Policy advice | Publication Policy advice: Changes in Flemish agriculture do not always conform to zoning
Changing functions in Flemish agricultural areas that fall outside the zoning result from various dynamics that have characterized the Flemish countryside for decades. They are linked to structural changes in agriculture (scale enlargement and farm closures), pressure on the real estate market, residential and economic developments in rural areas, and growing societal ambitions regarding open space, climate, and biodiversity. As a result, policy on non-conforming changes of use lies at the intersection of these dynamics and faces the challenge of explicitly recognizing their interconnections and steering them in an integrated manner.
The impetus for this policy advice is the observation that, over the past decades, policy has often adjusted in response to the unintended effects of earlier choices, without developing a comprehensive alternative.
The policy recommendation advocates a coherent policy framework that prioritizes agricultural reuse where meaningful, strictly links non-conforming reuse to spatial carrying capacity and decouples it from additional land take, and recognizes demolition and de-sealing as fully-fledged policy options.
Only by offering an explicit policy-driven future perspective for each site can Flanders safeguard open space, strengthen the functioning of agriculture, and at the same time respond to broader societal challenges.
The memorandum brings together and synthesizes existing insights with the aim of:
- consolidating available knowledge and research findings on non-conforming dynamics;
- clarifying the underlying spatial and agricultural processes and their impacts;
- exploring possible policy options and steering mechanisms;
- making remaining policy questions and knowledge gaps explicit.
Read the entire policy recommendation (in Dutch): ‘Zonevreemde functiewijzigingen in de Vlaamse landbouwruimte’.
Reactions or feedback welcome at ruimte@ilvo.vlaanderen.be
