Environmental and Landscape Quality - Urban Landscapes: Environmental Networks and Quality of Life - page 14

landscapes and portraits are almost the same thing. They go beyond the con-
cept of landscape as a vertical transmission belt of genetic identity that allows
for the reproduction of local societies. Boesio would write that Pericoli, “ in
the furrows of the plough that digs up a field, in the wrinkle that lines a face,
is not looking for photographic truth, but the mystery of the soul ” [11]. This
expression of opinion synthetically encompasses the sense of landscape and,
with it, all the complexity in evaluating its quality. All of these “liquid”
aspects of the landscape are not easily traceable in the code; however, they are
internal to the interactive triangle highlighted by Morin between “ physical
sphere , biological sphere , and anthropic/social sphere ” [12]. For example, is
identity only an attribute of the city or also a parameter for its evaluation
[13]? The idea is that in experiencing their own territories, human communi-
ties produce values that are at least partly free of environmental data; they
avoid deterministic interpretations and they necessarily go beyond the strictly
economic sphere. The landscape therefore deals with values that cannot be
examined exclusively within the category of the Earth Sciences.

3.3 Is a Synthetic Evaluation of the Landscape Possible?

At the base of environmental quality there is a systemic vision that, through an
algorithmic consideration, brings together the measurable evaluations of dif-
ferent components that the environment can be divided into 12 . Landscape
ecology has been working on these approaches successfully for a long time 13 .
The same cannot be said for landscape evaluation. Interesting research by
Claudia Cassatella and Attilia Peano on this theme is centered on ways to bring
together different sector interpretations and different indicators (related to
ecology, social perception, aesthetics, history, traditions, and the socio-eco-

12 For further information: Bagliani M, Dansero E (2011) Politiche per l'ambiente - Dalla natura
al territorio. UTET, Turin; Guarniero G (1993) L'impatto ambientale. informazione, analisi, valu-
tazione, decisione. Alinea, Florence. See also the contribution by Piersebastiano Ferranti in the
last chapter of this topic.
13 For a closer look: Brandt J, Vejre H (eds) (2004) Multifunctional landscapes: theory, values and
history. Advances in ecological science. WIT Press, Southampton; De Groot RS (2006) Function
analysis and valuation as a tool to assess land use conflicts in planning for sustainable, multi-func-
tional landscapes. Landscape Urban Plann 75 (3-4); Breuste HJ, Niemelä J, Snep RPH (2008)
Applying landscape ecological principles in urban environments. Landscape Ecology
23:1139-1142; Young J et al (2005) Toward sustainable land use: identifying and managing the
conflicts between human activities and biodiversity conservation in Europe. Biodiversity and
Conservation 14:1641-1661; Haines-Young R (2000) Sustainable development and sustainable
landscapes: defining a new paradigm for landscape ecology. Fennia 178:7-14; Antrop M (2004)
Landscape change and the urbanization process in Europe. Landscape and Urban Planning
67:9-26; Santolini R (2012) The indicators for the ecological network for monitoring of durable
development in the Alpine regions. Platform Ecological Network of the Alpine Convention and
Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea.