive the morphology of the landscape in some areas. Being a purely flat and agricultural landscape, it was not always easy to perceive 16

the slight changes in altitude in the land, which often made it monotonous. But when it was actually possible to identify this altitude changes, the clear distinction between the historical small-scale agricultural fields and the large agricultural plots of land today, or the presence of waterways not entirely marked by a consistent contour of vegetation, the landscape was in our eyes much more interesting. Our point of view was therefore not only poured on the future opportunity to increase the vegetation in the objective of the point of view (increase the vegetation around the river), the more to find a way to ensure that what was observed was immediately visible because the point of view was focused on a single objective. This stems from the fact that many areas were actually too open which made difficult to focus the view on a single objective, but much more on the whole landscape, often even at 360°, which suggested the feeling of loss and confusion. We often asked ourselves the question: “Where should I look?”. Not knowing in which direction to look, can be particularly interesting if you are on a cliff and you look at a wide panorama that extends as far as the eye can see; it may not be particularly important if you are in a forest being surrounded by trees, where it is not essential a single point of view as much as the experience of a walk in a particular atmosphere. But when you are in an immense flat expanse of meadows with few trees and a few fences that mark the boundaries of the lots, the interest may decrease because the surrounding landscape can be perceived as monotonous and uninteresting. If you identify, looking more closely, a particular as a stream, that can give a different character to the landscape, it is good to make the view of the visitor is enchanted precisely towards that detail. It was therefore a spontaneous feeling for us to think about this type of large-scale and extremely anthropic productive landscape, as something to which a viewfinder should be added to better identify the particularities and character. One of the most incredible and visible peculiarities of the territory has been to discover the historical agricultural lands. These, called “Es”, are not only the most fertile plots in the area, but also have the appearance of small convex depressions of soil. Since the beginning those have been for us one of the most precious qualities of the municipality, not only because they had a great historical value being surrounded by beautiful estates made by the typical Dutch architecture, but also because in comparison with newer and flatter fields, they were absolutely visible because of their change in altitude. The landscape shows its history: even without any intervention on our part, they are a real attraction for tourists and a great quality for the landscape and biodiversity. A large part of the territory had relatively new agricultural fields on a large scale, where we felt the sensation of losing our points of view. Other environments, however, were slightly different. A large quantity of agricultural plots were almost completely surrounded by rows of trees, which partially concealed the view of the fields themselves. From a visual point of view, it was like looking through a flat green tunnel made up of green walls with a pleasant feeling of protection. Here, too, it was immediate to recognise a future quality in this type of landscape, seeing these fields as suitable for future transformations into solar parks: large agricultural plots hidden by rows of trees that therefore allowed a transformation of use without affecting who lives nearby. Exchanging opinions on the subject with our personal guides, who were also already convinced of this possible change, another key topic came up: the importance of maintaining a high level of biodiversity while implementing a change of use. If a solar 17

park is set up in a good way, it will have an empty edge of about 20 metres between the first panel of each row and the boundary of the lot, in this case the rows of trees. This means that in this resulting space there is a great opportunity to make the solar park an interesting ecological connector, as it can present a huge variety of tree species (plants and flowers) to give continuity to the surrounding environment. Depending on the needs, it is possible to create the most diverse types of solar park. From the creation of a humid land that starts from under the rows of trees and extends throughout the area in order to create an environment suitable for tree frog, a protected species in the municipality of Enschede, to an edge pollinizer edge with special flowering plants for bees and other insects, up to the installation of solar panels on raised bases so as to allow groups of sheep to graze below the panels. If many agricultural plots have a clear vegetative border, on the contrary, there are no borders between the city of Enschede and its outskirt. It is peculiar that between the last row of houses and the first agricultural field, there is almost never a gradual detachment, a buffer, but on the contrary, the interruption is clear and decided as a cut. The feeling is really to walk in the garden of the houses on the edge of the city, although the appliances and uses are actually different. However, this clean break, although unique and particular, does not imply that there is a real interaction between those who live in the city and those who live in the countryside. Instead, citizens often use the on-board camps as a resting or recreation area, a habit that farmers try to eliminate as this activity could compromise the quality of the cultivations. Although initially my focus on the subject was almost exclusively on the need to create an ecological buffer to have a better transition between the two realities of the municipality, after a deeper analysis, I realised that the key aspect was that if there is no collaboration between the two entities, it becomes increasingly difficult to propose a change so drastic in the field of clean energy that would imply a coordination and compromise between citizens and farmers and not only between different members of the same field (citizens-citizens or farmers-farmers). The problem is accentuated by the progressive abandonment of farms by farmers who prefer to move in the city and leave their country houses to citizens who use them as holiday villas and selling or renting their land to other farmers with the final result that there are fewer landowners but with larger agricultural production. This situation creates a chaos that will probably make it more difficult to reach an agreement between different parties to change the use of many lots in favour of the production of clean energy. As always in this area, the province or the municipality must have a strong implementation proposal in advance, so that the transformation does not damage any of the parties involved, but on the contrary finds a suitable compromise for the best satisfaction of all needs. Only when my attention shifted to this aspect, which is more sociological than landscape, did I realise that in this project we were the starting point of this process.

racteristics to the one located only a few miles away. Another important aspect was the relationship between the variegated landscape and the water. In the large-scale landscape, watercourses were only partially visible when it was possible to detect a slight change in altitude in the landscape. However, when walking through small-scale fields or through forests, the experience with water changed radically. In fact, the presence of canals was much more consistent, especially on the edges of roads or between fields. While it was interesting to find out how these canals were created to irrigate the surrounding plots specifically as retention basins to prevent flooding of the fields, on the other hand it was difficult to really see how the water system actually worked. Most of the channels were dry. Because of the ever warmer and less rainy summers, the basins and canals were dry, even though we were already in winter. Among all the aspects and experiences of the three days of visit, I think that this in particular attracted my attention and sensitivity, as a tangible sign of the worrying situation of climate change and of how obviously important our work in this area was.

As the visits on the spot followed one another, I realised how peculiar was the presence of so many different types of landscape in a single large outline of the same city. Slowly, the large agricultural fields with some border trees were followed by forests used for hunting or for timber. The roads that were barely marked before, in other areas were completely surrounded by lush vegetation that gave much more the idea of a closed and natural landscape. Here, even the small gatherings of villas were more interesting, as if they were holiday resorts, in a place with completely different cha18

4. THE LANDSCAPE TYPES

“I was surprised at the number of things that landscape architects could do. That’s a really positive message, that across different scales and time frames we can plan and design for a more resilient urban environment that uses less energy, but provides more flexible and adaptable places for health and social interaction.”

After all the field trip and some starting analysis of the territory, since we understood that the outskirts of the Municipality was absolutely not uniform and neither with just one feature, we thought that the best way of understanding finally and completely the territory was to define it according to the multiple landscape types. We needed to know precisely where all the different atmosphere we found in the field trip were located on a map, to be able to define all the areas and put in order all the information we got on the visits.

Simon Morrison, Director,ICN Design, Singapore

water system high moor landscape old agricultural fields “es” fields young agricultural fields farm estates country estates

forest estates

Map of the landscape types

THE NATURAL LAYER The overall area consists of a sand cover complex that runs from east to west. A few north-south oriented dams cut trough the top sand, including the east Twente moraine (150.000 years ago pushed up by a glacier). Historically, many bogs have developed on this territory because it was difficult to drain the water, even if with the years almost all of them has been reclaimed, except in the south-east part of Enschede. The soil is often cut by the watercourses that allows to the water to flow from the source areas on the flanks of the dams to the brooks in the sandy soil. THE WATER SYSTEM The water system, mainly composed by brooks, have a different appearance depending on the type of landscape though it flows. Sometimes, especially in the big scale fields, it consists in a network of canalised brooks for the drainage of agricultural soils. However, the more natural streams are ecological green connectors between the different parts of landscapes. Their shapes and the adjoining wet vegetation are modelling the flat the land. The edge of the brooks often consist of wet vegetation which is mainly composed by Els (alnus), Willows (sailx), Poplars (populus nigra) and Ash trees (fraxinus). Regardless of the brooks appearance, they contribute to the nature experience, and so they are a very key point of this territory. But their importance is not only based on the visual layer: the underground water determines the nature value. That’s because all the productive landscape is based on the sufficient amount of water of good quality. Agriculture, for example, needs water for crop growth, but too much water could ruin the production. Because in the past water systems were mainly designed for agriculture, nowadays problems have arisen: either dehydration or too much water downstream. Further actions so, should be done on the improvement of the water management (infiltration and retention) and water quality in a more efficient and sustainable way for both nature and agriculture.

THE AGRICULTURAL - CULTURAL LANDSCAPE Historically, the development of this Municipality goes from a very traditional agricultural scenery, where a lot of small scale parcels were surrounding the city centre, to an industrial expansion, after 1830, that leads a change of scale into the productive landscape because of the urban expansion of the city. At present, Enschede has around 180 farms, 70 professional farms and 110 “ part-time farms”. Nowadays, there is a strong and readable difference between the historical farms and the modern ones. It is not only about the scale difference, but also the shapes of the new fields are very much straight and defined than the old ones. Some of the old agricultural landscapes are defined by the presence of the “es”, the high soil fields which are more fertile than the other soils. Close to these particular fields, there are wonderful old and traditional farms, very different from the new ones that aims to be more functional and modern. The old agricultural land must be preserved as it is, and the new one should be implemented to became more functional and attractive for both citizens and tourists. One of the main problems is the growing abandoning of the fields from the farmers, who are now selling or renting their farms as vacations villas, and their fields to other farmers who are growing their production. This process entails two problems: first, there is a growing loss of the historical estates and traditions in favour of the continuous merging of the fields for bigger productions; second, the more the productions grows, the less farmers will sell their products in the small local market in favour of the big country market. In a city as Enschede, with all this productive landscape around, there should be a network for local market where farmers sell their own products to the citizens, promoting the km0 food and using their farms as recreational points where citizens and tourists could taste the local food. Probably, with a good programme that promotes a network between the local market (farmers, shops, estates) and who lives the territory (citizens, tourists), there would be more interest in this productive land from both sides, as a new value and attraction of this territory. THE OLD AGRICULTURAL FIELDS

THE HIGH MOOR LANDSCAPE

This historical landscape dates back to the late Middle Ages and are characterised by small scale fields, irregular fragmentations bounded by the presence of small forests, meandering brooks or paths which follows the hectic shapes of the fields. They are all surrounded by historical farms of estates with open gardens and orchards and monumental oak trees. Several fields, are defined as “es”, the historical arable complexes that have been created starting from a very poor sandy soil by spreading the manure from the pot stable over the fields in order to make them much more fertile and so suitable for agriculture. This has given to the fields the typical connotation of a convex shape. This scenery is one of the most important attractions of the municipality.

This particular type of landscape occurs only in the south east corner of the municipality and it is the last residue of the old bogs soil which used to be and important peat extraction area. This area has still the characteristics of a peat land with very wet parts with many natural values, cut by straight roads and paths and in the mean time a variety of open spaces and poplar, willows and oaks forests.

THE YOUNG AGRICULTURAL FIELDS At the end of 19th century, after a long time of sod fertilisation, the agricultural system changed in favour of industrial-produced fertilisers, which meant that it was unnecessary anymore the use of the sod system. This new kind of landscape is characterised by big scale fields with rational and definite boundaries made by straight roads often marked by trees plantation in lines. The fields are mostly grasslands sometimes intercut by big farms or some trees. The global view is a flat productive landscape where there are few points of view and where the sense of visual loss is pretty much present. In some parts of this landscape, especially near abitative centres the fields are bounded by high tree lines which hides the views of those fields. This particular scenario suits very well with the will of install solar parks that can be so not seen from the outside. This could solve the very common issue of solar parks that generally are seen as something that ruins the view of the landscape, and so are not really accepted by the community.

THE ESTATES A huge number of estates have emerged in the last 150 years spread into this territory. Most of those are from the textile ages, founded by the textile families. Even if there are several differences between the kind of estates, there are some general characteristics that can be underlined as the main avenue for the accessibility within walking routes that allow visitors to experience the gardens and the houses with just the limited accessibility in the very private part, the presence of woodlands attached to the estates and the high ecological value through variety of species. Some of them can really be considered as monumental buildings and are very attractive for the tourism. There is a huge potential in the network of those estates, that could be even more exploited in favour of recreational facilities, bed and breakfast and places where people can experience the essence and history of this place.

THE COUNTRY ESTATES Those are often big villas with a park all around it that is composed by a series of small and large interrelated spaces in a designed spatial composition.

THE FOREST ESTATES A lot of the forests in the municipality are considerate estates because of their high ecological value and their beautiful atmosphere. The larger ones are also used for hunting and occasionally there is the presence of villas or maintenance houses. Still, the number of forests in the municipality could be increased in order to obtain biomass, and the existing ones could be implemented from monocolture to pluricolture to raise the biodiversity.

THE FARM ESTATES These particular estates has a strong agricultural setting and are often related to the old agricultural fields. The yard is the main core and all the fields and the estate are around it.

5. THE FRACTAL STRATEGY

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is believed that somehow there exists a fractal correspondence with the structure of the human mind, that is why people find them so familiar. This familiarity is still a mystery and deepens the argument more than the mystery of growing.â&#x20AC;? BENOIT MANDELBROT

Once we had all the necessary informations about the territory in all its aspects, we outlined in detail the strategy to follow for its the evaluation. From the very first visit to the site, we were quite sure that we would have to divide the land into different areas. The Enschede outskirt is too large and too varied to be assessed on a detailed scale. So we knew that the next step would be to divide it into sub-areas... but how? On what basis is it possible to divide a territory? We were aware that there was a map created by the town hall where the outskirts of the city had subdivisions at a cultural level. We therefore chose not to consult this map at the beginning, but only later when we had gained such a knowledge of the environment to allow us to identify by ourselves its possible divisions, and then compare them with those of the municipality. It was fundamental for us to create first in our minds a personal division following the different situations in which we found ourselves, and not having consulted the existing map helped us to create our own opinion. After tracing our boundaries, we compared them with the existing ones and found out there were many similarities. With the help our guides from the municipality, we then outlined and perfected these boundaries in a definitive way, making greater divisions if the landscape had different characteristics or uses and joining some areas with common characters even if less evident, thus creating 7 sub-areas. In such a wide and varied land, rich in many and different particularities, it is often difficult to directly transmit visual data obtained from a personal experience and to plan data in digital format. For this reason, the help of our town hall guides has been fundamental in order not to make mistakes of imprecision and, above all, to know even more deeply the essence of the landscape through their experiences.

Map of our seven sub-areas

Once we had grouped all the “cold” analyses, the informations from field experience and the sub-area divisions, we were ready to proceed to the next step of landscape assessment. So far Having worked with large scale analysis and maps (the whole territory of the municipality) had helped us to collect almost all the datas on a single map, so as to have an overview of the current situation. However, having only such a wide perspective of the area, made it difficult to assess the singular entities of the landscape, especially because the individual types of land, were repeated in various parts of the municipality. How to proceed then? If we had kept the scale of work to the entire extension, we would have had to evaluate each category individually, comparing then the lots between them and identifying, each time, which lot of the same type had more value and which less. However, the work could not have been precise and detailed because the entities to be compared would have been too many; moreover, the final evaluation would have been for types of landscape fine in themselves and not for a single and varied territory unity. The entities would have been unrelated to each other, so would have been evaluated in comparison with other distant kilometres settled in other contexts, and not for their own surrounding and for how they were linked with it. In example, the value of a small forest plot in the context of large scale fields, has a lower value than a forest miles away that surrounds the historic agricultural plots so in a context of historical estates and small scale fields. If instead we consider the same forest lot, not compared to another one of other context, but seen as an entity in a certain type of environment, it will have a much higher value because it is a source of biomass, biodiversity and attractiveness, considering that it is in a monotonous panorama consisting only of large-scale grasslands. In our opinion, in both cases, there is an imprecision: in the first, the evaluation is wrong because it examines two lots of the same typology but which are in two different contexts; in the second, the evaluation is more correct, but in the reiteration for the entire extension of the municipality, it risks becoming too precise on the single subject without considering the integration in a much larger area. Finally, the solution decided was to abandon the large scale at this stage, and make our assessments at the scale of the individual sub-areas. With this method, the types of landscape would have been only our starting point for the assessment and not the only evaluation parameters, it would have been possible a more reduced comparison if in the same area there would have been more than one landscape entity, and at the same time the context to be considered would have been limited to the sub-area and not to the entire municipality. This is possible because the panorama is vast and varied and each sub-area has its own essence and use. The division into sub-areas proved to be more than profitable, since despite some variation in the territory, the contexts and landscape typologies were repeated in each area: it was like having seven fractals of the entire municipality at our disposal.

such as clouds, coastlines, the tangle of branches of a tree and ferns. For our study, it was interesting to find similarities with the study of Professor Richard Taylor of the University of Oregon, who, during his career, studies the paintings of Jakson Pollock, initially to verify their authenticity (the ease of the technique of making his paintings has increased a large number of imitators), then to verify the presence of fractals in it. Through the division of the canvases into boxes, it was possible to verify that, as in nature, Pollock’s paintings present approximate fractals. The usefulness of these studies, in our case, was to find the right connection between the two scales of action, knowing therefore that much of what was on a small scale, would also occur on a larger scale and vice versa. This conviction allowed us to carry out the evaluation only on a small scale, and then only at the end to bring together all our “fractals” and see how there was actually a clear consistency between the individual area and the entire municipality.

Fractals in nature

By definition, a fractal is a geometric object that is repeated in its shape in the same way on different scales (self-similarity), so enlarging any part of it, you get a figure similar to the original. “Wanting to be very synthetic, fractals serve to find a new representation that starts from the basic idea that the little in nature is nothing more than a copy of the big”. With this definition Benoit Mandelbrot, in 1975, coined the term fractal, which subsequently had many different implications in mathematics as in nature. But unlike exact fractals, mathematically generated with precise equations, in the case of nature, self-similarity is to be understood as approximate and can be found in many things 28

6. THE THEMATIC MAPS

“What stands out is the list of potential actions that landscape architects can take to improve climate-friendly outcomes. [...] Landscape architecture may be the most integrative and connective of the design professions. Our work links everything together. When we conceptualize the entire landscape as a functioning ecological, environmental and social system, we are on the right track to reduce our carbon footprint while building healthier communities and treating our Earth with more respect.” Mark Johnson, Principal, Civitas and Co-Chari of the Climate Council of the Van Alen Institute

For a better clarity of context and in order to obtain a more detailed final evaluation, we have created for each sub-area, three thematic maps, which best summarise the informations that we considered essential for the final evaluation. With this method, not only we had the datas grouped by category, but it was mentally and visually easier to overlap all the important aspects and, through a cross-check, to assign our assessments. The reading of the maps is possible in two different ways: the “horizontal”way, that is comparing different maps of the same area; the “vertical” way, namely comparing the same type of map in different areas. In this way, all the informations, even divided, are still connected to each other. THE MAP OF USES The huge amount of different uses and attractions in this territory, is one of the main point of the analysis for the evaluation. After the visits to the sites and a workshop made between the different actors of the municipality and the policy makers, we understood how deep was the interest to let the outskirt of Enschede become an attractive pole for tourists and economy and how much potential was actually in this land. The municipality is therefore working at a program on how to make a better use of the outlying area to make tourism grow. Especially the old farmhouse landscape, country estates and streams are seen as very interesting for tourism development. This map, so, shows the different uses as well as the main point of attraction and the different recreational routes ( bicycle, horse and walking routes). It is then easy to see, for example, if there are enough routes in comparison to the number of attractions and estates and to the effective potentiality of the place, or where are the most attractive places and where, on the contrary, there is not much potential to the tourism attractions and where the land can be reused for different purposes as the sustainable energy production. THE MAP OF EXPERIENCES The qualities of a territory does not only consist on its use but also on the perceptions and the feeling that can transmit to people who are experiencing it. The very essence of a place stands in its atmosphere, in how people can feel living it, and so the more quality has the experience, the more quality has the landscape itself. To build this map, we have considered our personal opinions and involvements according to the different environments that we have been through. Of course, it was not about the “bad” and “good” areas, but rather about how much readable was the territory, how much we could understand about it just walking trough it, and how interesting all the different parts could be to a foreign eye. Concerning to this, another important aspect was the relationship between the outskirt landscape and the city. We have analysed the borders of these two entities because, the total lack of a in-between buffer was really peculiar and we immediately saw a great potential in this very unique situation. By drawing all

USSELO

of our impressions, we could explain where the visual was free to read the landscape morphology, where the points of view were actually indicating a particular natural detail; where a tourist could understand the change from an old territory to a new one; where the city borders where surrounded by trees or where the houses where not even facing the landscape of the outskirts. THE MAP OF PROTECTED AREAS To be able to value the landscape with the aim of a future transformation, we had to consider another important aspect: the protected areas. Since this land has several complex and beautiful environments, some of them are already protected by associations as Natura 2000 or NNN (The Netherlands Nature Network). Both of these networks have the aim to preserve very special natural areas in order to maintain and increase the biodiversity and the quality of them. This map, helped us to understand which areas were under this protection, and also to compare them with the ones that for us had a high natural quality, in order to give a better judgment on them.

BROEKELO- RUTBEEK

By way of example, it is shown a table content all the maps of all the areas, and the first area in detalis. TWEKKELO

ESMARKE

DRIENE

BROEKHEURNE LONNEKER

ESMARKE: The first area is located in the southeast if Enschede, intersected by the N35 road and settled in between the residential part of Enschede and the border of Germany. Geomorphologically, it lies on the moraine from which various brooks originate. On the MAP OF USES

left side, there is a big historical area made by high fields and traditional farms. From west to east, the small scale fields turns into a younger and more open territory with straight boundaries and less and less vegetation. On the right side, there is the only remaining peat landscape of the entire Municipality.

MAP OF EXPERIENCES

MAP OF PROTECTED AREAS

3 2

8 7

5 6

Recreation:

Routes:

Culture:

Border city-outskirts:

In the landscape:

parks

bike

monuments

open visual

messy border

open space

sports

trekking

estates

blocky visual

no visual

point of view

residential

MTB

old estates

essen

NNN outside the NNN protection Natura 2000

horse

border between old and new landscape

typical old architecture

young agricultural fields with new farm

open view of new fields

border between the city and the fields

young agricultural field with high green border

border between main road and young fields

young field, future conversion in solar park

7.THE EVALUATION

“Landscape architects are equipped to provide greater literacy about resilience to community residents facing choices or action plans. We are able to communicate the technical, ethical and social issue to help place communities at the centre of dialogue. In essence we can illustrate what risk means and help people to evaluate the level of risk they can tolerate. Chances needed to advance adaptation can be hard to accept but landscape architects have the capacity to think broadly and into the future. Building resilience […] demands a variety of strategies that need to provide multiple solutions that achieve the triple bottom line of social, environmental and economic benefits.” Signe Nielsen, Principal MNLA, N.Y.

After the creation of the thematic maps, all the informations that we needed were clear and readable, so we were finally ready to proceed on our evaluation. We were aware of which area had the best visual to read the territory, where it was possible to read the brook’s morphology and where not, where there was a lack of touristic routes and where the view points needed to be improved to focus on landscape’s details. We had the answers to all the questions about this area. But then, how to express our impressions graphically on a map, in order to let the municipality be aware of how to proceed in the future transformations? How could we actually and practically evaluate this environment trying to be as much objective as possible? What method we should have followed? We first started thinking to give actual marks to all the different parts of the area. We tried several different combinations for the grades, trying to find the best way to explain our decisions. But then we found out that none of the ways we were trying were exhausting to explain why we gave a specific mark to a specific area. We had to find an evaluation method more explanatory and clear, a final proposal map that could be able to tell what value we gave, for what reason and which suggestion we had for improving it. For doing this, the final assessment follows several steps: the definition of three evaluation criteria, the base principles to evaluate the landscape according to the types, the definition of three strategies of possible developments in combination with the criteria. After the deep study of this territory and the understanding of the true value of the landscape we decided that the evaluation criteria should have been : “very high” , “high” and “basic” quality. These are chosen to point out that in the overall scene fo the municipality of Enschede, the medium level of the environments is pretty high. Then we traced our general evaluation principles. To the country estates, the brooks valley and the bog was given the “very high” value in advance. This because, the country estates has an enormous monumental and attractive quality, the bog is the only historical residue of this kind of landscape and it is already protected by the NNN and the stream valleys are not only places with a huge concentration of nature and biodiversity, but they also have a great experiential value because they allows to read and understand the history and the morphology of the landscape. Even in cases where the streams are not very much surrounded by wet vegetation, and so also not really visible, we recognise their high potential of green connectors.

The old farmhouse landscape is recognised by us as a “high” quality since it is rich of traditional attractive elements and the farms as well as the high fields are really recognisable as historical. When some of those were really keeping their historical and characteristics values, especially in presence of the high fields in combination with the small scale borders, we decided to scale them up to “very high” quality.

characteristics. The change of identity could be so radical that also the users could change. The strategy aims to create a new future value that can grow and be developed in the time. Nevertheless, the attention of the transformation is always on the relationship with the surroundings in order to let the new space being connected coherently with the existing close structures.

The young field cultivations, starts from a “basic” quality level. This kind of landscape type, has no historical value and moreover is generally only composed by monotonous large scale grasslands with no particular attractive points of view, so has neither high natural or attractive importance. In some of them, however, we recognised a strong identity of their own especially when they are in alternation with more private small-scale landscapes, or when the huge natural borders around them could be seen as a good scenario for the sustainable energy production transformation. In these cases, the value is higher.

Graphically, the quality map consists of two overlaid layers: -the first one is the subdivision of the areas according to the landscape types. The subdivision does not follow the exact parcelling of the territory, but a division or clustering of similar landscape types according to our personal experience and opinion. -In this layer is indicated the specific qualification that we have assigned to the areas. The map is finally linked with a matrix in which a description in given per field of the specific quality and proposals. All the areas are numbered in order to be find in the matrix table.

FIRST STEP

SECOND STEP

very high value VERY HIGH VALUE

Landscape type: - country estates - brooks valley - bog

HIGH VALUE

Landscape type: - old farmhouse landscape

BASE VALUE

Landscape type: - young fields - city edges - infrastructures

The valuation criteria are then linked to strategies seen as proposals for new future developments. The aim of these strategies is to underline the kind of opportunities presents in the actual situation in order to emphasise, improve or strengthen the spatial quality of the areas. The principle is that a development must be perfectly adapted to the guidelines of the landscape. The “very high” quality is linked to the “embedding” strategy which means that with developments, the identity and the structure of the place will be preserved. The use of the landscape, remains the same and future improvements needs to be in line with the essence of the area. The “high” quality is linked to the “customisation” strategy. In these cases, the new developments should contribute to make the landscape readable again. The improvements should still be in line with the identity of the place, but the structure or the use can be changed. The intervention aims to raise the level of the design of the area with spatial and planning measures. The “base” quality is linked to the “transformation” strategy. This type of intervention creates a completely new future for the area, based on new structures, uses and 38

high value base value

Map of the evaluation

ESMARKE MAP OF EVALUATION EVALUATION:

FOREST

very high value high value

base value

This area is a forest connected to a country estate, with high level of biodiversity. It is really possible to experience the atmosphere of the landscape

COUNTRY ESTATE

upgrading downgrading

LANDSCAPE TYPES: old landscape

Very monumental and tipical estate, with a forest plot around that can be experienced by citizens and tourists

This estate is not very attractive, mainly because of the surrounding landscape. It is not a turistic pole since there is a lack of a recreational facilities

youg landscape brooks country estate farm estate forest high moor

EXAMPLES ON HOW THE STRATEGIES ARE APPLIED TO THE VALUES:

EMBEDDING: In the example, a plot of land from an old farmhouse landscape is sketched. For a large part of the old farmhouse landscape there is only room for ‘integration’ strategies. In the example, an extension to a farm is indicated by solar panels on the roofs. This integration strategy will not affect the landscape structure.

OLD FARMHOUSE LANDSCAPE Old farmhouse landscape situated on the left side of the moraine. It is still a very authentic old farmhouse landscape with several “es” fields, which, in combination with the moraine, creates a very sloping landscape. There is also has a good relationship with the outskirts of the city and is widely used and appreciated by the residents.

YOUNG FIELD LANDSCAPE 1

The field is being developed on a large scale with a messy urban periphery.

This is one of the first young field excavations and therefore has the same small scale as the old farmhouse landscape. The location on the right-hand side of the moraine makes it a sloping landscape.

The area is a very open landscape which is used by intensive livestock farming.

The area is situated on the transition from small-scale landscape to open field exploitation. It is precisely this transition that makes it an attractive landscape.

Relatively open area with a slight slope of the landscape and here and there wooded banks.

CUSTOMISATION: The example shows an Essen landscape on a stream valley. In this example solar parks are used to strengthen the current landscape structure by means of the continuation of the avenue planting that is so typical for this area. In addition, the stream valley will be climate-adapted by meandering the stream with more room for biodiversity. The solar park will be integrated into the landscape and enclosed by planting plots.

TRANSFORMATION: In the right-hand example, a field development landscape is depicted with large, rectilinear plots of land. The large-scale plots of land provide more space for intiensive solar parks. A large part of the energy task can be realised here, for example by creating energy landscapes.

BROOKS VALLEY All Brooks are not clearly visible in the landscape

HIGH MOOR LANDSCAPE 1

This is one of the last peat bogs in Twente, but it connects to the larger peat bogs in Germany. It has a very high biodiversity.

8. TAILORING A METHOD

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In a living and vital outlying area, there should be room for developmentâ&#x20AC;? H+N+S Landscape architects

With this study, our final goal is to provide a targeted guide that can allow a good management of future developments and to see then, how much room there is for quality growth in order to preserve and improve the landscape qualities. Of course, it is not already clear which future changes will come, and so at the moment, we have created an overall vision for the various policy areas, in which there is a large range of possibilities for new scenarios. It is also clear that under the influence of developments, an increasing number of new initiatives will come. Our strategy so, have to consider the variable time in which all the different changes could be activated in different periods of time. There is no spatial initiative that can be considered completely autonomous, but it must always be related to its surrounding environment, to the society that lives it and to temporal changes. A good proposal needs to consider all these aspects and be able to coordinate them in order to resist in a flexible way and answer to the several developments that can occur over time. One of the main meanings of the maps, is to explain that our proposal does not lead to mandatory changes of the entireness of the area, but that we are suggesting different kind of areas where transformations could be considered and developed in various temporal phases, in such a way to prevent a drastic change in the territory. There should be a balance between new developments and the landscape that does not need a transformation, in order to keep intact the essence and the identity of the territory. It is not always true that a clear and net decision of changing leads to a good quality intervention, as it is not a forced compromise between various aspects. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the time is so important: it gives to a plan the opportunity of changing and developing itself according to the different possibilities and opportunities of the landscape and the society in separate moments.

Maps of the evaluation divided by level of values and so of intervention. From left: very high, high, low value

For example, the clustering of solar parks involves a huge piece of land, and because of that, the risk is the loss of quality in the surrounding landscape. That is why there must be a specific attention in that sense, â&#x20AC;&#x153;preparing the landscapeâ&#x20AC;? and ensuring that its identity is very strong and defined before the intervention, or having consciousness that there is going to be a transformation of character and use of this piece of land. Here comes our proposal, that underlines which part of the municipality could effort a huge transformation and which one needs to be reinforced before a possible future action. Another aspect that needs to be considered, is that there is not a unique way for the transformation in to an energy sustainable landscape. For example, according to the type of landscape there are many solutions to install a solar park. First of all, a solar park can go from a small plot in a private garden, to an agricultural field where the panels are held by more than one private (small business), up to a huge cluster of solar parks held by association of investors. For a better integration into the society, then, the solar park could have a mixed use, as a public space with recreational activities integrated in the field or as an extensive agriculture field that grows underneath the panels. Doing a transformation in the landscape is a matter of choices that needs to be taken in respect of what the territory can offer. With this evaluation study, our aim is to make sure that the future transformations, will be activated in the right way respecting the landscape. The method that we have followed has considered all the variety of aspects and meanings that the beautiful outskirt of Enschede has. We have worked in coherence on what informations the landscape was giving us, trying to underline as much as we could all its facets. Often, during the process, I asked myself if we were proceeding in the right way, and if there would be other methods to use. Probably, with more experience in this field, would have been easier and faster to underline the main points of the process, focusing more on the final goal and not proceding often testing the different ways that we could follow. Surely, konwing before the beginning about the steps to follow, could have facilitate our way of working and thinking, because proceding with a settled order is really different than working for researches and attempts. But in the end, I realise that our method was really fitting its purpose, because it was not preset from the beginning, but it was created and modified by us while we were working on the project. So in conclusion, I can say that according to the goal and the scenario of the project, a very good method can be built up following the guide lines and the inputs that the landscape itself is giving. Not starting with a preset method, allowed us to be open to changes during the process, to be really involved in knowing the landscape and understanding which kind of improvements could have been introduced and to follow our needs and sensations instead of fixed steps. Our method was not only in line with the project area, it was tailored on it.

SCHEME OF THE STRATEGY:

STEP1: analisis of the entire landscape and the landscape types

STEP2: division in sub-areas, analisis by thematic maps

STEP3: evaluation by quality maps

STEP4: each value has its own strategy:

Quality based on: - cultural-historical characteristics -land use -biodiversity -landscaope experience

EMBEDDING CUSTOMISATION

VERY HIGH

TRANSFORMATION

HIGH BASE

Example of transformation of a young field into a solar park

Example of customization of the landscape in the surroundign of the city: small-scale field turned into a solar park, adding a small wind turbine.

Example of a new energy landscape: transformation of a big-scale fileds landscape into a solar cluster, adding a line of wind turbines

Example of embedding of the landscape of a country estate: small plots of the land are turned into solar parks, the biodiversity is improved by adding new rows of trees around the main entrance street.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: - GEEMENTE ENSCHEDE, (2014) Gids Buitenkans - MUNICIPALITY OF ENSCHEDE : www.enschede.nl - http://www.hnsland.nl/en/projects/landscape-energy - http://climateagenda.minienm.nl - https://ec.europa.eu/clima/citizens/eu_it - https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation-mitigation/ - CANFIELD J., YANG B., WHITLOW H., (2018) Evaluating Landscape performan ce, A guidebook for metrics and methods selection, Landscape Architecture Foundation - CLARKE M., CLARKE A.J., (2018) The adaptation primers. Preparing for change,

A particular thanks to:

V.2, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects

H+N+S landscape architects, to gave me the opportunity of a great experience as intern, where I learned so much about the climate adaptation theme and where I had the chance to work on this amazing project.

- TAYLOR R.,(2017), Fractal patterns in nature and art are aesthetically pleasing and stress-reducing. https://theconversation.com/fractal-patterns-in-nature-and-art-are-aesthetically-pleasing-and-stress-reducing-73255 - https://worldlandscapearchitect.com

Pieter Schengenga, for being a great team leader. Even just a small comment of his made the whole vision of the project much clearer. Arjen Spijkerman, for being not only a great mentor and tutor in this project, but also a fantastic team mate. Working with him made me understand the importance of really knowing a landscape in depth in order to understand it and to be able to work better with it, just like with a person.

Oscar Blasco, for being a very present tutor, always willing to answer to all my questions.