Participatory mapping of the social landscape values in multifunctional cultural landscapes

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Recently, the social meanings of places have started to gain wide interest in the context of the geographical analysis of landscapes. As landscapes can be understood both as complex mosaics of the physical environment and social constructions and processes experienced by people with their senses, contemporary landscape research faces a challenge to integrate these approaches. Spatial data on the social landscape can depict how communities perceive and experience the daily landscapes.




This paper presents a case study from Zanzibar islands, Tanzania where data related to the social values in cultural landscapes is collected with the use of participatory GIS (PGIS) methods. Landscape management in the study area is challenging as the traditional community use of the land coexists with the new land uses of tourism related activities. Data on the social environment was collected with single-informant interviews with four different social landscape values (subsistence, traditional, aesthetic and leisure)mapped on an orthophoto image by the local community members. Manually collected data was transformed into a digital database and analysed statistically and spatially in GIS to construct an understanding of the community level patterns of social landscape values.

The results indicate the difference between individually and collectively held values
distributed across the landscape and the distance of different values from the home site.Value diversity and hot spots in the landscape were also analysed. The results also show that the perception and experience of social landscape values is different in a rural subsistence-based community compared to a society where direct contact with nature is not predominant. The results of this case study have several implications for the planning and development of multifunctional cultural landscapes. Mapping is a valuable tool of empowerment for rural developing communities. Social spatial data can be used as a starting point towards sustainable management of cultural landscapes facing conflicting land uses.

Fagerholm Nora
University of Turku, Department of Geography
nora.fagerholm@utu.fi
Keywords: participatory GIS, orthophoto mapping, landscape management