Landscape planning: its contributions to the evolution of the profession of landscape architecture

Landscape planning, a subdiscipline of the field of landscape architecture, has helped define the profession over the past twenty five years. Landscape planning endorses the tenets of the Natural Environmental Policy Act [NEPA, 1969. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Public Law No. 91-190 91st Congress, second session (NEPA) pp. 1–5] and thereby promotes landscape architects and landscape planners as major players in changing landscapes. Changing landscapes is focused on developing valid designs that promote ecological integrity. Aesthetic form resulting from these changes is also a concern but must respect ecological function and structure first. Landscape planning will take on an even greater role in the future by; redefining the profession; by contributing to the knowledge base of good design decisions, and creating new advances in planning and design theory.