Introduction

Landscape,' writes Brian Wattchow in this volume, is 'a classic trans-disciplinaty concept'. The word 'landscape' is even part of the title of some of the disciplines, or sub-disciplines, to which the concept pertains; these include: landscape archaeology, landscape architecture, landscape ecology, and landscape planning. 'Landscape' is also the name of important genres of painting and photography and it is, of course, a central concept in geography. Considering this diversity, it will surprise no one that there has been a plethora of defmitions of landscape and that there is no conunonly agreed one, although many of the comributors to this book might be willing to use the one written into the European Landscape Convention (2000) - 'Landscape' means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors - but in order to amplifY the variety of ideas which cluster around landscape, here is a small selection of other propositions about landscape, all of which can be found in this book.