Landscape

The landscape contributes to social well-being and constitutes a resource favourable to economic activity, through tourism in particular. Component of the living environment, support of the memory and the identity of the inhabitants, witness of the cultural and ecological diversity of the territories.

At the scale of the Walloon Region, although no legislation is specifically devoted to the landscape, the concern for its management has long been present in regulatory texts relating to heritage or land use planning. The Regional Space Development Scheme includes an objective entitled “Valuing heritage and protecting resources” and an option “Integrating the landscape dimension into planning practices”.

Specially in the city network scale, there are three main landscape types that characterizes the region: the meadows & rural landscape and heritage urban. The city network is located in between the “Le Pays de Herve” and “L’Ardenne” belgium landscape classification The Vesdre (Weser) river is one of the main natural landscape elements that is present on the cities.

The Hohes Venn nature park, which crosses national borders, connects North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate and eastern Belgium . The nature park is dominated by dark blue lakes and rivers, bubbling streams and wide dams, as well as densely forested mountain ranges.

Source of image: Stadt Eupen/