The cultural landscape, as a subsystem of the landscape, is influenced by rural development as a process towards village advancement. In recent years, the villages of Kuhdasht County in Lorestan, as villages caught between the duality of city and countryside, have been damaged by colonial development plans that, although adopted with the promise of rural improvement, have led to the destruction of the village identity. This article examines three villages—Khosrowabad, Pai Astan, and Abolvafa—in Kuhdasht County, Lorestan Province, through field observation. It appears that the development plans, without consideration of the village’s cultural landscape or merely objective attention to cultures, have undertaken actions under the illusion of development but have gradually altered or destroyed the heritage, values, and identity of the people. To protect the cultural landscape of villages as a form of development, it is necessary for development plans to be place-based and to consider the diversity and differences of cultures, with actions tailored to each specific area.

In the contemporary world, sites of cultural heritage play an important role in local development, but, in Iran, local culture does not seem to be very based on cultural heritage. Despite the tangible cultural richness of historical buildings and their distribution in the less developed and rural areas of the country, cultural legacy has not been considered as a desirable element of development yet. This study discusses the "historical home" of the people in the village of Kozj with an interpretive approach. It considers the interpretation of village houses desirable enough for the local development and the identification of local values. Historic houses are, in fact, the available precious heritage that can shed light on the past societies. The study deals with the experiences of the residents in the village through the hermeneutical interpretation of the historical architecture of the village. In this regard, the cultural landscape of the village is extracted and interpreted phenomenologically through small collections of data. Also, through the hermeneutic cycle, three stages of human life are identified and interpreted.

Nayband is a historical village in South Khorasan, which is located on the western edge of the desert. The adjacency of the village to the caravan route, its strategic position, and the existence of water resources and fertile lands have led to the formation of its texture. The harsh climatic conditions of the region and the existence of miscreants and bandits in the historical periods, while caused the establishment of castles and watchtowers, have given a tangled and compact structure to the region. The present study aims to identify the structure of the cultural landscape of Nayband, and its architectural patterns and housing typology. Moreover, the paper is concerned with the historical texts and travelogues that are about the village to analyze its physical structure and answer the following questions: What period does the history of living in the village go back to? In what evolutionary process did Nayband go through its formation process and why does the texture of the village have a compact structure, such as impenetrable castles? And what are the shaping paradigms of Nayband cultural landscape?
The method of the present research is historical and desk studies, with an analytical-interpretive approach. It is concerned with the case study in the texture of the village and tries to identify the cultural paradigms that formed the landscape of Nayband through field studies and documentation of physical and nonphysical factors and comparing them. The results show that the composition of the natural factors including high mountains, green valleys and water springs, which are in contrast with the arid lands of the region, have created a unique ecosystem in this village. In addition to this, the artificial and man-made elements including agricultural landscapes (farms, citrus orchards and groves on the outskirts of the village), architectural works (handmade areas, castles, defense towers, unique residential patterns, passages and shelters) and special cultural and social structures have created an intertwined cultural and natural structure in the village. This is intertwined with a rich history of pre-Islamic times, biological customs, living traditions, historical and continuous land use with horticultural and agricultural patterns, extensive architectural structures and a special visual view of the Lut Desert. The village of Nayband is a valuable example of organic cultural landscapes and has constantly changed the desert settlements of the country.

The historical fabric of Davan village is located near the city of Kazeroon, with physical features such as steppe gardening system, Stone architecture, with the ancient Sassanid period and ecological characteristics, beside with intangible values such as customs and particular dialects of the local people, that the result of the intelligent interaction of human with nature and this is an example of the concept of cultural landscape. Examining of the term cultural landscape that includes all the features of tangible and intangible heritage and, environmental and cultural diversity, in the village of Davan can be very much considered and lead to the registration of this village in the list of cultural landscapes of the country. In fact, since the rural and local communities have more living traditions and specific lifestyles based on a deeply effective culture than human-nature interactions, the issue of preserving intangible heritage and its unity with tangible and physical aspects becomes more important. Although the village of Davan is still in good condition and the steppe gardening system are part of the livelihoods of the villagers, but damages such as drought and changes in livelihood patterns have led to over-migration of rural residents in past years and leave the ageing population in the village. The aforementioned damages and ongoing migration threaten the coherence of the tangible and intangible heritage and the concept of cultural landscape in this village. In this case, given the damages that exist in this village and threaten to register it as a cultural landscape, interventions to eliminate the damage and improve the quality of the village in the form of conservation and management plan require that this is considered as the main objective of the research. Therefore, in order to achieve its goal, the research has attempted to answer the following questions: What are the characteristics and values of the cultural landscape of Davan? What are the challenges and threats to the cultural landscape of Davan? And how can the cultural landscape be maintained and revitalized by presenting a proper management plan? In this regard, the "analytical study and recording of information", "valuation" and, finally, the "presentation of the conservation and management plan" form the various stages of research.The research method was descriptive-analytic and information gathering method was based on library and field studies. Research achievements show that through the conservation and promotion of native architecture patterns, strengthening the level of tourism, attracting popular participation and creating job opportunities, with an emphasis on historical, natural and cultural capabilities of Davan It can improve the physical and social prosperity and, ultimately, take key steps in the effective conservation of this valuable heritage.registering this area into the country's cultural heritage list makes it possible to support and strive to preserve its values. The establishment of rules and regulations relating to various activities in the context of the aforementioned cultural landscape through the establishment of a Local Council for Conservation and Revitalization and cooperation with regional managers in this regard, can be crucial. Use of agricultural and horticultural capacities and revitalization of horticultural products such as grape juice, raisins and etc. Applying the potential of beekeeping and honey production as well as packaging and supply of medicinal plants provides, employment opportunities in this area. Supporting the establishment of modified livestock and poultry knowledge- based centers is another solution for the business in this village. Alongside, due to the different heritage values ​​in this area, it is possible to launch tourism activities, especially in relation to eco-tourism, which will also help to promote the dynamism and vitality of the rural fabric. By creating employment and improving the environmental and physical condition of this area, sense of place in Davan will increase, and that will stop the phenomenon of migration and even reverse migration. In this way over time, the Devan will have a dynamic cycle of conservation and development.

Rural regions have a significant role in preservation of environmental values، folklores and tacit knowledge of nations. Herein، the potentials of natural environment mainly the ways by which a rural landscape can be manipulated by applying natural elements is of major consideration. Based on past and current studies، exploring this area of research can clearly delineate some of the ecological aspects of landscape، while it presents the state of equilibrium and sustainability of natural elements in specific climatic conditions of each region. From a Landscape Architecture point of view، the article aims to present part of carried out studies and researches within the cognition of identity of specifications embedded in rural landscapes with a primary focus on aspects of natural environment and therefore، it’s relevant to specific ecological circumstances. Including both national and international case studies، the research methodology rests on the studies of creditable bibliographies penned in the field of rural areas and countryside regions. More، with respect to the significance of “Ecology”، geographical conditions and social customs in the identity and formation of rural landscape، the article has its main concerns on the land manipulation and the role of natural elements in doing so. On the other hand، “neo-naturalism” approaches were taken into account whereas they have caused documentaries، fundamental studies and re-cognition of vernacular patterns in manipulation of rural landscape. Furthermore، such considerations are of more importance in Iranian plateau due to its specific climatic features and unique vernacular methods; there are plenty of outstanding exemplars of sustainable habitations in central parts of the plateau confirming such claim. Accordingly، the study attempts to answer the following questions:  What is the rural landscape and what are its features in terms of habitation and environmental values?  What is the role of natural environment and geographical space in the articulation of Rural Landscape?  What are the lessons taken from tacit knowledge and the manipulation of rural landscape? The studies confirm the important role of tacit environmental knowledge and ecological tendencies of people in benefitting from natural potentials and cultural values in order to shape habitation clusters and manipulate the landscape of any rural region. Consequently، some of the definitions and specifications regarding rural landscape، as well as scholars’ viewpoints of natural environmental capacities، habitation; the geographical space of a village، economy، lifestyle and eventually the cultural aspects of rural landscapes have been presented in this paper. Some case studies from Kharaneq، Maymand and Al-kas have been provided as in order to support the theories and discussions.

Landscape is a historical approach for experiencing and recognizing the world, and like cultural text and picture, it is capable of conveying the worldview of the people. Rural landscapes are known as both natural and cultural landscapes that represent the socialization of nature through the possession of a cultural and ethnic assembly. The landscape of Kamu village stems from the organization of the environment and natural components based on the shared beliefs, semantics, and values of the inhabitants. In this village, natural elements account for the communication and information tools that, in the form of cultural tenets, conduct concepts and definitions and exhibit the rural landscape as a single and figurative whole being with a transparent mechanism. This paper intends to examine the symbolic role of the environment and natural elements in the formation of the landscape of Kamu village and the ways in which this subject has been affected by the main semantics, dogmas, and definitions of residents, and stirs their' knowledge of the environment and how to regulate and manage it. The methodology in the present research is qualitative and ethnographic. With the scientific approach and analysis of the semantics of ethnic landscape and landscape understanding, a conceptual model of symbolic landscape perception is expressed, and the role of natural elements in shaping the landscape of Kamu village is illuminated. Data collection at the stage of explaining theoretical grounds is of the library type, and at the stage of the case study, it is of the field type. The representative nature of the rural landscape is seen in the environment to the landscape, the natural components to the cultural figures, and the interactors to the cultural group developments.  Beyond their functional role in a representative way, natural details refer to a blend of values and beliefs that promote the audience's comprehension of the rural environment, beyond collecting information from the physical environment, to the symbolic understanding of the landscape in the landscape of Kamu village. This subject is developed in the environment's answer to the material and semantic needs of the inhabitants: Satisfying the material needs, such as livelihood and shelter, relying on the narrative role of the landscape, has exhibited the potential of the natural setting. Further, responding to semantic needs, including social and aesthetic needs, relying on the poetic regard of the landscape, conveys the naturalistic beliefs of the residents.

The rural landscape as a phenomenon resulting from the interaction of humans with the environment can be considered as the result of the thought process of the residents and affected by the cultural and physical factors of the village. Reading the landscapes is a necessary condition for understanding the whole in the direction of the spatial development of the village according to its spatial components and existence. Based on the field observations, this study attempts to clarify the problem and advance the research by answering the following main question: What is the role of reading and knowing the landscape of the village in its place-oriented development process? This article presents a model of landscape reading based on the concept of place, based on field observations and their adaptation to library resources, with a holistic approach. In this regard, a case study of Darb Gonbad village was studied based on a model that includes three stages of its landscape: first, the study of intellectual works such as travelogues, documents, and historical books that provide a general picture of the elements of the landscape and its structures. provided to the reader. Second, to investigate and understand the core, center, and cause of the formation of the village to understand its ontological and general causes. Third, examining the name to understand the cause or causes of the formation of the city as a whole. The conclusion of the research indicates that the landscape of the village is the result of a meaningful relationship between the elements of the river, the plain (agricultural fields), Imamzadeh, and the mountain. These elements in relation to each other have formed units, which in relation to each other have created a whole unit called the village. The development model of Darb Gonbad village will be balanced and sustainable if it considers the village as a whole unit of its components. Any intervention in the village system, if it takes into account the meaningful relationship between these elements, will improve the landscape of the village based on its spatial talents.

The village is a long-standing form of human settlement that embodies the vernacular pattern of human habitation and innovative ways of adapting to the environment. Village dwellers are the creators of unique cultural landscapes which are looked upon as the heritage for future generations. Therefore recognizing the dominant patterns in rural landscapes has always been of interest to researchers. The spatial organization has considered that human habitats are the direct result of social, economic, political, and institutional processes. By studying and comparing two villages located in southwestern of Iran, the study’s aim is to investigate the spatial pattern and configuration of the rural form and examine the effect of villagerschr('39') lifestyle and livelihood on the formation of those patterns. One of the village case studies is Shalheh-ye Emam Hasan located in Abadan city along the Arvand tidal river which enable the villagers to develop their gardens of palms as far as the tidewater is available. The other one is Hadbeh Khanafreh village in Shadegan city at the edge of Shadegan wetland in which the village dwellers’ livelihood is dominantly based on small livestock farms, keeping water buffaloes within their houses and hunting wetland fauna such as birds and fish. Both villages have similar cultural backgrounds and are inhabited by indigenous Arab tribes but the villages are different in terms of the type of the livelihood and settlement organization.The research method is case modeling and case study benefitting from Geographic Information System (GIS). By applying landscape metrics, the blocking, mass and space system, grain size, spatial distribution and arrangement, physical density, shape of texture patches, and texture connectivity, the spatial patterns of villages were quantitatively studied and analyzed geometrically in two scales of landscape and texture. The comparison of the results demonstrates that despite the similar cultural environment and social context, there are differences in the spatial pattern and configuration of two villages’ textures and landscapes. The dispersed pattern of the houses located in Shalheh is due to the vast area of the village and the rows of the palm grounds which are included in each house and this fact gives rise to the probability of houses accumulation in each block. Meanwhile, the amount of residential texture of Hadbeh is 32% of the village area due to its confinement with the wetland. Similarly, the numbers of building blocks in Shalheh village are twice that of Hadbeh. The building blocks of both villages have relatively similar dimensions. However, in Hadbeh, the building blocks are applied in the larger number of houses. Particularly, in spite of the similar social and cultural environment, residential units in Shalheh village are, on average, larger and owing to the land limitation in Hadbeh, the dwelling houses are smaller. Besides, the results of nearest neighbor distance and the connectivity demonstrate the compact arrangement of the houses in Hadbeh and the scattering distribution of the houses in Shalheh despite their linear form, moreover the studied area in Shahleh village is by far larger than Hadbah while just 1.8% of which is included by village blocks. This study found that rural economy is closely related to the geographical context and settlement order of the village and totally the combination of these factors play an effective role on the formation of the spatial pattern of the rural settlement’s texture. This research shows that although social and cultural factors are very influential on a housing scale, what can further determine the spatial structure and pattern of rural housing is the capacity to exploit the geographical context in favor of livelihood. Due to the economic roots result in formation of the unique structure in both villages, any variations in economy or natural resources involved in the economy of the villages can lead to changes in the structure and pattern of the studied landscapes and have subsequent consequences including social disorders or migration. This highlights the need to understand the spatial pattern of the settlement before any decision making and planning at rural or large scale on the geographical basis. The use of landscape metrics in this study has made it possible to compare those metrics and trace the root causes result in formation of vernacular patterns.

The village is a synthetic product of natural and artificial elements founded on the economic necessities and adhering to a uniform culture. In every region of Iran, the organic process of building rural houses from locally-procured materials has led to the emergence of a wide variety of rural landscapes each with their own distinct characteristics. Culture, as a non-physical component with physical impacts, is one of the factors leading to variety among rural landscapes. Moreover, geographical variety in the case of components such as vegetation, wildlife, and climate, affects the lifestyle of the inhabitants of a village leading to unique forms of “rural landscape”. It seems that the novel concept of tourism economy has become one of the most important topics in rural sustainability and development. Rural tourism, through its scrutinising reading of the processes involved in shaping rural landscapes, attempts to transfer the subjective experience of the local inhabitants unto tourists. By examining the different aspects of the concept of “village”, this paper aims to explain the rural landscape, as a linking point between the natural world and social life, from a tourism point of view. It furthermore seeks to offer a perception model for the most important components of rural tourism.

Rural settlements play an important role in preserving and validity of environmental values, cultural manifestations of tribes, and introducing the capacities of the natural environment and its effects on the structure of the "rural landscape". Based on studies and from the perspective of landscape architecture, the process of physical development of the village and the quality of the rural landscape interact with each other and are closely related to most of the values raised and especially in areas such as naturalism, ecotourism, and "rural tourism". In this interaction and process of improving the quality of the rural landscape in Iran, although more attention has been paid to the physical contexts of texture and architecture with emphasis on artificial environment, construction of buildings, and some aspects of rural tourism, in general, environmental capacity, indigenous power and effective natural environment infrastructures are less considered in the rural landscape. Also, there has been limited research on the study and recognition of common concepts and contexts between the two fields of landscape and rural tourism. The present study has entered the conceptual field of rural landscape and categorized the concepts related to the rural landscape during the systematic review of extensive studies that have been conducted in this field. The purpose of this study is to assess the situation, examine the concepts of the rural landscape, and also the common semantic relationships between rural landscape and rural tourism to explain the practice areas in the process of environmental sustainability and qualitative development of the rural landscape. The method is a combination of systematic review to identify and introduce the general framework of concepts related to the rural landscape and content analysis of relevant studies and documents in this field and finally to examine the semantic relationship between rural landscape and rural tourism. In this regard, authentic scientific databases and the Prisma statements have been used to study the documents and analyze data related to rural "landscape" including physical aspects, landscape, and natural environment of selected samples of villages with emphasis on social considerations and rural planning. Accordingly, a list of concepts and documents of 297 external samples from the Web of Science databases and 195 internal rural samples of Iran from the scientific databases of the Ganj, and Magiran were included