Industrial Landscapes and Sustainable Development

The different location criteria have resulted in various types of industrial areas.

Traditional Industrial Landscape: Black Landscapes of the 19th Century

Coal fields were the most industrialized areas for many years. This is because metallurgical industries used coal as an energy source, so were located next to coal deposits.

Urban Industrial Landscape

Refineries were built in ports and cities because of the demand for petroleum. Numerous other industries developed next to the refineries, benefiting from the existing market, workforce, and low transport costs.

Port Landscape

Many industries associated with maritime transport are concentrated in and around major ports.

Industrial Mountain Landscape

Mineral deposits, raw materials, and abundant, cheap energy have attracted many industries to the countryside.

New Industrial Landscapes

Industries generate problems in cities: pollution, noise, lack of space, expensive land, etc. As a result, they have been built next to transport routes, or in specially designed industrial estates. These estates are usually located in the outskirts of cities and are mostly used by small companies.

Traditional industries are being modernized (redeveloped) and new spaces, such as science and technology parks, are being created because of:

• Improved transport and communications.
• Better workforce mobility.
• Technological advances.
• Government intervention.
• New industrial countries with incentives to promote industry (tax and customs exemptions, very low labor costs, no environmental legislation, no tradition of trade unions, etc.).

Heavy Industry

In heavy industry, raw materials are transformed into semi-finished products that are then used in other industries. Heavy industries require large capital investments. They occupy large areas near energy sources and raw materials. Heavy industries include:

Capital Goods Industry

This industry uses products from heavy industry as raw materials to make the materials and machinery required by other industries. It also requires large industrial complexes, large investment, and a skilled workforce.

Ecological Footprint: The impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated. It is the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support a particular lifestyle.

Sustainable Development: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Environmentally friendly initiative that is based on current and future needs, the reduction in exploitation of resources, increase in use of renewables, investments in meaningful and beneficial technologies, and promotes a change to modern governments and industry.