Lost land and limits to growth: Conceptual problems for sustainable land use change

Abstract

Drawing on recent work in environmental economics, this paper introduces the concept of the land use intensity of economic activity, analogous to the more familiar materials and energy intensities. It then considers how this might be measured, looking at a range of economic and land use change statistics, and how it might be reduced. Environmental compensation is seen as a possible means of achieving the latter objective. It is argued that no single measure of land use Intensity would be meaningful, because concern about ‘lost land’ Is typically not about land in terms of hectares or economic value, but about the environmental significance of land use change. This in turn reflects a variety of material, post-material and non-instrumental values. The paper concludes that composite measures of the land use intensity of economic activity are likely to be the most useful; that environmental compensation may be a useful policy instrument within a carefully formulated framework; and that differences in values have to be confronted if sustainable land use change is ever to be defined.