Landscape Architecture Is Still Treated as Decoration — and Cities Are Paying the Price

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Landscape architecture has long occupied an ambiguous position within architectural culture. In its early European lineage, landscape design was closely aligned with aristocratic display. Far from being a shared civic system or public right, formal gardens such as Versailles used landscaping as an expression of power, a microcosm of political hierarchy and territorial control. Even as public parks emerged in the nineteenth century, they were often framed as relief from the city, not as structural components of it. Buildings and roads defined urban order; the landscape was treated as an amenity, often seen as an urban tool aimed at increasing real estate value.

That hierarchy reflected the priorities of its time. Industrial expansion and rapid urbanization placed emphasis on density and construction speed, while opening the door to speculation. Architecture appeared to shape the city’s identity, while landscape simply softened its edges or added a decorative flair. The ground was something to decorate or escape to, not something that organized urban life. Today, these assumptions are increasingly untenable.

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RSK : If only projects had the money and municipalities would let landscape architects plan this way. But cities want it to be there all at once.