landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe

LandscapeandUrbanPlanning67(2004)

9–26

LandscapechangeandtheurbanizationprocessinEurope

MarcAntrop

UniversityofGhent,GeographyDepartment,Krijgslaan281S8,B9000Gent,Belgium

Abstract

UrbanizationisoneofthefundamentalcharacteristicsoftheEuropeancivilization.ItgraduallyspreadfromSoutheastEuropearound700b.c.,acrossthewholecontinent.Citiesandtheurbannetworkstheyformedwerealwaysanimportantfactorinthedevelopmentandshapingoftheirsurroundingregions.Polarizationofterritorybetweenurbanandruralandaccessibilityarestillimportantaspectsinlandscapedynamics.Urbanizationanditsassociatedtransportationinfrastructurede netherelationshipbetweencityandcountryside.Urbanization,expressedastheproportionofpeoplelivinginurbanplacesshowsarecentbutexplosivegrowthreachingvaluesaround80%inmostEuropeancountries.Simultaneouslythecountrysidebecomesabandoned.Thinking,valuingandplanningthecountrysideisdonemainlybyurbanitesandfutureruraldevelopmentismainlyfocusedupontheurbanneeds.Thinkingofurbanplaceswiththeirassociatedruralhinterlandandspheresofin uencehasbecomecomplex.Clustersofurbanplaces,theirsituationinaglobalizingworldandchangingaccessibilityforfasttransportationmodesaresomenewfactorsthataffectthechangeoftraditionalEuropeanculturallandscapes.Urbanizationprocessesshowcyclesofevolutionthatspreadindifferentwaysthroughspace.UrbanizationphasesdevelopedatdifferentspeedsandtimebetweenNorthernandSouthernEurope.Maincitiesareaffected rst,butgraduallyurbanizationprocessesaffectsmallersettlementsandevenremoteruralvillages.Functionalurbanregions(FURs)areanewconcept,whichisalsosigni cantforlandscapeecologists.Locallandscapechangecanonlybecomprehendedwhensituatedinitsgeneralgeographicalcontextandwithallitsrelateddynamics.Patternsofchangearedifferentforthecountrysidenearmajorcities,formetropolitanvillagesandforremoteruralvillages.Planninganddesigninglandscapesforthefuturerequiresthatthisisunderstood.Urbanizedlandscapesarehighlydynamic,complexandmultifunctional.Therefore,detailedinventoriesoflandscapeconditionsandmonitoringofchangeareurgentlyneededinordertoobtainreliabledataforgooddecision-making.

©2003ElsevierScienceB.V.Allrightsreserved.

Keywords:Urbanization;Landscapechange;Rural;Countryside;Europe

1.Introduction

Landscapesareonthepoliticalagendatoday.Naturalandculturalaspectsoflandscapesreceiveincreasingattentionfromresearchers,plannersandpolicymakers(Anonymous,2000;CouncilofEurope,2000;Brandt,2000;KlijnandVos,2000).Themainreasonisthegeneralobservationthatthechangesin

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landscapesbecomeextremelydevastatingandmanyheritagevaluesandresourcesbecomeirreversiblylost.Thespeedofthechanges,theirfrequencyandmagnitudeincreasedunprecedentedinthesecondhalfofthe20thcentury(Antrop,2000a).Manynewelementsandstructuresaresuperimposeduponthetraditionallandscapesthatbecomehighlyfragmentedandlosetheiridentity.Newlandscapesarecreated,whicharecharacterizedbyafunctionalhomogeneity.Theyformnewchallengesforlandscaperesearchastheyarehighlydynamicandlittleisknownaboutthe

10M.Antrop/LandscapeandUrbanPlanning67(2004)9–26

ongoingprocesses(Brandtetal.,2001).Plannersandpolicymakersareingrowingneedofnewsigni cantdataandscienti cknowledge.Urbanization,effectsoftransportationnetworksandglobalizationaretheimportantdrivingforcesofthesechangesandtheemergenceofnewlandscapes.

Urbanizationisacomplexprocessofchangeofrurallifestylesintourbanones.Itshowedanalmostexponentialgrowthsincetheendofthe19thcentury(Champion,2001;Pacione,2001a;Antrop,2000a;Bryantetal.,1982).Thisprocessisintimatelyrelatedtotheintroductionofnewmodesoftransportation,inparticularthosethatallowedmobilityofthemassessuchastherailroad.AftertheSecondWorldWar,theuseoftheautomobilestartedaneweraofmobilityandlandscapechange.Accessibilitybecamethemostimportantfactorinlandscapechangeandevenintheremotecountrysideurbanizationprocessescanbeno-ticedwhentheregionisdisclosedbytransportation.Finally,thegrowingglobalizationofallactivitiesanddecision-makingcauseschangesatthelocallevelthataredif culttohandlebythepeoplelivingthere.Whatnewtoolsandmethodsdoresearchers,plannersandpolicymakersneedorhavealreadyattheirdisposaltocopewiththeseprocesses?Thetaskwillbedif- cultastransdisciplinaryapproachisrecommendedandgoodcommunicationisrequired.

Earlierviewsconsideredurbanizationasadiffu-sionprocessstartingfromthegrowingurbancentersthataffectedthecountrysideinconcentricspheresofdifferentiatedin uence(Burgess,1925;Mann,1965;Bryantetal.,1982).Therealityprovedtobemuchmorecomplexandmanycitymodelsandmodelsforurbanlandusestructurehavebeenmadesince(Pacione,2001b).LewisandMaund(1976)stressedtheimportanceofaccessibilityofplacesandthetransportationinfrastructure.Antrop(2000b)de nedurbanizationasacomplexprocessthattransformstheruralornaturallandscapesintourbanandindustrialonesformingstar-shapedspatialpatternscontrolledbythephysicalconditionsofthesiteanditsaccessibilitybytransportationroutes.Therelationbetweenurbanandruralbecomesextremelycomplexandreceivesagrowingattentioninspatialandenvironmentalplan-ning(SPESP,2000;StannersandBourdeau,1995).Typicalisthetransitionbetweenanurbancenterorag-glomerationandthecountrysidebecomingunclearanddiffuse.Theurbanfringeorsuburbanlandscapesare

characterizedbyawidevarietyoflanduses,whichisexpressedinacomplex,perseandhighlyfragmentedmorphology.Suburbsandurbanizedrurallandscapesconsistofamosaicofvariedlandcover,constructionsandtransportationinfrastructures.Thedelimitationbetweenurbanandruralbecomesadif culttaskin-volvingalotofuncertaintyanditisveryunlikelythatlandzoningbordersremainastabledelineation.Nowadays,urbanizationisnolongertypicalforthegrowthofcitiesortownsonlybutitin uencestheprocessesintheruralcountrysideaswell.Theactualchangesoflandscapesareinducedbyurban-izationprocessessuchasresidentialorindustriall …… 此处隐藏：37469字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……