Local debates about ‘landscape’ as viewed by German regional planners: Results of a representative survey in a discourse-analytical framework

► Renewable energies represent the main motive for communication about ‘landscape’. ► ‘Landscape’-related debates about wind turbines are most widespread. ► Also many debates about ‘landscape’ in the context of regional development. ► No correlation between number of facilities and the occurrence of debates. ► ‘Landscape’ often applied as an argument against wind turbines. The word ‘landscape’ has attracted increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners in recent years. Although much has been written about the meanings of ‘landscape’, little is yet known about local landscape discourses in Germany. The article gives an overview of local debates in which ‘landscape’ plays a role and introduces a framework for studying the discursive constitution of landscapes. The empirical part is based on a comprehensive telephone survey among representatives of regional planning agencies. Among the key findings is that wind energy and regional development seem to be the most frequent subjects of landscape-related debates at the local level – particularly in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, where comparably few renewable energy facilities have so far been installed. The article concludes with an outlook on how the survey might be used in further discourse analytical studies.