The Spatiotemporal Analysis of Land Take Exemplified by Poland

Abstract

The research was motivated by the growing interest of scientists and practitioners in land consumption. It was assumed that the multifaceted and space–time analysis of the dynamics of land use change reveals agricultural and forest land conversion into artificial areas, and thus highlight the regions of high human pressure. To fulfill the research objective, the proprietary coefficient of admissible (maximal) land take (aLT) was used. This study, based on open, publicly available spatial and statistical data, presents agricultural and forest land losses in four periods (2005, 2010, 2015, 2020) in Polish provinces. The analysis reveals both the value and the trend of land take and indicates Mazowieckie and Małopolska as the provinces of the highest land take pace since 2005. In contrast, provinces such as Zachodnio-Pomorskie and Opolskie, located in the northwest and southwest of Poland, are characterized by small and decreasing losses of agricultural and forest land, prompting them to be classified as lower outliers. The paper concludes, in part, that admissible (maximal) land take (aLT) is a useful tool for monitoring land conversion and planning spatial development of any region in the world.