Land use and land cover changes in post-socialist countries: Some observations from Hungary and Poland

Katarzyna Cegielska ^[1] ; Tomasz Noszczyk ^[1] ; Anita Kukulska ^[1] ; Marta Szylar ^[1] ; Józef Hernik ; Robert Dixon-Gough ; Sándor Jombach ^[2] ; István Valánszki ^[2] ; Krisztina Filepné Kovács ^[2]
1. [1] University of Agriculture in Krakow
  
  University of Agriculture in Krakow
  
  Kraków, Polonia
2. [2] Szent István University
  
  Szent István University
  
  Hungría
Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 78, 2018, págs. 1-18
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- This study has analysed changes in land use and land cover (LUCC) in two post-socialist countries – Hungary and Poland, based upon cadastral data, statistical data, and CORINE Land Cover data. This is a new approach aimed to perform a synergy analysis carried out in accordance with the ‘top-down’ principle, i.e. from the level of countries (in the case of land use) to the level of provinces/counties (land cover). This approach facilitates more reliable results. The authors analysed LUCC in northern Hungary (the Pest County) and southern Poland (the Małopolska Province) using GIS and statistical methods. The main aim of the research was to identify and assess the ongoing LUCC changes and compare them in the assumed field of research. The results indicate the existence of a trend in each time series. A downward trend was revealed for agricultural land in Hungary and Poland as well as for uncultivated land in Hungary. An upward trend was found in other variables (uncultivated land in Poland and forest land in both countries). Changes in land cover in the Pest County and the Małopolska Province (in 2000 and 2012) show a decrease in agricultural areas and an increase in artificial surfaces, forest and semi-natural areas with the change in Poland being more intensive than that in Hungary.