Cultural Landscape Category as World Cultural Heritage

A cultural landscape, which falls under the category of cultural heritage, refers to the cultural properties that ‘represent the combined works of nature and of man’ described in Article 1 of the World Heritage Convention. This definition was accepted at the 16th session of the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO in Santa Fe, U.S.A., in December 1992 and implemented in 1993. The World Heritage Advisory Committee classifies cultural landscapes into three types: (1) landscapes designed and created intentionally by man; (2) ‘organically evolved landscapes’; and (3) ‘associative cultural landscapes’. Cultural landscapes, which focus on expressing the natural flow and social evolution of the harmonious relationship between man and land, can be good examples for understanding the relationship between humans and the land.