Properties, dynamics and sustainability indicators of semi-urban areas

In Flanders problems arise when trying to delineate rural and urban
zones using geographical and ecological standards. These problemsoccurs because large parts of the flemisch landscape consist of a
'hybrid' form of landuse, with rural as well as urban properties. This
area can be called the semi-urban area and in Flanders it does not only
show up at the urban fringes (but also along major transportation
structures).Since there is no clear definition of the semi-urban area, there is
also no clear sustainability framework for this area (in contrast to,
for example, forest or agricultural land).
This PhD research tries, using a large range of different variables
(ecological, (bio-)geographical, socio-economic and planological),
their variation and behaviour and their (inter)relationships to give a
more precise and detailed description of the semi urban area and its
properties. After this, a historical reconstruction of the semi urban
area (which is  typically a very dynamic area through time and
space) will be given.
A number of these variables will be tested for their application as(spatial) sustainability indicators and - if found suitable - will be
used to create or define a sustainability framework for the semi urban
areas.
In a last part of the research, the framework, the indicators and the
remaining variables will be applied (as illustration) in some casestudies.