What do we see?
In recent years, we have seen an increase in the amount of hard surface area in Flanders. In 2021, 28.7% of Flanders was built up, which corresponds to an area of 391,582 ha. The majority of the built-up area consisted of residential buildings (44%), followed by infrastructure for transport and communication (30%).
What’s the aim?
The use of open space for the construction of buildings has a major impact on the environment, biodiversity and the natural carbon and water cycle. Therefore, within a circular model we want to reduce the amount of built-up area. To achieve this, we need to use the available space more efficiently by increasing the living space per square metre. However, we can only do this by also taking into account population development and the need for housing.
What does this indicator measure?
This indicator shows, per sector, how much built-up area there is in Flanders. The data comes from Statbel.
