Special Issue on Land Consolidation - Land Tenure Journal - No. 1–2025
Morten Hartvigsen
Land consolidation projects and programmes started in many countries
in Western and Central Europe in the years following the First
World War. Objectives, approaches and procedures have evolved
significantly during these 100 years. Land consolidation was traditionally
an instrument solely for agricultural development, aiming to
improve inefficient farm structures by reducing land fragmentation
and facilitating farm enlargement. However, since the 1980s, most
countries in Western Europe with active land consolidation programmes
have gradually developed into a multi-purpose approach
which integrates non-agricultural objectives such as nature restoration,
environmental protection and, more recently, climate change
adaptation and mitigation, alongside the traditional objective of agricultural
development.
After the countries in Eastern Europe began their transition to market
economies and during the land reforms conducted in the 1990s,
farm structures in most countries are characterized by excessive
land fragmentation and small average farm sizes. This led in many
countries in Eastern Europe from the 2000s onwards to the introduction
of land consolidation instruments.
The paper provides an overview and takes stock after a century of
land consolidation in Europe and looks forward to how the instrument,
particularly through a multi-purpose approach, can facilitate
the necessary transformation towards more sustainable local
agrifood systems and rural development across the region.
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