Sustainability science has contributed models, methods, case studies and principles (e.g. Lang et al. 2012; Wiek et al. 2012) to the emerging science of landscape sustainability (Wu 2006, 2013). It has supported ideas on how cultural landscapes can be maintained and developed by pointing out the need for cross-sectoral planning and decision making (e.g. Wiek and Walter 2009). How these ideas can be translated and applied in planning and development practice in regions where external pressures for economic growth and development prevail (e.g. Dale 2014; Pearson and Gorman 2010) requires further exploration. In particular, how regional development strategies can be put in place that are socially just based on democratic processes and embedded in broader legal landscape planning frameworks requires further research attention.