Rural landscape planning is a specialized planning approach implemented with the aim of conserving and promoting the values of rural landscapes. It contributes to enhancing the quality of life for rural residents and fostering sustainable socio-economic development in rural areas. It serves as a crucial tool to guide and regulate rural development, ensuring a balance between economic, social, and environmental factors.
The Role of Rural Landscape Planning
Rural landscape planning plays a crucial role in preserving and promoting the values of rural landscapes, especially the traditional and distinctive characteristics of each region. Additionally, it contributes significantly to creating a harmonious and nature-friendly living environment for rural residents, improving their quality of life, and safeguarding the rural environment.
Furthermore, rural landscape planning also plays a role in promoting sustainable socio-economic development in rural areas. It directs appropriate production, business, and service activities based on the potential and conditions of each region, ensuring sustainable and efficient development.
Preserving the Traditional and Distinctive Rural Landscapes of Each Region
Every region has its own unique and distinctive landscape values that are closely tied to the lives and cultures of its residents. Rural landscape planning helps conserve and promote these values, ensuring the diversity and uniqueness of the rural landscapes in Vietnam.
The values of rural landscapes may include orchards, terraced fields, ancient villages, or historical and cultural sites. Landscape planning also proposes measures to preserve and promote these values, recommending suitable activities to create conditions for the local residents to maintain and develop these landscape values.
Promoting the Natural and Artificial Landscape Values of Rural Areas
In addition to traditional landscape values, rural areas also possess unique natural and artificial landscape values. These may include pristine forests, diverse ecosystems, distinctive architectural structures, or specialty agricultural products. Rural landscape planning needs to assess and efficiently leverage these values while proposing conservation and development measures to create a diverse, appealing, and sustainable landscape.
Establishing a Harmonious and Nature-Friendly Living Environment for Rural Residents
The living environment is a crucial factor in people’s lives. Rural landscape planning will propose solutions to establish a harmonious and nature-friendly living environment for rural residents. This includes protecting and promoting natural resources and suggesting measures to shield the environment from negative impacts caused by the production and daily activities of the local population.
Objectives of Rural Landscape Planning
The objectives of rural landscape planning include:
Preserving and Promoting Traditional Rural Landscape Values, Distinctive to Each Region
This objective aims to ensure the diversity and uniqueness of the rural landscape in Vietnam. Landscape planning will propose measures to conserve and promote the traditional and distinctive landscape values of each region to maintain and develop the characteristic features of rural landscapes.
Establishing a Harmonious, Nature-Friendly Living Environment for Rural Residents
This goal seeks to ensure a healthy, harmonious, and nature-friendly living environment for rural residents. Landscape planning will suggest solutions to protect and leverage natural resources, as well as propose measures to shield the environment from negative impacts caused by the production and daily activities of the local population.
Promoting Sustainable Socio-Economic Development in Rural Areas
This objective aims to ensure the sustainable and effective development of rural areas. Landscape planning will propose production, business, and service activities suitable for the potential and conditions of each region. Simultaneously, it will suggest measures to create conditions for the local population to maintain and develop sustainable lifestyles.
Principles of Rural Landscape Planning
Rural landscape planning must adhere to the following principles:
Preserving and Promoting Traditional Rural Landscape Values, Distinctive to Each Region
This is the most important principle in rural landscape planning. Preserving and promoting the traditional and distinctive landscape values of each region will help maintain and develop the characteristic features of the rural landscape in Vietnam.
Harmonious Integration of Conservation and Development of Rural Landscape
This principle aims to ensure a balance between the conservation and development of the rural landscape. Landscape planning will propose measures to conserve and promote landscape values while ensuring the sustainable and effective development of rural areas.
Enhancing the Application of Science and Technology in Rural Landscape Planning
Applying science and technology to rural landscape planning will enhance accuracy and effectiveness. New tools and methods will be used to assess and propose suitable measures for each region.
Alignment with the Overall Socio-Economic Development Planning of the Local Area
Rural landscape planning needs to align with the overall socio-economic development planning of the local area. This ensures balance and compatibility between local development plans and policies.
Factors to Consider in Rural Landscape Planning
When planning the rural landscape, attention should be given to the following factors:
Regional Characteristics
Each region has its own characteristics in terms of geography, climate, lifestyle, and culture of the people. Understanding these characteristics will help propose measures suitable for each region in rural landscape planning.
Natural Potential and Conditions
Natural factors such as topography, soil fertility, climate, hydrology, and ecological dynamics will affect the potential and conditions for production and livelihoods of rural residents. Evaluating and exploiting these factors will help propose socio-economic development measures that align with the potential and conditions of each region.
Traditional Landscape Values of Rural Areas, Characteristics of Each Region
The traditional landscape values, characteristics of each region are distinctive and unique features of the rural landscape in Vietnam. Preserving and promoting these values is one of the important factors that needs to be considered in rural landscape planning.
Regulations on Rural Landscape Planning
Currently, rural landscape planning has been incorporated into the Planning Law and other related legal documents such as: Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP on landscape planning; Circular No. 32/2015/TT-BTNMT guiding the implementation of some provisions of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP; Circular No. 03/2016/TT-BTNMT guiding the implementation of some provisions of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP.
Accordingly, rural landscape planning is one of the necessary types of planning in the overall socio-economic development planning of the locality. Rural landscape plans need to be developed following the procedures, standards, and regulations of the law.
Steps in Rural Landscape Planning
Rural landscape planning should be carried out through the following steps:
Step 1: Assess the Current Situation
This step aims to assess the current situation of the rural landscape, including natural, social, and economic factors. This assessment will help understand the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of the region.
Step 2: Define Objectives and Development Strategies
This step aims to define objectives and development strategies for the rural landscape based on the assessment of the current situation. These objectives and strategies will serve as a basis for proposing measures and solutions in the next step.
Step 3: Propose Measures and Solutions
This step aims to propose measures and solutions that align with the defined objectives and strategies. These measures and solutions will be selected based on the natural, social, and economic factors of the region.
Step 4: Develop an Implementation Plan
This step aims to create a detailed and feasible plan for implementing the proposed measures and solutions. The plan should be specific to ensure the success of rural landscape planning.
Challenges in Rural Landscape Planning
Although rural landscape planning is a crucial factor in sustainable rural development, it faces several challenges, including:
Lack of Information and Data
The lack of accurate information and data on rural landscapes is a significant challenge in rural landscape planning. This hinders the assessment of the current situation and the proposal of appropriate measures and solutions.
Lack of Resources and Funding
Rural landscape planning requires substantial resources and funding. However, in practice, investing in rural landscape planning has not been prioritized in the plans and resources of localities.
Difficulty in Coordination with Other Plans
Harmonizing rural landscape planning with other plans such as urban planning, economic and social planning, etc., poses a significant challenge. This necessitates close cooperation and coordination among agencies, units, and local authorities.
Solutions to Enhance the Effectiveness of Rural Landscape Planning
To improve the effectiveness of rural landscape planning, solutions include:
Enhance Information and Data Collection
Increasing the collection of information and data on rural landscapes is essential for accurately assessing the current situation and proposing suitable measures and solutions.
Efficient Investment and Utilization of Resources and Budget
There needs to be efficient investment and utilization of resources and budget in rural landscape planning. This requires coordination among agencies, units, and local authorities to identify suitable resources and funding for planning.
Enhanced Training and Capacity Building for Management Officials
Enhancing training and capacity building for management officials in rural landscape planning is essential to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the planning process.
Development Vision for Rural Landscape Planning
The development vision for rural landscape planning is to create a beautiful, sustainable, and modern rural landscape. This will contribute to providing a favorable living and working environment for rural residents while preserving and promoting the traditional and distinctive values of rural landscapes in each region.
Rural landscape planning plays a crucial role in sustainable rural development. The planning process should be carried out in accordance with legal procedures, standards, and regulations, accompanied by efficient investment and resource utilization. The development vision for rural landscape planning is to build a beautiful, sustainable, and modern rural landscape, contributing to a convenient living and working space for rural residents.
