Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?

This study discusses the situation of mainland Portugal concerning the achievement of the European “no net land take” target by 2050. This target aims to curb land take by increasing the recycling of developed land and offsetting the consumption of undeveloped land by re-naturalizing an equivalent a...

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Main Authors: Rita Nicolau, Beatriz Condessa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-07-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1005
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author Rita Nicolau
Beatriz Condessa
author_facet Rita Nicolau
Beatriz Condessa
author_sort Rita Nicolau
collection DOAJ
description This study discusses the situation of mainland Portugal concerning the achievement of the European “no net land take” target by 2050. This target aims to curb land take by increasing the recycling of developed land and offsetting the consumption of undeveloped land by re-naturalizing an equivalent area of artificial land. Setting targets and interventions in each country to reach this goal requires monitoring land take, developed land recycling, and re-naturalization. This study assesses these processes in mainland Portugal, by NUTS III regions, for the first time, analyzing the land cover/land use changes that occurred between 2007 and 2018. In this period, the land take rate in mainland Portugal amounted to 7.2 ha/day. Re-naturalization and recycling of developed land were 1.0 and 0.2 ha/day, respectively, showing the shortage of their practices on the mainland. During said period, mainland Portugal and most of its regions experienced a reduction in population and an increase in artificial land, revealing low efficiency in urban land use. Since Portuguese legislation does not mention the European target, we believe that most decision-makers are unaware of it or have little knowledge of the practices that can contribute to its fulfillment. In this regard, the study aims to raise awareness among policymakers and public authorities about the need to limit, mitigate, and compensate for land take and to set land take targets for different levels of action. In addition, it describes how some European countries and regions are evaluating the same processes and approaching the goal under consideration.
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spelling doaj.art-3ee15fe400944a6189c2c74427c3c5422023-12-03T15:17:28ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2022-07-01117100510.3390/land11071005Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?Rita Nicolau0Beatriz Condessa1DGT—Direção-Geral do Território, 1099-052 Lisboa, PortugalIST—Center for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture (CITUA), Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, PortugalThis study discusses the situation of mainland Portugal concerning the achievement of the European “no net land take” target by 2050. This target aims to curb land take by increasing the recycling of developed land and offsetting the consumption of undeveloped land by re-naturalizing an equivalent area of artificial land. Setting targets and interventions in each country to reach this goal requires monitoring land take, developed land recycling, and re-naturalization. This study assesses these processes in mainland Portugal, by NUTS III regions, for the first time, analyzing the land cover/land use changes that occurred between 2007 and 2018. In this period, the land take rate in mainland Portugal amounted to 7.2 ha/day. Re-naturalization and recycling of developed land were 1.0 and 0.2 ha/day, respectively, showing the shortage of their practices on the mainland. During said period, mainland Portugal and most of its regions experienced a reduction in population and an increase in artificial land, revealing low efficiency in urban land use. Since Portuguese legislation does not mention the European target, we believe that most decision-makers are unaware of it or have little knowledge of the practices that can contribute to its fulfillment. In this regard, the study aims to raise awareness among policymakers and public authorities about the need to limit, mitigate, and compensate for land take and to set land take targets for different levels of action. In addition, it describes how some European countries and regions are evaluating the same processes and approaching the goal under consideration.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1005land consumptionurbanizationland re-naturalizationdeveloped land recyclingurban land use efficiency
spellingShingle Rita Nicolau
Beatriz Condessa
Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
Land
land consumption
urbanization
land re-naturalization
developed land recycling
urban land use efficiency
title Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
title_full Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
title_fullStr Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
title_short Monitoring Net Land Take: Is Mainland Portugal on Track to Meet the 2050 Target?
title_sort monitoring net land take is mainland portugal on track to meet the 2050 target
topic land consumption
urbanization
land re-naturalization
developed land recycling
urban land use efficiency
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/7/1005
work_keys_str_mv AT ritanicolau monitoringnetlandtakeismainlandportugalontracktomeetthe2050target
AT beatrizcondessa monitoringnetlandtakeismainlandportugalontracktomeetthe2050target