Japan has a brilliant landscaping tradition and would do well to revive it in the pursuit of ecologically sound development, according to the man recognized as the founder of ecological planning.

Ecological landscape architect Ian McHarg, 79, recently received the Japan Prize in recognition of his lifelong contribution to city planning. He discussed his work and experience in Japan in a recent interview.

McHarg's integrated approach to landscaping and to building from an ecological perspective has gained him international recognition over the years.

Born in Scotland, McHarg was a landscaper's apprentice at age 16 before studying landscape design at Harvard University. Upon graduation, he accepted a job at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is currently a professor emeritus at its Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning.

After accepting the job in 1954, the now eminent professor was in for a surprise: he found he was tasked with teaching about both landscape design and the environment.

"I found to my embarrassment that I knew nothing whatsoever about the environment. I had no idea what to talk to them (the students) about," he said.

So he enlisted the help of various experts and environmental scientists -- biologists, hydrologists, seismologists, oceanographers and others -- to teach and help develop his courses. Thus the concept of ecological planning was born.

"Up to that point all planning was socioeconomic. It was based on money and power," he said.

In the mid-1970s, McHarg got an up-close look at development in Japan when then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka invited him to advise on his nation-development scheme. McHarg met with Cabinet ministers individually and was astounded to find the plan made no reference to the environment.

"Here you have tsunami, typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes. . . . I said this is a hell of a violent place. There are some places you want to avoid (building) like the plague," he recalled advising Tanaka and his Cabinet.

He met with the nation's top 40 natural scientists and environmental experts and asked them if their environmental expertise had been utilized in the plan's formulation.

"They all said no."

Today the idea of ecological planning has found purchase -- albeit sporadically -- around the world, McHarg said. While he has been involved in projects from Nigeria to Canada, the majority of them are on the U.S. East Coast.

Currently he is involved in a project aimed at creating a more ecologically sound settlement in Taiwan's Nentou County -- a mountainous area that was the epicenter of the major quake that rocked that nation last year.

He said that further extension and application of the principles of ecological planning is needed, noting that the science has and will become increasingly more digital.

McHarg said Japan needs to compile a national ecological inventory that could be used to determine which areas are suitable for building and development.

"There is a fantastic aesthetic here. That should certainly be re-examined. You have fantastic gardens and garden art like Ryoanji (Temple in Kyoto) . . . and others. But nobody can do that anymore. It is time to think about how to do it again," he said.