Land Consumption and Land Take: Enhancing Conceptual Clarity for Evaluating Spatial Governance in the EU Context
- Author(s)
- Elisabeth Marquard, Stephan Bartke, Judith Gifreu i Font, Alois Humer, Arend Jonkman, Evelin Jürgenson, Naja Marot, Lien Poelmans, Blaž Repe, Robert Rybski, Christoph Schröter-Schlaack, Jaroslava Sobocká, Michael Tophøj Sørensen, Eliška Vejchodská, Athena Yiannakou, Jana Bovet
- Abstract
Rapid expansion of settlements and related infrastructures is a global trend that comes with severe environmental, economic, and social costs. Steering urbanization toward well-balanced compactness is thus acknowledged as an important strategic orientation in UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG-11) via the SDG-indicator “Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate.” The EU’s simultaneous commitment to being “a frontrunner in implementing […] the SDGs” and to striving for “no net land take until 2050” calls for relating the concepts of land consumption and land take to each other. Drawing on an EU-centred questionnaire study, a focus group and a literature review, we scrutinize definitions of land consumption and land take, seeking to show how they are interrelated, and questioning the comparability of respective indicators. We argue that conceptual clarifications and a bridging of the two notions are much needed, and that the precision required for definitions and applications is context-dependent. While approximate understandings may suffice for general communication and dissemination objectives, accurate and consistent interpretations of the discussed concepts seem indispensable for monitoring and reporting purposes. We propose ways of addressing existing ambiguities and suggest prioritizing the term land take in the EU context. Thereby, we aim to enhance conceptual clarity around land consumption and land take—a precondition for solidly informing respective policies and decisions.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- External organisation(s)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Delft University of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), University of Warsaw, Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute, Aalborg University (AAU), Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Charles University Prague, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- Journal
- Sustainability
- Volume
- 12
- No. of pages
- 21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198269
- Publication date
- 10-2020
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507027 Sustainable urban development
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous), Geography, Planning and Development, Energy Engineering and Power Technology, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/c2425b9f-1cc8-46c7-97d0-804ac63c0433