Speakers
Description
Despite numerous initiatives at the European level to reduce land take, built-up areas continue to expand more rapidly than population growth throughout Europe (Schiavina et al., 2022). Legal and policy frameworks at the EU, national, and local levels outline land protection, soil management, and ecosystem restoration obligations. Moving forward, cities will increasingly need to redevelop within their existing footprints rather than expand into greenfield sites (Decoville and Feltgen, 2025). However, the effectiveness of measures to improve land-use efficiency depends on coherent implementation, robust governance structures, and sufficient monitoring capacities.
In Estonia, an ongoing research and development project is underway to create a comprehensive understanding of land-use needs by integrating economic, environmental, and social perspectives (R&D project: Land and soil use). The study has highlighted significant discrepancies in how stakeholders interpret key land-use concepts. A fundamental prerequisite for effective governance is a shared and standardised understanding of these terms. Political objectives often conflate land cover, land use, and land condition, leading to terminological ambiguity—an issue already noted in previous research (Marquard et al., 2020). This lack of clarity may result in inconsistencies in policy implementation and monitoring. Additionally, it is crucial to identify which national or European data sources are best suited for specific monitoring tasks, as a universal "one-size-fits-all" solution does not exist.
For example, the Corine Land Cover database indicates approximately 26km2 of land artificialisation in Estonia between 2012 and 2018. In contrast, the LULUCF data from the climate report for the same period shows an increase of 101 km2 in the settlement area, highlighting a fourfold discrepancy (Jürgenson et al., forthcoming).
Similar inconsistencies arise when comparing land take and soil sealing, two key concepts in urban development. While land take refers to converting natural or agricultural land into built-up areas, soil sealing covers the soil with impermeable materials, such as concrete or asphalt (Prokop et al 2011). These differences matter — not just in technical definitions, but also in how we measure and manage urban expansion, infrastructure growth, and environmental protection.
Estonia clearly needs an integrated data approach that extracts the most valuable insights from different datasets while maintaining a clear distinction between land use, land cover, and ecosystem conditions. For example, suppose certain land-use features (such as roads and buildings) are updated frequently at the national level, the integration process should prioritise this high-resolution data while using broader European datasets to supplement areas where national data has worse temporal resolution.
References
Decoville, A., & Feltgen, V. (2025). Towards a credible, relevant and legitimate implementation framework for the EU no net land take objective. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2024.2434175
Jürgenson, E., Metsoja, K. and Põdra, K. (forthcoming). The evolution of land take in Estonia since 1991: The ned for regulations and consistent data collection methods. Town Planning Review.
Marquard, E. et al. (2020) ‘Land Consumption and Land Take: Enhancing Conceptual Clarity for Evaluating Spatial Governance in the EU Context’, Sustainability, 12, p. 8269. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198269.
Prokop, G., Jobstmann, H., and Schönbauer, A. (2011) ‘Overview of best practices for limiting soil sealing or mitigating its effects in EU-27: final report.’ Publications Office. Available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2779/15146.
R&D project: Land and soil use. (2024) Estonian Environmental Agency. Available at: https://keskkonnaportaal.ee/et/teemad/muld-ja-maahoive/maa-ja-mullakasutuse-teadus-arendusprojekt. (Accessed 31 January 2025).
Schiavina, M. et al. (2022) ‘Built-up areas are expanding faster than population growth: regional patterns and trajectories in Europe’, Journal of Land Use Science, 17(1), pp. 591–608. doi: 10.1080/1747423X.2022.2055184.
| Keywords | land take; soil sealing; legal and policy framework; standardised terminology |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
