Tranquillity Mapping Project

Mapping Tranquillity

The word ‘tranquillity' appears in a great many policy and planning documents, and also numerous publications that promote places for tourism and inward investment. It is clear that whatever tranquillity is, and wherever it is to be found, it is important and judged to be worth protecting.

Previous psychological research has highlighted why tranquillity is important. Being in tranquil places allows people to relax, to escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life and to ‘recharge their batteries'. However, tranquillity remains relatively poorly understood as a concept. Tranquillity is seen as an indicator of environmental quality, but most environmental indicators focus on tangible, quantifiable attributes such as the length of hedgerows, water quality or the accessibility of green space. Qualitative, experiential aspects of landscape are far harder to account for. Tranquillity runs the risk of being overlooked because of this perceived difficulty.

This research was commissioned to develop a methodology that was robust and could support a range of activities, with land-use and landscape planning foremost amongst them. It has established that a qualitative consultation of a wide range of countryside users and other groups can be accommodated within a quantitative framework for analysis and mapping, thereby drawing tranquillity into the range of available countryside quality indicators.

The project partners hope the new technique will become an important tool in planning and conservation. It could lead to tranquillity maps covering all England .

Project leader Dr Robert MacFarlane of Northumbria University said: ‘Many official reports and statements talk about how important tranquillity is. What we've lacked until now is a robust, reliable way of showing where people can find it. Our new maps do just that.'

Tom Oliver, lead countryside campaigner at CPRE, said: ‘Places that make us feel tranquil take us away from stresses and strains and lift our spirits – but they face a multitude of threats and are shrinking. This new approach can help us protect and enhance these precious places, which are found not just in the most remote and beautiful landscapes but in the countryside on our doorstep.'

Huw Davies, the Countryside Agency's North East Regional Director, said: ‘This kind of mapping based on Participatory Appraisal could become an important tool for planners and for people managing the countryside. For those involved in major new regional development and regeneration schemes, this new methodology might even help to create new tranquil places. Tranquillity matters to people and it needs protecting.'

For more information about this project, or to obtain a copy of the full report, please contact:

Dr Helen Dunsford
Division of Environmental Management
School of Applied Sciences
Ellison Building
University of Northumbria
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 8ST
Tel: 0191 243 7155 / 3408
Fax: 0191 227 4715
email: helen.dunsford@northumbria.ac.uk