Landscape Typology as the Basis for Landscape Protection and Development

The research in landscape typology is stimulated by new challenges in the European landscape planning practice. It is the public awareness about landscapes as an important cultural heritage of Europe that is becoming an important point of reference for European landscape planning. The landscape typology classification of the entire territory of Slovenia represents a project that has been carried out over the last years. It has resulted in a sizable collection of slides of different landscape patterns that can be seen in Slovenia. The research, outlined in tloe paper, started at this point. The photographed landscape patterns have been grouped according to the morphological landscape similarities into different landscape types. The spots, where the slides of defined landscape types had been taken, have been mapped within the GIS environment. The cross-tabulation with various spatial data provided the numerical base for generating the model of the spatial distribution of landscape types. In this way, the areas of certain landscape type could be identified, thus providing the basis for landscape management norms and standardized landscape management/conservation definitions.