Citizens’ Perceptions of Landscape Changes and Their Driving Forces: Evidence from Poland

Iga Solecka, Piotr Krajewski, Aleksandra Krzyżanek and Ada Garczyńska
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Iga Solecka: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Piotr Krajewski: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Aleksandra Krzyżanek: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Ada Garczyńska: Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-28

Abstract: The main aim of our studies was to explore the driving forces of landscape change and their impact on the landscape as perceived by citizens in our study. We use quantitative tools for unravelling processes of landscape change over time and a qualitative tool aimed at capturing people’s perceptions about those changes. We use the two municipalities of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Kąty Wrocławskie as illustrative examples of urban and urban–rural municipalities in two time periods, 2006–2021 and 2012–2018, in Poland. We apply a three-stage approach: (1) to identify the main landscape changes based on land-cover data, (2) to characterize those changes with the use of orthophoto maps and (3) to identify the driving forces of landscape changes with the use of an online survey and interviews. The results show a large agreement between the perceived and actual level of changes. We identified key landscape change processes in both municipalities, and we conclude that citizens’ perceptions concerning those processes in both municipalities differed depending on the context, the level of changes, and the way this process was planned and implemented. In both municipalities, the respondents pointed out political driving forces of landscape change as key underlying drivers. Future landscape planning should consider citizens’ approaches towards landscape change to achieve better societal approval and improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.

Keywords: landscape change; driving forces; citizens’ perception; land-use change; landscape change index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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