Static policy for dynamic landscape? A study of landscape notions expressed in planning policy and local people’s perception in Sicao, Taiwan

Today we recognise more clearly that landscape includes perceptual aspects, so landscape planning and policy should reflect people’s perception. But does it? Using a case study in Sicao, located in the south-west coastal area of Taiwan, this article examines the landscape notions expressed in the city landscape policy and in local people’s perception. The findings show differences in these notions of landscape. The state policy reflects a static conception arising from planners’ discursive knowledge whilst local people’s perception reflects a dynamic conception deriving mainly from lived experience. While such different notions have resulted in obstacles for landscape management, they imply that state policy for managing the landscape dynamics should strike a better balance by taking local people’s perceptual information and participation into account.