The impact of urbanization on the physical environment of Lamphun's cultural landscape

Abstract

Cultural landscape is everything - concrete and abstract - that people in a society collectively believe (community value) and do to the geographic environment to cultivate and develop a human habitat. The objectives of this study were to examine the context of physical environment that affects human behavior and to outline the transforming process of physical features in response to cultural changes. The studied area was in Lamphun, Thailand. The area is rich in history and culture. From the results of the study, we can summarize that urbanization has affected the cultural landscape, but the beliefs, culture, and some physical aspects still remain the same. The cultural landscape have evolved due to the faith of the people, who have adapted new physical features to suit the old culture; the cultural landscape did not disappear but was just modified to a new form. The ways to maintain the cultural landscape in this area are to bring awareness to the people, especially new settlers, about its values and to implement a policy regarding the elimination of visual pollution of the modern age.