The research analyses, through the historical-cultural matrix, the evolution of the culture of territorial management and the protection of the landscape in the German-Anglo-Saxon and Central-Mediterranean planning tradition aimed to sustainability. The research studies two cases France and the Netherlands that are representative of different approaches: France that has recently innovated its planning system to overcome the traditional separation between protection policies and territorial management, and the Netherlands that historically has developed an integration between environmental policies and physical planning. The exploration of the matrices suggests common tendencies, weaknesses and guidelines useful to implement in each planning tradition the innovation process aimed to sustainability.