摘要：The language is a means to communicate about the
world and to render it meaningful. This paper demonstrates
the practical relevance of language in
applied geography, using the example of potential
land use conflicts in aTicino region (Malcantone).
The project discusses the planning problems related
to the spontaneous growth of forests on reverted
land. The authors have studied this process in the
basis of the legal definition of woodland, considering
the period from 1945–83, and have defined
potential problem and conflict areas (e. g. between
building and afforestion zones). Linguistic difficulties
arose on various levels: during the survey (when
the data was prepared for a Geographical Information System) and during the translation of the analytical
description into the regional language. As the
project is now being realised, the cultural dimension
of language becomes apparent.This study has in fact
encouraged the authors to reflect on their own
language (the metaphors of the legal definition of
woodlands). Their conclusion is that geographers
ought to create new languages in order to arrive at
an integral planning of our living space.
