Atlas of the Survey National

Summary

O. Tulippe describes the compilation and publication of Belgium’s Atlas du Survey National. Following a 1947 proposal by the National Planning Commission, the Survey National service, established within the Urbanism Administration in 1949, collected existing cartographic documents and mapped statistical data, chiefly from the National Institute of Statistics, to show present distributions and recent changes. The resulting manuscript Atlas Général contained over 400 cartographic documents in twenty thematic categories. To make this single-copy collection more accessible, V. Bure authorized publication in 1954 under the title Atlas du Survey National, with colour reproductions at 1:1,000,000. Survey staff prepared the printing drawings, and the ministry’s Topography and Photogrammetry Service printed them. Plates planned for the separate Atlas de Belgique were excluded to avoid duplication and provide more detailed documentation useful for territorial planning. By 31 December 1959, 73 plates had appeared, addressing population, employment and industry, tourism, landscape protection and housing. Most use municipal boundaries; some show recent changes by arrondissement, and paired maps give absolute numbers and percentages where appropriate. Series notices explain the maps, sources and manuscript originals, with occasional references to the Atlas de Belgique; plates and notices are held in a four-ring binder. Tulippe presents the collection as a resource for national, regional and municipal planning and the assessment of development plans.