The changing face 1 of land use Land use statistics of Switzerland Neuchâtel 2001 2 Editorial Contents modity whose future concerns each and An overview of every one of us. The State, as the guarantor changing land use 4 7 of national assets, is duty bound to pro- mote a policy that ensures the harmonious development of occupation of the national How Swiss land use territory. And to do so, it has to have the statistics are compiled 8 11 information needed to monitor spatial utilization. Only a statistical system for observing the national territory can enable it to achieve this aim, in the interests of Statistical observation of land use in the Nation as a whole. But policy-making is Switzerland was initiated at the beginning not the sole prerogative of the State: in of the 20th century and was followed by the Swiss system of democracy, citizens other work in 1923/24, 1952 and 1972. have the gratifying privilege of being able However, it was not until the early 1980s to contribute to the shaping of public opin- that the SFSO incorporated ongoing obser- ion. And to exercise this privilege, they vation of land use development into its sta- have to have the appropriate information. tistical programme, using a scientifically That is why we felt it was indispensable to Constructing a bridge between Dangio based method which provided results that brief a wider public on the data collected and Torre (TI): transportation accounts were comparable over time. about the crucial, sensitive topic of land for just under one third of settlement Information about land use is of prime use and how it is changing. We trust that, and urban areas. importance for our society which, during once they are conscious of the changes the 20th century, developed at a prodi- observed, our readers will realize just what Intensive construction gious rate unparalleled in the history of is at stake when it comes to designing a mankind, experiencing a radical transfor- land development policy that is in the best On average, almost 400 square metres of mation affecting all its structures. Land, as interests of society as a whole. settlement area are available to every the medium for many human activities, was inhabitant of Switzerland. Within just of course in great demand. Economic and Carlo Malaguerra, SFSO Director twelve years, this use has increased nation- demographic growth, the concentration of wide by 327 square kilometres in all. In human activity, increased mobility and the other words, the newly developed area is rationalization of agriculture – to name larger than the surface area of the Canton but a few factors – triggered land use of Schaffhausen. unlike any observed in the past. Because 12 15 land is not an inexhaustible or renewable resource, it is an extremely valuable com- Biogeographical regions of Switzerland The regions of Switzerland and their percentage areas Switzerland has a great variety of different landscapes and habitats, with the Alps as the distinctive dividing line. Similarly, its flora and fauna also vary with the climate, topography and soil Central Plain 27,0% Jura 10,4% composition. On the basis of the typical fauna and flora populations of certain regions, their respective habitats can be demarcated. The Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL) North Flank of the Alps has therefore sub-divided Switzerland into bio-geographical 27,8% Eastern regions for nature conservation purposes. Central Alps Because this new regionalization model is also suitable for 14,1% South Flank illustrating regional differences in land use development, key land of the Alps Western 8,9% use statistical findings are presented according to these regions. Central Alps However, it is also possible to analyze them in terms of 11,7% administrative or economic criteria, as is frequently done for statistical purposes. 3 >Editorial >Contents Balanced results for unproductive areas Avalanches, thaws, floods and rockslides are continually changing the face of the alpine landscape, with natural forces balancing each other out when it comes to unproduc- tive areas. Their reduction (15 square kilo- metres less) represents just 1.5 thou- sandths. Building of one-family houses in Gams Woods are gradually re-establishing 24 27 (SG). Expanding settlements explain two themselves where mountain farming is thirds of agricultural land losses. on the retreat, in this instance in Liddes (VS). Less and less agricultural land Advancing forests While farming land still accounts for the bulk of land use in Switzerland in terms of Tree and bush land is benefitting from agri- area, agriculture continues to literally lose culture's withdrawal from marginal areas, ground. Over the past 12 years, agricultural with the result that new trees have grown land has shrunk by 482 square kilometres. on 170 square kilometres of land, the In flat locations, it has given way mainly to majority of them with no human interven- Flood damage in Ronco in (Bedretto, TI): new settlement areas, while forests have tion. This corresponds to an area the size of natural processes leave their stamp on replaced it in steep and remote regions. the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. unproductive areas. 16 19 20 23 Future land use perspectives 28 29 Applications for Swiss land use statistics 30 31 Bibliography and imprint 31 The 4 main categories of land use Main categories as a percentage of the total Total area of Switzerland: 4 128 476 ha area of Switzerland Status 1992/97 100% Settlement and urban areas 6,8% Agricultural areas 36,9% Settlement and Wooded areas: urban areas: 279 095 ha 1 271 645 ha 50% Wooded areas 30,8% Agricultural areas: Unproductive areas: 1 525 119 ha 1 052 617 ha Unproductive areas 25,5% 0% 4 The changing face of land use in Switzerland Major findings Concentration Eleven hectares of agricultural land on a confined area disappear in Switzerland every With a territory of just under 41 285 square day – ie. nearly 1.3 square metres per kilometres, Switzerland is one of the small- er countries in Western Europe. Its land- second. Approximately two thirds are scape is characterized by the Alps which used for new settlements, especially restrict opportunities for land use on much of this territory. Consequently, the fairly in the Central Plain, while the rest flat Central Plain – the country's most pro- ductive ecological region – accounts for consists mainly of abandoned meadows just 27% of Switzerland's total area. and pastures on which woods are Sandwiched between the Jura mountains and the foothills of the Alps, this plain is a gradually (re-)establishing themselves. strip between 50 and 100 kilometres wide, stretching from Lake Geneva north-east- wards as far as Lake Constance. Competition for the best land In this confined space, expanding settle- ments compete with agriculture for the best land. All Switzerland's larger towns with more than 50 000 inhabitants, its industrial production centres, many impor- tant service operations as well as the main axes of road and rail and the airports are concentrated in the Swiss Central Plain. Thus, nowhere else in Switzerland is human intervention so obvious when it comes to Building a school in Murten (FR): spreading settlement areas are agricul- ture's main rival for land in prime valley locations. Altitude levels in Switzerland Land use by altitude level in 1000 hectares 3001 – 4634 m 2801 – 3000 m 2601 – 2800 m 2401 – 2600 m 2201 – 2400 m 2001 – 2200 m 1801 – 2000 m 1601 – 1800 m 1401 – 1600 m 1201 – 1400 m 1001 – 1200 m 801 – 1000 m 601 – 800 m 193 – 600 m ha 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 193–600 m 1001–1400 m 1801–2200 m 2601–3000 m Wooded areas 601–1000 m 1401–1800 m 2201–2600 m 3001–4634 m Agricultural areas 5 >Concentration on a confined area >Competition for the best land Arable farming area near Rebeuvelier (JU). Forest landscape in the Malcantone (TI). Rhone delta near Villeneuve (VD). Urban settlement in the Central Plain (Biel/Bienne, BE). land use and the look of the landscape as in than double compared to all other regions, trees were the dominant feature of this the Central Plain. At 16.2%, the ratio of set- making the Swiss Central Plain one of landscape, but over the centuries, these tlement to productive areas, which include Europe's most densely populated areas. were cut back to just 25.5% of the produc- farming land and forests as well is more At one time, extensive forests of deciduous tive area, to make way for additional farm- Share of main land use categories by altitude level Gradient classes of Switzerland 3001 – 4634 m 2801 – 3000 m 2601 – 2800 m 2401 – 2600 m 2201 – 2400 m 2001 – 2200 m 1801 – 2000 m 1601 – 1800 m 1401 – 1600 m 1201 – 1400 m 1001 – 1200 m 801 – 1000 m 601 – 800 m 193 – 600 m %40608010020 Settlement and urban areas 0–10% 31–70% Unproductive areas 11–30% > 70% 6 Major findings Hilly Central Swiss landscape near Unterägeri (ZG). Alpine foothills beside the Schwarzsee (Plaffeien, FR). Scattered settlements dominated by tourism near Nendaz (VS). Alpine farming on the Monte Laura mountain meadow in Roveredo (GR). ing land and residential areas for a growing century, since then virtually all settlement population. However, because legislation growth goes at the expense of agricultural has protected the forests for more than a land. Land use by gradient class Share of main land use categories in 1000 hectares by gradient class > 100,0% > 100,0% 90,1 – 100,0% 90,1 – 100,0% 80,1 – 90,0 % 80,1 – 90,0 % 70,1 – 80,0 % 70,1 – 80,0 % 60,1 – 70,0 % 60,1 – 70,0 % 50,1 – 60,0 % 50,1 – 60,0 % 40,1 – 50,0 % 40,1 – 50,0 % 30,1 – 40,0 % 30,1 – 40,0 % 20,1 – 30,0 % 20,1 – 30,0 % 10,1 – 20,0 % 10,1 – 20,0 % 0,0 – 10,0 % 0,0 – 10,0 % ha200 400 600 800 1000 1200 % 20 40 60 80 100 Wooded areas Settlement and urban areas Agricultural areas Unproductive areas 7 >Agriculture as the big loser Farming land is reverting to fallow land near Leiggern Transit axis in the narrow Reuss Valley, near Wassen (UR).