Contenu du sommaire : Paysage : Le mot et la chose

Landscape is in crisis but it is also in fashion. The author first shows that landscape is a fundamental concept of western modernity invented during the Renaisance, and analyses the diversification of this notion since the 18th century. He then challenges the attempts by politicians and specialists who have sought to simplify its meaning so as to standardise the process of regional development and monopolise its study. While recognising the interest of Augustin Berque's methodological work or that of the Besançon school of geographers, the author proposes an alternative approach. He sees in the current crisis and confusion the roots of a dynamic process of renewal which integrates, in a movement which should not be interrupted, the participation of all the social actors.

Over recent years, the 1930 law on the protection of sites and landscapes has evolved considerably. Emphasis has shifted from the small scale study of natural sites and monuments to that of larger landscape units. An overall analysis of 2 100 classified sites and a more detailed analysis of 80 sample sites using correlation, regression and multivariate analysis demonstrates this chronological evolution. It also allows the creation of a typology based on natural, anthropological and administrative parameters. The analysis of specific cases enables a number of recommendations to be made. These concern improving knowledge (through the creation of a data bank and reference system) and optimising the subsequent management of landscape protection by the division of management responsibilities and an improved system of management.

The entry points to a town should offer an image which enhances the urban area, yet frequently they generate the opposite impression. Consequently action is needed to conserve their positive features, attenuate their negative elements and take account of their future development. This framework of analysis has been applied to the northern entrance to St. Etienne. A three-fold approach has been used, involving : definition of the landscape elements, analysis of development trands and the outline of dynamic scenarios for the future. The final objective is to indicate those elements which both enhance and detract from the landscape.

Consideration of the landscape by both the French legislator and the services of the European Union concerns reasserting the value of various forms of cultural heritage ranging from local domestic species and agricultural products to traditional customs. This process may also give rise to new activities, notably in the field of cultural tourism. The analysis is based on examples from the regions of Ardèche and Savoy.

For some time the question of landscape has left the scientific sphere to become an operational tool for tyhe management and planning of local development. The practice of 'landscape management of rural areas' has been established in a progressive and heuristic manner, are based on a limited number of initiatives which, although independent of each other.are related to a common methodological base. As the question of the legitimacy of the landscape management of rural space begins to be raised, it is necessary to make an in-depth study of related methodology. First, a general conceptual framework needs to be established which defines landscape as an instrument of spatial management. Then, landscape management requires new tools with which to analyse information, readily able to take account of the mental perceptions of the different actors concerned by a project of management. Finally, it is necessary to produce a defined conceptual framework, through modelling of the landscape, which enables the required tools to be used effectively.

Yanagawa, a small town on the island of Kyushu, is an ancient "town below the castle" (jokamachi) built on the delta of the river Yabe. The town and surrounding countryside are drained by a myriad of streams, canals, drains and ditches. During the socio-economic changes of the high-growth period, the inhabitants particularly in the town, progressively turned their backs on theses water courses. As a result, Yanagawa, from being a small 'eastern Venice' became a revolting cesspit. In the 1980s the antipollution reaction led to the cleaning-up and re- utilisation of the site. The amphibious landscape was seen much more as a heritage to be rehabilitated rather than as an aesthetic panorama to be restored