The Spatial Report 2018. The spatial pattern of Flanders unravelled.

RURA, ‘Ruimterapport Vlaanderen’, was developed in 2018 as a state report for the physical environment in Flanders. The document contains many spatial analyses: descriptions of the occurrence of certain activities, how spatial patterns have developed over time, and what evolutions can be expected. The most important results are presented on a map and in text and further positioned in international comparative literature. The report describes the far-reaching fragmentation of Flanders. Flanders is characterised by a high land take, a high percentage of buildings, many urban and rural centres and smaller building concentrations, large houses with a limited building height and relatively large gardens, facilities and businesses spread over the entire territory, small agricultural plots, many trees but relatively few forests, many solar panels on private roofs, This fragmentation creates many challenges for the future, such as providing sufficient drinking water, switching to renewable energy sources, reducing car kilometres and promoting sustainable travel, energy optimisation of existing buildings, ....
RURA contains new spatial typologies that allow to name and describe spatial differences. In this article three spatial typologies are explained. The urbanised-peri-urban-rural typology, the centres-ribbon development-scattered buildings typology and the sprawl typology. Within a certain neighborhood these three approaches may have to be combined. After all, in a specific suburban area both centres and ribbons may be present, and areas with a sprawl gradient may occur. The analyses from the Spatial Report Flanders are actively used in Flanders. The datasets are freely available. The intention is to further develop this type of analysis in the future to be able to describe evolutions and changes in spatial patterns.

Publication year:2020

Accessibility:Open