Landscape Resilience, an Examination and Evaluation of Existing Definitions in the Field of Landscape Resilience, a Brief Review of Literature

Resilience, as a new concept in sustainability literature, has created a new understanding of the relationship between humans and the environment. In addition, with increasing environmental challenges facing humans in the new century, this concept has been extended in different fields and redefined by scholars of different disciplines. Landscape, a science that deals with the interaction between humans and the environment, has been no exception; in recent years, after the introduction of resilience into urban literature, this concept has now found its way into the literature of the field. Researchers are now seeking to develop a theoretical framework based on this concept to preserve the landscape in the face of dynamic environmental disturbances. However, a careful perusal of literature of resilient landscape reveals that not all aspects of the landscape have been considered in available studies. Since an incorrect conceptualization of the term, landscape, through these definitions lead to a malfunction of existing theoretical frameworks in the face of disorders, this study attempts to evaluate the existing definitions. This study also aims to review the available definitions of the term of the landscape resilience and compare them with the fundamental definitions of the concept of the landscape. To this end, this study first briefly reviews the literature of resilience in the field of urbanism and landscape, and then, presents the theoretical foundations of the landscape and its properties. Thereafter, the concept of landscape in landscape resilience is compared and contrasted with the fundamental definitions of the term landscape, and their discrepancies are discussed. The results of this study indicate that, in all definitions, the perceptual aspects of the landscape have been neglected, and only its objective aspects have been included. In addition, this concept has been considered as equivalent to environmental ecosystems. As a result, the term “landscape”, in all definitions, in the field of landscape resilience is substantially different from the concept defined by landscape literary experts.