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Policy Document

Guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate or compensate soil sealing

Policy Document
Commission Staff Working Document SWD (2012) 101

Related content

Related indicators

Indicator Specification Imperviousness and imperviousness change in Europe The imperviousness indicator is defined as the yearly average imperviousness change between two reference years, as measured by imperviousness change products. The change is aggregated for a certain reference unit and expressed relative to the size of that unit (as a percentage). The imperviousness change value for a 100 m raster cell is based on 100 m imperviousness change products. The default reference unit is the country, but the indicator can be aggregated based on different spatial units. For example, for a certain country, a n imperviousness indicator value of 0.2 %, means that on average, an additional 0.2 % of this country's area has been sealed annually during the period between the two reference years in question. If above a certain rate of increase (threshold values) , this value can be used as a warning sign. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units is performed using the integrated spatial data platform at EEA.
Indicator Specification Land recycling and densification This indicator addresses the use of urban land for further urban development, whether that urban land is currently in use or not. The indicator comprises two concepts of urban development: land recycling and land densification. Land recycling is defined as the reuse of abandoned, vacant or underused land for redevelopment. It includes ‘grey recycling’ and ‘green recycling’. Grey recycling is when ‘grey’ urban objects, such as buildings or transport infrastructures, are built under redevelopment. Green recycling is when ‘green’ urban objects, such as green urban areas or sport facilities, are built. Land densification is defined as the land development that takes place within existing communities, making maximum use of the existing infrastructure instead of building on previously undeveloped land. The indicator examines land recycling relative to total land consumption. Total land consumption is understood as all the land use processes occurring on or ending up in developed land, i.e. urban redevelopment, urban and infrastructure sprawl, and any change in previously developed land. Land recycling includes both the densification and the recycling phenomena. Therefore, land recycling is understood broadly and includes three components: land densification, grey land recycling and green land recycling.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Imperviousness and imperviousness change The imperviousness indicator is defined as the yearly average imperviousness change between two reference years, as measured by imperviousness change products. The change is aggregated for a certain reference unit and expressed as relative to the size of that unit (as a percentage). The imperviousness change value for a 100 m raster cell is based on 100 m imperviousness change products. The default reference unit is the country, but the indicator can be aggregated based on different spatial units. For example, for a certain country, a n imperviousness indicator value of 0.2 %, means that on average, an additional 0.2 % of this country's area has been sealed annually during the period between the two reference years in question. If above a certain rate of increase (threshold values) , this value can be used as a warning sign. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units is performed using the LEAC CUBE method.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Imperviousness and imperviousness change The imperviousness indicator is defined as the yearly average imperviousness change between two reference years, as measured by imperviousness change products. The change is aggregated for a certain reference unit, and expressed and relative to the size of said unit (as a percentage). The imperviousness change value for a 100 m raster cell is based on 100 m imperviousness change products, corresponding to the difference in imperviousness status values (e.g. IMD2009-IMD2006). The default reference unit is the country, but the indicator can be aggregated based on different spatial units. For example, for a certain country, a n imperviousness indicator value of 0.2 %, means that an additional 0.2 % of this country's area has been sealed annually during the period between the two reference years in question. If above a certain rate of increase (threshold values) , this value can be used as a warning sign. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units is performed using the LEAC CUBE method.
Indicator Specification
Draft
Imperviousness and imperviousness change in Europe This indicator measures the covering of the soil surface with non-permeable materials, hence indicating imperviousness. The aggregation of imperviousness values to reference units, such as urban areas, floodplains, coastal zones or protected areas is performed using the integrated spatial data platform of the EEA.

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