The Appalachian cultural landscape along the New River

The regional landscape of Appalachian was a testing ground for a method to define cultural landscape. Landscape Architects and land planners can learn from the existing landscape about the aesthetics and environmental constraints of an area to design and plan in such a way as to complement and strengthen regional character.

This document describes in seven chapters the study undertaken to identify patterns in the cultural landscape along the New River. Chapter one introduces the study. Chapter Two explains the physical setting of the four physiographic provinces through which the New River flows. Chapter Three briefly gives an overview of the historical social context of the New River Corridor. Chapter Four describes the eleven sites surveyed as part of this research. The methods of the study are described in Chapter Five. The results of the research survey and statistical analysis are reported in Chapter Six. Lastly, Chapter Seven describes the current land uses within the four provinces, identifies the similarities between the landscape of the Blue Ridge and Great Valley Provinces and the dissimilarity of the Ridge and Valley and Allegheny Plateau Provinces. This chapter discusses how land planning profession could work to strengthen the Appalachian region along the New River and other regions with a unique cultural landscape.