"Appearances are deceptive"

Soil erosion decreases, but with a downer in the balance sheet

Unfortunately, this is a common sight - mayors are sacrificing valuable land for new industrial and commercial areas.

(Bild: Christian Lendl)

Encouraging eco-message, but with a drop of bitterness in the background! Land consumption is indeed decreasing - but only because of the weakening construction industry!

In Austria, significantly less land has been reclaimed than in previous years - that is the crystal-clear conclusion of a new study by the Kreutzer & Fischer consultancy network. The study analyzed the land surveys of the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying (BEV).

Graphic: Falling land consumption

Falling land consumption

(Bild: Krone Kreativ)

According to the survey, around 2912 hectares were recently used for civilization purposes (construction of buildings, infrastructure facilities and leisure areas, etc.) across Germany, 1444 hectares less than in the previous twelve months. In percentage terms, this corresponds to a decrease of around a third.

Appearances are deceptive! We are still destroying three times as much land as the limit of 2.5 hectares per day agreed in the government program.

Dr. Kurt Weinberger (Chef der Hagelversicherung)

But study author Andreas Kreutzer dampens the optimism: "The main reason for this positive trend at first glance was the strong pressure on new construction," says study author Andreas Kreutzer. This means: "If less new construction is being built, less land is being used."

Fakten

1718 soccer pitches have been built in Austria since the beginning of the year. That is more than 12.4 million square meters of valuable fields, arable land and meadows.

Biggest decline in Vorarlberg
In percentage terms, the sharpest decline last year was in Vorarlberg: year-on-year, land consumption fell by 76 percent. New land use in Lower and Upper Austria shrank by almost half, by 4310 and 9510 hectares respectively. The use of new land was also economical in Tyrol.

In the medium term, new land use is declining in all federal states, with the exception of Vienna. However, Andreas Kreutzer also sees disadvantages: "At the same time, unemployment in the construction industry rose rapidly last year and housing production lagged even further behind demand!"