OUTDOOR RECREATION PLANNING AND DESIGN

LANDSCAPE SENSITIVITY AND CAPACITY

Simon Bell

INTRODUCTION
At the strategic, landscape scale, such as for an entire national park or identifiable
territory for recreational planning, such as a lake or forest, section of coastline etc,
understanding the capacity of the landscape to accommodate certain types and
amounts of recreation without causing a negative impact is important. This enables a
balance to be reached between the demands and expectations of visitors for different
experiences and the ability of the landscape to supply this.
Conceptually, the starting point is the zoning concept using the three components of the
planning circle: the natural and cultural environment, the visitor demands and the
necessary recreational infrastructure provision (see Figure 1)

Figure 1: The zoning concept for recreation planning

For the purpose of a capacity study the zoning should be based on the characteristics of
the landscape. When the territory for planning is large then a comprehensive landscape
character assessment should be undertaking, where the various component layers of
the landscape (geology, landform hydrology, soils, land cover, settlement, cultural
historical and visual/sensory) are combined to identify and divide the landscape into
units with a homogeneous character. In places where this is not available a simpler
breakdown into land-use or landcover units can be used: for example, a lake, lake
shore, sand dunes, meadow, forest etc. These units then form the framework for the
assessment of:
 suitability (for different types of recreation identified from an assessment of
demand, for example) and
 potentially the pressure this places on different areas (such as for heavy
mountain bike use which may be too much for an area without additional trail
construction) as well as
 sensitivity of the landscape to the types of recreation pressure so identified and
 when combining sensitivity and suitability/pressure the capacity of each unit
which leads to
 decisions on what types and amounts of activity to allow in the unit and also
 design guidance on the infrastructure needed to maintain the balance between
the activities and the landscape.
These points above can form a set of steps for the assessment.
Figure 2 shows an example of a map of a landscape (part of a river valley with areas on
either side) divided into units of different character.

Figure 2: A landscape character assessment map (to be used for demonstrating the
steps in later sections)
KEY DEFINITIONS
Landscape sensitivity
 Reflects the vulnerability of a landscape to change; the ability of a system to take
pressure
 Within a landscape, certain attributes may be more vulnerable to change than
others
Landscape capacity
 The ability of a landscape character type or area to accommodate a specific
change without undesired effects, influenced by landscape sensitivity
 Varies according to the type and degree of change
 Reflects the value of the landscape
The landscape is sensitive to different forms of recreation and tourism activities.
 Capacity is the ability by which the landscape can accommodate a particular type
or scale of activity in relation to its sensitivity.
 Thus a landscape with greater sensitivity to a particular type of development
usually has lower capacity to accommodate this.
GENERAL APPROACH TO CAPACITY ASSESSMENT
Figure 3 presents a diagram of the general method or approach focusing on the
demand side and the supply side and combining these to give capacity.

Figure 3: General model of capacity assessment and its place in later stages planning
and design
Step 1: Suitability for recreation
In this step all the actual or potential activities which could take place in the area are
identified and classified. If an area is already used extensively and perhaps is already
suffering from over-use, then the existing activities are most important. If the area is to
be developed either from scratch or as part of a revised plan, then potential activities
not yet provided for (and which may have been identified from demand surveys) should
also be included.
Depending on the location, activities should be classified or grouped for easier planning
later on. Classifications may be based on the following criteria:
 Active vs passive eg mountain biking vs sitting
 Quiet vs noisy eg meditating vs children playing
 Motorized vs non-motorised eg sailing vs speed boating
 Winter vs summer eg hiking vs skiing
 Water-based vs land-based
A table can be prepared where each landscape unit is assessed for its suitability to
provide for each recreational type, usually in categories such as very suitable,
moderately suitable and unsuitable, then maps showing the distribution of suitability
across the landscape.
Table 1 shows an example of a suitability classification by season (although it could
have been further subdivided into motorized and non-motorised etc) and Figure 4
shows a map of suitability for winter/land-based activities.
Table 1: A basic table of suitability by season
Figure 4: Map or suitability for winter, land-based activities related to the landscape
character units of the landscape.
Step 2: Assessing pressure for recreation
As noted above, if there is a high and increasing demand, eg by increased numbers of
visitors to the area, in relation to certain types of activities then the suitability
assessment may be further developed to incorporate pressure, indicating which areas
have or are likely to have higher pressure than others (not illustrated here because in
the project included there was no such pressure). Trends in activities which may create
new demand and pressure should also be considered.
Step 3: Assessing sensitivity
In this assessment a number of different factors may contribute to sensitivity:
 Consider the different aspects which may be affected by specific forms of
recreation
 Ecological sensitivity – eg. disturbance to wildlife, trampling of vegetation
 Geophysical – eg. erosion of soil, water pollution
 Aesthetic/sensory – eg. views, noise, crowding, facilities
 Cultural – eg. historical features, damage risk
For each of these a set of criteria are needed and the sensitivity should be scored or
graded as, eg high/medium/low or on a scale from 5 (highest) to 1(lowest) Consider
weighting of more important aspects, for example by multiplying scores by 2 or 3 to
ensure that there is no reversion to the mean (where an area might be scored as high
and low on different factors but the result would average at medium).
Table 2 presents an assessment of sensitivity for each landscape unit based on a
combination of a series of factors with some weighting. Figure 5 is a map of the same
sensitivity. Note that as well as the average, the component scores are also shown.
Table 2: A sensitivity assessment table

Figure 5: Sensitivity assessment map by landscape unit

Step 4: Assessing capacity
This stage takes the suitability/pressure map (for each set of activities) and compares it
against the sensitivity map to generate a capacity map. Figure 6 shows this worked out
for the winter/land-based suitability map at Figure 4. It is not a simple intersection of
suitability and sensitivity – some judgement and taking account of specific aspects may
modify this calculation, especially when the potential impact of some suitable activities
is taken into account.

Figure 6: Capacity map for winter/land-based activities

Step 5: Preparing guidance on appropriate development for each landscape unit
Once the sets of tables and maps for the whole landscape have been completed (and it
is a good idea at this stage to consult with stakeholders and others and to check the
correctness of assumptions) a set of landscape unit-specific guidance can be prepared,
also considering the potential impact of the recreational activities from the suitability
tables. Figure 7 shows an example of one landscape unit where all the information is
combined and the most suitable activities and other guidance are specified. Note that
the capacity differs between the seasons and the land/water.
Figure 7: Example of landscape unit-level guidance combining the steps into a single
set of information
NEXT STEPS
Following the conclusion of the capacity study a territorial-level development plan can
be prepared and from this the specific infrastructure needs can be identified and a set of
designs for facilities drawn up.
Acknowledgments
The work shown in this paper was prepared by master students of landscape
architecture Lia Chowdhury, Agustin Contreras Nieto, Constance Criqui, Hoang Le
Minh, Elin Svensson and Argo Vahane at the Estonian University of Life Sciences