The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the US National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The park service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout the USA and the world.
Published in Chapter:
Cultural Landscape: An Evaluation From Past to Present
Funda Varnaci Uzun (Aksaray University, Turkey) and Mehmet Somuncu (Ankara University, Turkey)
Copyright: © 2018
|Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-4186-8.ch001
Abstract
The “cultural landscape” has been a fundamental concept in geography and was first defined as “landscape modified by human activity” by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel in 1890. It was introduced to American geography in the 1920s by Carl O. Sauer (American geographer). Since the 1960s, the concept has been widely used in human geography, anthropology, environmental management, and other related fields. One of the major factors that contributed to the recent popularity of its use, on a global scale, was the adoption of cultural landscapes in the International Convention for the World Heritage Convention by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992. In this chapter, the basis of this concept, its emergence, and its relationships with other scientific disciplines, particularly geography, will be discussed. Moreover, the place of cultural landscapes within protected areas and UNESCO world heritage sites will be more specifically addressed.