The realities, problems and prospects of the Po plain landscape: a highly manmade environment still rich in natural and farming spaces, signs, and human and cultural presences of great historic and identitary value.
[Understanding the landscape: studies into the Lombard plain] The concept of landscape is characterised by an intrinsic ambivalence deriving from two constituent dimensions: an external, visible, objective reality that observers can grasp as well as a subjective mental image that observers can create in their mind’s eye. Landscape implies ways of analysis, interpretation and representation that perceive its multiple functions and meanings together with the dynamic relations between the natural and human factors shaping it. The volume gathers the contributions of an expert work group which throw light on the problems and prospects of the Po plain landscape: a highly manmade and productive environment that is nevertheless still rich in natural and farming spaces, signs, and human and cultural presences of great historic and identitary value.