Abstract
When we think about the landscape, we rarely consider that it may have an economic value or even any links with economy. We are more in the habit of associating spiritual and aesthetic values to the idea of landscape which would appear to have nothing to do with money. Yet this comes from a misplaced idea of what landscape is and of what the aim of economics should be. It is perhaps not by chance that the most comprehensive review of the Italian agricultural landscape and its transformations was produced by Emilio Sereni, who was an historian and a skilled economist.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Although the term agricultural landscape cannot be considered entirely correct because, in the strictest terms, it does not include pastoral and forest landscapes, it has been preferred to use this expression for reasons of simplicity.
- 2.
According to some authors (Reho 2006; Marangon 2006), recourse to instruments of the voluntary type could allow actions of landscape conservation to be implemented regardless of state intervention. This would be possible in all the cases where a commercial good can be identified whose production might in some way be complementary to landscape conservation. For example, if rural tourism was in some way linked to landscape quality, farmers, aware of the preferences of the tourists, might work voluntarily to conserve the landscape. Or, if the landscape was in some way perceived by consumers as an indicator of quality of a local farm product, its conservation would guarantee higher prices and therefore increased profitability. However, these possibilities meet major difficulties at operational level. In the case of rural tourism, the costs of landscape conservation weigh equally on all the farms of a given area, while the benefits are the privilege of the few involved in the sale of services to the visitors. In the case of typical local products, many farmers might be encouraged to behave like free riders, adopting production techniques that degrade the landscape, in the assumption that some other farmer will contribute towards conserving an adequate level of landscape quality.
- 3.
A “piantata intermedia” is a cultivated plot bordered by rows of vines supported by maples and later by mulberry trees. For centuries, vine plots were the only way that vines were grown on the plain.
Bibliography
Antrop M (2005) Why landscapes of the past are important for the future. Landsc Urban Plan 70:21–34
Appleton J (1975) The experience of landscape. Wiley, London, p 293
Berto R (2005) Exposure to restorative environments helps restore attentional capacity. J Environ Psychol 25:249–259
Bourassa SC (1990) A paradigm for landscape aesthetics. Environ Behav 22:787–812
Bourassa SC, Hoesli M, Sun J (2003) What’s in a view? FAME Res Pap Ser 79
Costonis JJ (1982) Law and aesthetics: a critique and a reformulation of the dilemma. Mich L Rev 80:355–461
Geoghegan J, Wainger LA and Bockstael NE (1997) Spatial landscape indices in a hedonic framework: an ecological economics analysis using GIS. Ecol Econ 23:251–264
Hartig T, Evans GW, Jamner LD, Davis DS, Arling TG (2003) Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. J Environ Psychol 23:109–123
Kaplan R, Kaplan S (1989) The experience of nature: a psychological perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York
Kaplan R (2001) The nature of the view from home: psychological benefits. Environ Behav 33:407–542
Kaplan S (1995) The restorative benefits of nature: towards an integrative framework. Aesthetics, affect, and cognition: environmental preference from an evolutionary perspective. J Environ Psychol 15:169–182
Kaplan S (2001) Meditation, restoration, and the management of mental fatigue. Environ Behav 33:480–506
Le Goffe P (2000) Hedonic pricing of agriculture and forestry externalities. Environ Resour Econ 15:397–401
Marangon F, Tempesta T, Visintin F (2002) La domanda di ecoturismo nell’Italia Nord-Orientale. Genio Rurale, n.5, 33–39
Marangon F, Troiano S (2006) Le misure economiche per la tutela del paesaggio nelle politiche per lo sviluppo rurale nelle regioni italiane. In: Marangon F. (ed.), Gli Interventi Paesaggistico-Ambientali nelle Politiche Regionali di Sviluppo Rurale. Franco Angeli, Milano
Marangon F (2006) Imprese agroalimentari e produzione di beni pubblici, in Atti del XLIII Convegno annuale SIDEA, Agricolture e mercati in transizione, Assisi (PG)—7/9 settembre 2006
Marangon F, Tempesta T (2008) Una proposta di indicatori economici per la valutazione del paesaggio. Estimo e Territorio, n. 5, 40–55
Parsons R, Daniel TC (2002) Good looking: in defense of scenic landscape aesthetic. Landsc Urban Plan 60:43–56
Ready R, Abdalla C (2003) The impact of open space and potential local disamenities on residential property values in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Staff Paper Series No 363 (The Pennsylvania State University)
Reho M (2006) Le misure per la tutela e la valorizzazione del paesaggio introdotte dalla nuova PAC. Valutazione di efficacia in relazione ai fattori di contesto e alle modalità di gestione. In: Marangon F (ed), Gli Interventi Paesaggistico-Ambientali nelle Politiche Regionali di Sviluppo Rurale. Franco Angeli, Milano
Sereni E (1986) Storia del Paesaggio Agrario Italiano, Laterza, Bari
Tagliafierro C (2005) La stima del valore del paesaggio nei modelli edonici spaziali: un’applica-zione nel mercato immobiliare di Massa Lubrense. Rivista di Economia Agraria 3:577–602
Tempesta T (1997).Esternalità positive e problemi di efficienza nell’allocazione delle risorse. In: Tempesta T (ed) Paesaggio Rurale e Agro Tecnologie Innovative: una Ricerca nella Pianura tra Tagliamento e Isonzo. Franco Angeli, Milano
Tempesta T (2006) Il valore del paesaggio rurale. In: Tempesta T, Thiene M, Percezione e Valore del Paesaggio. Franco Angeli, Milano
Tempesta T, Arboretti Giancristofaro R, Corain L, Salmaso L, Tomasi D, Boatto V (2010) The importance of landscape in wine quality perception: an integrated approach using choice-based conjoint analysis and combination-based permutation tests. Food Qual Prefer 21:827–836
Ulrich RS (1984) View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science 224:420–421
Ulrich RS, Simsons RF, Losito BD, Fiorito E, Miles MA, Zelson M (1991) Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. J Environ Psychol 11:201–230
Vanslembrouck I, Van Huylenbroek G, Van Mennesel J (2005) Impact of agriculture on rural tourism: a hedonic pricing approach. J Agric Econ 56(1):17–30
Wells N (2000) At home with nature: effects of “greenness” on children’s cognitive functioning. Environ Behav 32:775–795
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tempesta, T. (2013). Landscape and Economy. In: Agnoletti, M. (eds) Italian Historical Rural Landscapes. Environmental History, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5354-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5354-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5353-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5354-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)