Landiskapet

Landiskapet is a term used in cultural geography and related disciplines to denote the inseparable relation between land and social practices in shaping landscapes. It treats landscapes as outcomes of ongoing interactions among natural processes, economic activity, governance systems, and cultural meaning, rather than as fixed backdrops.

The word appears to be a neologism formed from elements meaning “land” and “creation” or “making” in Scandinavian-derived languages. Its use remains limited and there is no standardized definition across disciplines. In scholars’ writings, landiskapet is often invoked to emphasize the processual character of landscapes rather than their static appearance.

In application, landiskapet is used to analyze how planning regimes, property rights, agricultural practices, and technological change reconfigure territory and sense of place. It supports integrated analyses of urban redevelopment, rural restructuring, and cross-border environmental governance by highlighting how policy, practice, and perception co-produce the landscape.

Critics argue that the concept can be vague or overly broad, while proponents view it as a helpful heuristic for connecting ecological, economic, and cultural dimensions of land. The term remains most common in academic discourse and is less likely to appear in policy documents or general discourse.

See also: Landscape, Cultural landscape, Land use, Placemaking, Territorial governance.