Landscape, Natural Landscape, Cultural Landscape

Although the term "cultural landscape" has been used in various texts for many years now, there is no universal definition and authors use this term in their own ways. This article is an attempt to investigate the definitions of landscape, natural landscape and cultural landscape as well as the categories they could be divided into and the roles they could play in today’s life. To answer these questions, first the author studies the difference between landscape and nature, based on which the definition of cultural landscape could be developed. According to this definition, nature is something constantly changing and landscape is one manifestation of nature (out of many possible ones) which got preserved by humans. Afterwards different forms of cultural landscapes like park landscapes or industrial landscapes will be considered. A new insight into a cultural landscape which could lead to the discovery of their aesthetical or symbolic value would be possible only through the investigation of their emergence. Then the landscape is viewed as a scientific subject from interdisciplinary perspectives, using various relevant professional disciplines to form a synthesis. In the last part, the author points to the importance of dealing with cultural landscapes and presents it as a general subject which can be recommended in school books in order to help the general understanding and flourish the unexploited industrial or agricultural areas. Moreover the author believes that approaching cultural landscapes could bring a new meaning to the term home or homeland which will accordingly be helpful in attracting migrants and integrating them into the society. Finally the deficiencies of the statutes for the conservation of landscapes are taken into consideration. Those deficiencies come from confounding the terms nature and landscape and therefore the existing statutes concern mainly the conservation of nature but do not cover the conservation of landscapes.