Landscape Change: The influence of external cultural forces

In the cultural ‘melting pot’ of a world economy, traditional, culturally-defined landscapes are being modified under a myriad of international influences. In this context, it is often difficult to identify the landscape and design forms that are key to maintaining local identity and a sense of place. Identifying these forms is critical in the planning process, as local planners and decision-makers attempt to integrate new, globally-influenced development patterns in local communities and at the same time create spaces and places that will not destroy local values and associations. The landscapes, their vectors, and the changes they engendered, will be used to illuminate the design decisions made as a result of absorbing one culture’s norms of land patterning into another