From fields and arable land to steep vineyards and extensive orchard meadows, there are many faces to the countryside in the Stuttgart Region. Its charms also include the extensive mixed forests of Schönbuch and Glemswald, together with the expansive natural spaces in the Swabian Alb and the Swabian-Franconian forest. In this environment, urban structures and the transport infrastructure developed around these natural features. On the one hand, we are constantly finding out more about the diverse elements in the landscape. On the other, planning solutions are required to meet the demands and implications of settlement, infrastructure and business. This makes regional landscape planning an important component in the development of the Stuttgart Region. The planning is integrated in the landscape framework plan as a basis for the regional plan. The landscape framework plan provides a comprehensive overview of the landscape, land use, agriculture, water supply, wooded areas, mineral deposits and climate in the Stuttgart Region. Alongside in-depth statements regarding areas requiring protection, the landscape framework plan also lists proposals for the protection and conservation of the landscape.

The statements in the landscape framework plan form the basis for designating regional greenbelts and greenbreaks for example. They constitute binding specifications for urban land-use planning and planning permission for outdoor spaces, thus ensuring that open spaces are retained as natural environments.

To roll forward the regional plan, wide-scale information concerning the state of the natural environment and the landscape was gathered in a geographic information system (GIS) and evaluated. The data are available to the local authorities for their landscape and urban land use planning and can be requested from Verband Region Stuttgart.