A holistic and coevolutionary perspective of aesthetic

Aesthetics
Economics
Ecology

Barrett, Gary W.; Odum, Eugene P. (2000). The Twenty-First Century: The World at Carrying Capacity. In: BioScience, April 2000, Vol. 50, No.4.

A need to promote appreciation of the aesthetics, as well as the utility, of a diverse landscape that includes natural areas, clean streams and lakes, well-managed farmland, and attractive villages, towns, and cities all operating together to maintain a high quality of life. Many people view heavily fertilized and watered gardens, mowed lawns or clipped grasses, and yards of carefully swept soil (i.e., something to be weeded, manicured, or managed for the short term in accordance with a traditional economic purpose or a cultivated taste) as ›beautiful‹ and natural, self-sustaining meadows, grasslands, or woodlands as ›ugly‹. Figure 3 illustrates how this previously bifurcated aesthetic perspective is now being integrated into a holistic, coevolutionary landscape perspective. An informed and educated society that understands the goods and services provided by an integrated urban-rural landscape will likely conduct its business based on an educational incentive rather than a regulatory mandate.