Impact category related to use (occupation) and conversion (transformation) of land area by activities such as agriculture, roads, housing, mining, etc. Land occupation considers the effects of the land use, the amount of area involved and the duration of its occupation (changes in quality multiplied by area and duration). Land transformation considers the extent of changes in land properties and the area affected (changes in quality multiplied by the area).

EC, 2013, Commission Recommendation of 9 April 2013 on the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations. OJ L124, 04.05.2013, pp. 1-210.

Source category: EC Policy Documents

Refers to the socio-economic purpose of the land. Areas of land can be used for residential, industrial, agricultural, forestry, recreational, transport etc. purposes. Often the same land is used for several purposes at the same time; e.g., woodland can be use for forestry, hunting and recreational purposes. The main classes in the LUCAS land use nomenclature are as follows: U110 Agriculture U120 Forestry U130 Fishing U140 Mining and quarrying U150 Hunting U210 Energy production U220 Industry and manufacturing U310 Transport, communication networks, storage and protective works U320 Water and waste treatment U330 Construction U340 Commerce, finance and business U350 Community services U360 Recreational, leisure and sport U370 Residential U400 Unused

Eurostat b, Glossary, accessed 20 December 2023

Source category: EC Technical Documents

For land use, various approaches are proposed into the literature. Two main "schools" may be distinguished. Land use in terms of functional dimension corresponds to the description of areas in terms of their socio-economic purpose: areas used for residential, industrial or commercial purposes, for farming or forestry, for recreational or conservation purposes, etc. Links with land cover are possible; it may be possible to infer land use from land cover and conversely. But situations are often complicated and the link is not so evident. Another approach, termed sequential, has been particularly developed for agricultural purposes. The definition is a series of operations on land, carried out by humans, with the intention to obtain products and/or benefits through using land resources. For example a sequence of operations such as ploughing, seeding, weeding, fertilising and harvesting. Contrary to land cover, land use is difficult to "observe". For example, it is often difficult to decide if grasslands are used or not for agricultural purposes. The information coming from the source of observation may not be sufficient and may require additional information. In the case of agricultural use, farmers may bring information, for example if cattle are present or not, if they are grazing. It is also possible to use characteristics on the spot indicating the presence or absence of cattle. For the “functional” approach, inference from land cover may be helpful. For the “sequential” approach, a more exhaustive recording of various attributes will be needed, for example a multi-temporal approach.

Eurostat, 2001, Manual of concepts on land cover and land use information systems (2000 Edition), European Commission, ISBN 92-894-0432-9.

Source category: EC Technical Documents