The British landscape is the product of a range of natural and human influences. The countryside as we know it is largely the end-result of evolving agricultural practices. Urbanisation has created a patchwork of different land-uses, which have both contributed to and scarred the landscape as we recognise it. Characterising the landscape is therefore an important first step in understanding the context, as well as defining the environmental conditions which create opportunities for functional habitats.

Understanding the landscape character requires a number of layers of information. These include physical factors such as geology and hydrology, as well as historical and cultural influences such as industry and agriculture. Each may play, or may in the past have played, a functional role within the landscape: such as water resource management or rail transport. Each will need taking into account during planning and design, highlighting relationships with stakeholders and statutory consultees.

The process can be illustrated by the proposed urban extension at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire (see case study), where landscape character informs the development framework. The potential value can be seen at Beauregard ZAC in Rennes (see Case study 1), where distinctive elements of the rural landscape have been incorporated as ‘greenways’ into an urban extension. The masterplan for Brighton’s New England Quarter incorporates distinctive elements of the urban landscape, in the form of a former railway line ‘greenway’ which extends out from the site (see Section 3.5).

The Countryside Agency has developed a useful on-line resource, ‘Countryside Character’, which provides a good starting point. It consists of profiles describing the physical and historical influences for sub-regional character areas as the following example Wellingborough East illustrates, which is covered within the character area of ‘Northamptonshire and Leicestershire Vales’.