Towards Landscape Integrity: The Integration of Ecological and Social Frameworks in Open Space Planning

A dichotomy of community versus conservation has long been present in society (Agrawal and Gibson 1999). This dichotomy suggests communities and ecological systems function without dependency on each other. Open space planning efforts have reinforced this dichotomy, as they typically focus on either socially- or ecologically-based frameworks (Maruani and Amit-Cohen 2007). This study examines the trend of incorporating both social and ecological frameworks into one open space plan. The research is exploratory, attempting to identify best practices and larger concepts related to integrated open space planning in the context of Hellmund and Smith’s “landscape integrity,” where healthy social and ecological systems must function together to have integrity (2006, 6)