Cultural Landscapes in the Petrosani Depression (Southern Carpathians, Romania)

ABSTRACT. The main objective of the article is to determine a typology of cultural landscapes from the Petrosani Depression, through the integration of the physical-geographical criterion with the functional criterion. The analysis was completed with a quantitative assessment of the present state of cultural landscapes, using GIS techniques.Keywords: cultural landscapes, mining basin, quantitative assessment, degradation1. IntroductionIn the last two decades, the literature on landscapes, and particularly on cultural landscapes, stresses the key role of the interaction between the geographical environment and the human society in shaping the cultural landscapes (Milanova and Kushlin, 1993; Meeus, 1995; Bennett, 1996; UNESCO, 1999; Anzuini and Strubelt, 2000; Council of Europe, 2000; Spiegler and Dower, 2006).It is a challenge to understand the present-day features of the cultural landscapes, seen as clearly defined components of the landscape, formed by the interaction of human and environmental factors. This is caused by the overlapping of multiple landscape configurations, specific to various stages in the development of human society.In the Petrocani Depression (1032 sq.km, 138775 inhabitants in 2011), the largest coalfield of the Southern Carpathians (Romania), the socioeconomic changes occurred in the last seventy years left their mark on the traditional agro-pastoral landscape. Until 1989, the main features of the landscape were imposed by the intensive development of mining, by the intense influx of the labor force from other regions of the country, by the expansion of the mining settlement (colonii) and urbanization.After the fall of communism regime, the political transition and the economic restructuring have introduced new elements in the landscape, such as the appearance of abandoned production facilities, severe degradation of some sectors of mining settlements or landscapes associated with the emergence of new economic activities, such as exploitation and primary wood processing and tourism.The objectives of this study are: the classification of cultural landscapes from the Petrocani Depression and the assessment of their degree of degradation. The achievement of these objectives will contribute to a better understanding of how the anthropogenic factors have influenced the present features of the region.2. Methodological Approaches in the Identification and Classification of Cultural LandscapesThe first attempts to produce a typology of global or regional landscapes were the early 90s (e.g. Milanova and Kushlin, 1993; Meeus, 1995). The present concerns show the need to develop a methodology that will allow an objective classification of the cultural landscapes, integrating data on various elements of the landscape (e.g. biophysical, socio-economic, cultural and historical elements).Thus, a recent approach has resulted in the identification and classification of European landscapes based on integration of the following data sets: types of environment, topography, parent material and land use. The resulting maps (European Landscape Character Map - LANMAP and LANMAP 2) revealed up to 375 types of European landscapes, grouped into eight environmental areas (Mucher et al., 2003; Mucher et al., 2005; Mucher etal., 2010).Within the European project ELCAI - the European Landscape Character Assessment Initiative (Wascher, 2005) the focus was on the political dimension of landscape classification (the opinion and the rights of key stakeholders involved in landscape management), which must also be considered, together with the biophysical, socio-economic, cultural and aesthetic factors.Regarding the identification and classification of the cultural landscapes, the approach is similar to those mentioned above. For example, in SPESP - Study Programme on European Spatial Planning (Anzuini and Strubelt, 2000), the spatial differentiation of cultural landscapes was based on two types of indicators: a. …