What is the importance of "The Shattered Plains" in the novel, The Way of Kings?

The Shattered Plains is a section of land that is in the southeastern section of Roshar. The land is comprised of hundreds of plateaus, each requiring the use of a bridge to get across. As one of the main settings of the novel, several of the first-person narrators are currently battling on the Plains. It is the geographical center of the conflict between the Parshendi and the Alethi.