11.1.c Density of settlements
In the case of settlement density, the number of inhabitants is set in relation to the settlement and traffic area, in contrast to population density, where the total area is the reference value.
In addition to residential areas, settlement areas also include areas with a special functional character (e.g. hospitals or schools), industrial and commercial areas, areas with mixed use (e.g. along shopping streets) as well as sports, leisure and recreational areas. Both changes in the number of inhabitants and changes in the extent of settlement and transportation areas have an influence on the value of settlement density.
Settlement density differs considerably between rural and non-rural areas: an average of 3,337 people live per square kilometer of settlement and transport area in non-rural districts and around 1,197 in rural districts (as at 2020). In cities, residential areas are often built on much more densely and with several storeys than in rural regions, where looser development with larger, unsealed areas, such as house gardens, predominates.
From 2000 to 2009, settlement density decreased continuously in both rural and non-rural regions. The absolute decline in non-rural regions was slightly lower than in rural regions. Due to the significantly lower settlement density in rural regions, the decline in relative terms was greater there (11 %) than in non-rural regions (4 %). In non-rural areas, settlement density has increased again since 2011. This means that settlement and transport areas in more urban areas are being used more efficiently than in previous years.
If the developments in the number of inhabitants and the settlement and transport area are considered individually, there are clear differences between rural and non-rural regions. Between 2000 and 2020, the settlement and transport area increased in both rural and non-rural regions, albeit to different extents of 15.9 % and 8.8 % respectively. After the population in rural regions increased slightly at the start of the millennium, it then fell by around 2.6 % by 2012, before rising again by 2.1 % by 2020. In non-rural regions, on the other hand, the number of inhabitants increased both between 2000 and 2010 (by 1.7 %) and between 2011 and 2020 (by 5.6 %).
The effects of the use of additional settlement and transportation areas were therefore exacerbated in rural regions by the decline in the population.
The indicator is based on population figures and the Federal Statistical Office's land survey by type of actual use. The 2011 census resulted in a jump in the time series for the population data. In addition, there have been some reclassifications of land use in the official land register of the federal states in recent years that were not based on any real changes in use. In addition, the changeover from the old to the new land use type catalog was completed in 2016, which also had an impact on the official land use statistics, meaning that the comparability of the 2016 data with previous years is limited. In order to be able to compare the data nevertheless, the respective values were recalculated based on the 2011 census and the change in the area survey in 2016.
The distinction between “rural” and “non-rural” is based on a typification by the Thünen Institute. The Institute assigns a degree of “rurality” to districts and independent cities based on spatial characteristics such as “settlement density”, “proportion of agricultural and forestry land” and the accessibility of large centers.
This typification therefore refers to the district level and not to smaller spatial units such as towns and villages. According to this distinction, around 43 % of the population lived in non-rural areas and around 57 % in rural areas in 2020.
