‘[Townscape is] the landscape within the built-up area, including the buildings, the relationship between them, the different types of urban open spaces, including green spaces and the relationship between buildings and open spaces.’

Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (GLVIA3), paragraph 2.7

The above definition forms the basis of this Technical Information Note, which explains how practitioners can apply the principles and general approach of landscape character assessment – as defined by Natural England – to townscape character assessment.This Note is a resource for members of the Landscape Institute and other professions, such as those involved in commissioning, carrying out and using a townscape character assessment for planning or design purposes. This might include landscape professionals, architects, archaeologists, urban designers, infrastructure engineers, or experts in a range of fields working in government departments and agencies, local authorities, and development and utilities companies.

Latest revision: 17 April 2018

These minor changes reflect a recent update to Historic England’s GPA3 advice note and correct a small number of errors in the previous document.Download TIN 05/2017. (PDF, 2 MB.)