The Evolution of Landscape Aesthetics Under Energy Transition

Highlights

	· Landscape appearance is changing with energy infrastructure forms
	· Landscape aesthetics theories coincide with the development of evolutionary aesthetics
	· The methodology of energy landscape aesthetics expands from essentialism, positivism to social constructivism

Abstract

The energy transition and the resulting changes in landscape appearance have brought great social repercussions. Nowadays we have to answer the questions that how can we view the rapidly changing landscape appearance caused by energy transition, and how to balance associated issues about protection and development. Since the energy landscape aesthetic theory in the low-carbon era has not yet been constructed, this paper explores landscape aesthetics from terminological, evolutionary, and methodological perspectives, and discusses the connotation, core values, and research scopes of postmodern aesthetics, post-industrial aesthetics, and ecological aesthetics. Based on theoretical review, assessment paradigms of landscape aesthetics are sorted out from essentialism, positivism, to social constructivism. A framework is introduced to assess energy landscapes under energy transition background to generate a consensus for sustainable landscape among all stakeholders.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Energy Transition / Landscape Aesthetics / Evolutionary Aesthetics / Renewable Energy / Landscape Protection / Social Constructivism

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Acknowledgements

Project of "Research on Spatial Low-Carbon Collaborative Governance Mechanism From a Nature–Society Perspective—Taking Shanghai as an Example," Shanghai Social Science Planning Youth Project (No. 2024ECK005)

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