L'Atlas du Survey National

Summary

This article presents the origins, methodology, and publication progress of the Atlas du Survey National (National Survey Atlas) in Belgium. The author explains that, in order to provide a scientific basis for future national territorial planning, the National Plan Commission proposed in 1947 to collect and coordinate general geographic data on the country. Consequently, the Administration of Urbanism created the National Survey Service in 1949, tasked with inventorying existing cartographic documents and converting statistical data into thematic maps. Some 400 original map sheets were produced, classified under twenty headings including climate, relief, population, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism, nature protection, housing, and urban equipment. To avoid duplication with the Atlas de Belgique, selected materials were reproduced in colour at the scale of 1:1,000,000. By 1957, sixty plates had been published, mainly covering population structure, employment and unemployment, tourist traffic, landscape and site protection, housing, and urban facilities. Each plate is accompanied by a notice, and the sheets are issued in a loose-leaf binder to allow additions. The author considers this atlas a fundamental tool for national land-use planning and notes that Belgium thereby became one of the few countries possessing such a work. The article also mentions the procedures for obtaining free copies, plans for distribution to educational institutions, and the preparation of a companion commentary.