Indicators for the spatial analysis of settlement and open land trends in urban areas - studies on base of five European cities over a 50-year period

Abstract

The expansion of urban settlements occurs in long-term periods which makes an immediate perception of this ecologically problematic process almost impossible. Analyses on the basis of administrative boundaries cannot reflect the development sufficiently differentiated. Based onGISdata sets for the cities of Bilbao, Bratislava, Lyon, Dresden and Palermo from the EC-project MOLAND the development of the urban settlements during the past 50 years is amplified by means of land use/land cover respectively transport system analyses and the jaggedness degree of the cities. In addition, the analyses were represented in a comparative manner and valued, urban settlements expansions were spatially presented, and the jaggedness degree was calculated and discussed. Furthermore, first conclusions about the common and the different features in the developments of the cities could be drawn.