Global Ecology

Steps in site identification:

examples | features | historical preservation | density values | assessment table

These steps in identifying significant architectural features, geographical components or structural aspects of a site can be used for any landscape, seascape, cityscape, or countryside.

        1. Inventory
        2. Description
        3. Evaluation
        4. Assessment

 

When assessing the relative merits, worth, or competing advantages of a development, preservation or management of an area the first step is to identify those features on the terrain, in the landscape and adjacent geographical settings that have significance.

Inventory

is a listing of objects that are different in shape, form, function, appearance or behavior.

A feature is any distinguishing characteristic, artifact, structure, natural or artificial creation that distinguishes a site from all other sites

Table of significance
values Social processes: Natural resources: Scenic beauty: Ecosystem services:
Features
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

List a recognizable feature and describe what it does or how its function contributes to one of the above categories.


Evaluation

For each feature described award it a point if it has a descriptive aspect explained under either social, natural, scenic, or ecosystem values. Re-rank the features from the most numerous identifiable values to the least.

Primary and Secondary landscape values

Assessment

16 identifiable landscape values isolated as maps of composite features comprising each value.

Primary

 

Monterey shale formation along the Santa Ynez Mountain escarpment, Santa Barbara County, California

 



Secondary

Table of primary and secondary values with a high degree of use relative to little or no use.

 

Owner: Sun Angle: Altitude:  
Site description: location: Longitude:  
    Latitude:  
mesa
Colorado River at Nankoweep Mesa, Arizona.

 

Values
High
Medium
Low
 descriptive context
slope
surface drainage
soil drainage
bedrock foundation
erosive capacity
land values
tidal inundation
historic values
scenic values
Recreational
Water values
Forest values
Wildlife values
Residential values
Institutional values
Overall rating

 

Use, here suggests a function or behavior that can be identified as providing some benefit in a clearly identifiable context.

“In highway design, the problem is reduced to the simplest and most commonplace terms: traffic volume, design speed, capacity pavements, structures, horizontal and vertical alignment.”


“In essence the method consists of identifying the area of concern as consisting of certain processes in land, water an air, which represent values. These can be ranked...”

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The above uses of highways as transportation corridors has led to widespread, low density, and automobile dependent travel characteristic of suburban sprawl.

Competing values must be inventoried and described before they can be compared and contrasted.

For example a steeply sloping ridge may have low value for building, low surface drainage potential and soil drainage. But its bedrock foundation may be of medium value, with high erosive capacity (it is readily eroded), low land value, but high scenic value.