Present Approaches to Landscape Typology in the Czech Republic

Landscape typologies are widely recognised as useful tools for landscape management and planning. However, there is wide range of different approaches producing diverse outputs, which makes the usage of landscape typologies sometimes difficult or confusing in general practice (Wascher ed., 2005). The same situation is found in the Czech Republic, where a number of holistic, expert–based and quantitative approaches were developed. These differences could be explained by different objectives of landscape classification, different input data and methods used, and by the particular author’s experience and erudition. Nevertheless, landscape typology should be clear both for scientists, landscapeplanners and policy makers. It is necessary to create valid landscape-planning documents which have to reflect regional, cultural and natural landscape specifics, for as effective and sustainable land use as possible. For such a strategic planning, clearly defined and characterised spatial units seem to be an essential base. This paper aims to introduce the fundamental methodological approaches, provides basic comparison of different Czech typologies, and discusses an optimal method for landscape planning.