Analysis of Land-Use Change between 2012–2018 in Europe in Terms of Sustainable Development

Abstract

This article presents methodology of land use change assessment in the context of sustainable development and the results of its application based on the transformations that occurred in individual areas of Europe in the years 2012–2018. This method is based on data from the CORINE (CO-oRdination of INformation on Environment) Land Cover program) and local government units presenting the degree of urbanization (DEGURBA). The transformations taking place in space were evaluated and reduced to economic, social, and environmental dimensions. We then analyzed the results in terms of space (covering almost all of Europe) and in terms of division (large cities, small towns, suburbs, and rural areas). Results indicate that development of the economic dimension most often takes place at the expense of natural resources. It was also determined that the higher the population density, the greater the sustainable development differentiation level in the analyzed dimensions, of which the social dimension was characterized by the lowest differentiation and the economic dimension was highest. The development of rural areas was found to be less sustainable than large urban centers. Interpretation of the results also leads to the conclusion that areas of Europe are very diverse in terms of sustainable development. However, the method itself, despite the imperfections observed by the authors, may be used in further or similar studies.

Improvement in Satellite Image-Based Land Cover Classification with Landscape Metrics

“…The monitoring of land use and land cover (LULC) plays a vital role in the study of environmental change, management of natural resources (e.g., water and wastewater management and biomass monitoring) [1,2], urban planning, urban growth modelling [3,4] and creation of environmental policies for sustainable development [5][6][7]. Due to the expansion of artificial areas and an economic growth that is concomitant with increased human needs (which also causes extreme environmental stress), changes in LULC are steadily accelerating.…”

Degradation of Coastlines under the Pressure of Urbanization and Tourism: Evidence on the Change of Land Systems from Europe, Asia and Africa

“…The CLC dataset are the results of satellite images classification produced by the national teams of 39 participating countries, members of the European Environment Agency. CLC program was established in 1985 [81] by European Community and produced data available from 1990 to 2018 [82]. During the processing different satellite images such as LANDSAT 5 MSS/TM (for 1990 product), LANDSAT 7 ETM (for 2000 product), SPOT-4/5 and IRS P6 LISS III imagery (for 2006 product), IRS P6 LISS III and RapidEye (2012 product), and Sentinel 2 and LANDSAT 8 (for the 2018 product layer) [83] were used.…”

Spatial-Temporal Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Urban Areas Using Remote Sensing Images and GIS Analysis: The Case Study of Opole, Poland

“…Bearing in mind that urban growth is often disproportionate to population growth, this disparity cannot be monitored using statistical data alone. Thus, in order to assess urban expansion, there is a need to accurately identify and continuously monitor spatial changes in LULC over the long term [36][37][38]. As Sapena and Ruiz [1] emphasise, monitoring land use change should be a priority objective of spatial management policy and it is the responsibility of, among others, local governments in many countries around the world as well as in Poland [39].…”