경관법 제정의 세계화와 한국의 과제

Since the 1960s, the development of industry and commerce was attained at the expense of nature in Korea. Under these circumstances, the public authorities have not taken the necessary measure to preserve the environment, landscapes and traditional cultural heritage. Thus, the landscapes were more or less destroyed along with the land development. But the preservation of landscape has become a major public policy in recent days. Therefore, the land development projects that are germane to the landscape have increased, especially from local authorities. Recent legislation supported this movement: "The Act On the Plan and Use of Land", which was passed in 2002, has made ​​the protection and management of landscape in the planning policy. This act was the legal creation of landscape projects by the government and local authorities. Moreover, "The Landscape Act", which is the first general act in the landscape protection, was adopted in 2007. In 2000, "The European Landscape Convention", organized by the Council of Europe, was adopted by 18 member states of the Council of Europe in Florence. This convention aimed to promote European landscape protection, management and planning and to organize European co-operation. The principles of the Convention are as in the following: 1) The landscape is a common property regardless of value and location. 2) The landscape should be an object of special public policies. 3) The landscape must reflect the democratic spirit of citizenship. 4) The landscape is an object of European co-operation. The UNESCO recently prepared "The Project of Global Landscape Convention" to present at Rio+20(The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development). It aims to create networks of information centered on the landscape for the exchange of necessary information and establish the guidelines for international regions and member states of the convention. In connection with the principles of this convention, above all, the landscape rights are fundamental rights for all universal citizens, like the preamble. "The International Center of Comparative Environmental Law" recommended to consider at the convention: 1) The landscape is an element which is inseparable from the quality of life and the human rights to the environment. 2) The perception of landscape depends on cultures and their diversity. 3) There are various international legal texts on the topic landscape but their scope is limited either geographically or in contents.4) The UNESCO has begun a reflection on the opportunity and feasibility of a new world instrument on landscape. 5) Those landscapes undergo increasing degradation and should be preserved. In Korea, "The Landscape Act" aims to contribute to the composition of the environment for national and local level by displaying different views of the systematic conservation of land management and necessary resource management and deciding to form a beautiful area at the national and local level. Moreover, according to article 2 of the act, the landscape shows geographic natures, buildings and facilities and lifestyles of the inhabitants. Major contents of the act are composed of the landscape plan, the landscape work, the landscape agreement, the landscape committee, etc. Legal problems are as in the following on this act: 1) The concept of landscape is more objective than occidental concept. 2) The Act on the landscape is authoritarian because of the lack of public participation. 3) The Act does not consider the principles of environmental law, etc. There are movements of the act in revision recently by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. In this connection, most of all, it is important to include the landscape in environmental elements and recognize that landscape rights are a fundamental right of all citizens.