Occupation et utilisation du sol récentes en Région wallonne : analyses et synthèses

The first part is an analytical study based on an analysis of cadastral information. It presents facts and recent evolutionary processes of land use in Wallonia, especially agriculture, forest, waste land and urbanized areas.
The information is based on the municipality scale. The paper draws a compartmentalization of Wallonia: in 1992, urbanized areas represented over 20% and 40% in the urban-industrial trench and in Walloon Brabant, spilling area for Brussels population. In Ardennes, Loraine and Fagne Famenne, Forest prevailed occupying over 40% of the land. Agriculture was the main land used over 70% on low loess plateaux and with over 55% especially in Condroz and Central Ardennes.
There was a slow decrease of agriculture between 1982 and 1992, usually with less than 10% for a third of the region. Forest erratically fluctuated between -5% and +5%. On the contrary urbanized areas grew everywhere with peaks around Liege, in Walloon Brabant and along motorways. It was the result of both residential urbanization and the standard increase of land use per inhabitant.
The analysis shows that, during the seventies, peaks of urbanization coincide quite well with demographic evolution typology.
The second part is a continuation of the preceding analytical study. It presents typology and evolution synthesis in order to divide Wallonia into districts and analyses some mechanics especially urbanization and land policy.
The analytical maps lead to the building up of two types of municipalities: urban and country land use municipalities. Within the country type, five subtypes have been characterized upon the agriculture and forest combinations. Urbanization mechanics are responsible for the schematic division into two parts by a line, the south border of Condroz and Herve plateau. Urbanization concerns first the urban-industrial trench and Walloon Brabant. Hainaut is an forests also divide Wallonia between the north and the south. The agricultural areas are first victims of the urbanization progress.