Assessing Land Use Changes in Polish Territories: Patterns, Directions and Socioeconomic Impacts on Territorial Management

Abstract

Bearing in mind the relationships between the territorial management and the achievement of sustainable development, studies regarding the land use changes are seen as pivotal. What is more, they can also enable us to understand the dynamics and variables for proper territorial management. Therefore, a retrospective study has been carried out regarding the land use changes in the Polish territory in the years: 1990, 2000, and 2012, by means of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) tools such as the CLC (Corine Land Cover). Moreover, and considering the complex dynamics, patterns, and particularities that territories presents, a deep analysis of those land uses is critical for the identification of barriers and opportunities for long-term sustained development. The study enabled us to identify the land use changes in the last decades in the Polish territory—allowing us to establish a relationship and identification of the associated barriers and opportunities within the socioeconomic sphere.