Application of New Methods of Environment Analysis and Assessment in Landscape Audits – Case Studies of Urban Areas Like Czestochowa, Poland

Abstract

Following the 2000 European Landscape Convention, a new act strengthening landscape protection instruments has been in force since 2015. It sets forth legal aspects of landscape shaping (Dziennik Ustaw 2015, poz. 774) and introduces landscape audits at the province level. A landscape audit consists in identification and characterization of selected landscapes, assessment of their value, selection of so-called priority landscapes and identification of threats for preservation of their value. An audit complies with GIS standards. Analyses use source materials, i.e. digital maps of physical-geographical mesoregions, current topographic maps of digital resources of cartographic databases, latest orthophotomaps and DTMs, maps of potential vegetation, geobotanic regionalization, historic-cultural regionalization and natural landscape types, documentation of historical and cultural values and related complementary resources. A special new methodology (Solon et al. 2014), developed for auditing, was tested in 2015 in an urban area (Myga-Piatek et al. 2015). Landscapes are characterized by determining their analytic (natural and cultural) and synthetic features, with particular focus on the stage of delimitation and identification of landscape units in urban areas. Czestochowa was selected as a case study due to its large natural (karst landscapes of the Czestochowa Upland, numerous forests, nature reserves) and cultural (Saint Mary’s Sanctuary, unique urban architecture) potential. Czestochowa is also a city of former iron ore and mineral resources exploitation, still active industry, dynamic urban sprawl within former farming areas, and dynamically growing tourism. Landscape delimitation and identification distinguished 75 landscape units basing on uniform landscape background (uniform cover and use of the land). Landscape assessment used a new assessment method for anthropogenic transformation of landscape – the indicator describing the correlation between the mean shape index (MSI) and the Shannon diversity index (SHDI) (Pukowiec-Kurda, Sobala 2016). Particular threats and planning suggestions, useful in development of urban areas, were presented for selected priority landscapes.

Progress in the Remote Sensing Monitoring of the Ecological Environment in Mining Areas

“…Studying the landscape pattern of mining areas cannot fully meet the requirements of ecological restoration of such areas, and the specific features of the study area and the study objects need to be considered. To plan and design mining cities [64], a new landscape audit index is introduced and combined with the landscape pattern index for correlation analysis, thus making up for the defects of the analysis by the landscape pattern index alone. For the mining areas with landscape memory loss [65], the related animals are introduced to assist in the rebuilding of the new landscape, improve the ecological environment, and increase the species diversity.…”

Recognizing Landscapes for the Purpose of Sustainable Development—Experiences from Poland

“…So far, research has focused on developing a method for landscape recognition and valuation on regional scale [20]. This method has been recently tested in urban areas [34] and metropolitan regions [35]. The key map of cultural landscapes on the national level was developed by Plit [36], and it is called the "Historical-cultural regionalization of Poland".…”

Challenges of a GIS-based physical-geographical regionalization of Poland

“…Adaptation of a coherent EU landscape policy is also visible within strategic documents, e.g., the National Spatial Management Concept 2030 (NSDC 2030(NSDC , 2012, which includes "Shaping spatial structures which contribute to achieving and maintaining the high quality of Poland's natural environment and landscape." For Poland, following the recommendations in the proposal of methodology for preparing landscape audits (Pukowiec-Kurda & Myga-Piątek, 2017;Solon et al, 2014), base materials for delimitation and identification of the landscapes include physical-geographical mesoregions and, in the future, should also include microregions, which have not yet been developed for the whole country area.…”