Abstract

In the opening pages of Tim Creswell’s (2004: 12) book Place: A Short Introduction, the author states that ‘Space, landscape and place are clearly highly interrelated terms and each definition is contested.’ This seemingly simple observation hovers like a compass needle, pointing the way into difficult terrain. The brief journey I propose in this chapter is to visit and dwell awhile upon the two important concepts of place and landscape, and to consider what might be gained by examining the creative tension between them. Consideration of these themes is significant. Landscapes, places and cultures are ineluctably linked. They work on and change each other over time. It would be all too easy, in the age of virtual realities and globalization (Massey and Jess 1995), to miss the fundamental role that landscapes and places play in the development and sustenance of cultural identity.