Changes in the Land Cover of Lodz in the Years 1990–2018

Land cover changes occur in geographic space under the influence of various factors. These processes are particularly intense in cities and their immediate surroundings. The aim of the chapter was to investigate land cover changes in Lodz in the years 1990–2018. Based on CORINE Land Cover data and using GIS tools, an analysis of land cover changes for the years 1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012 and 2012–2018 was performed in quantitative and spatial terms. In each analyzed period, the area of changes for every land cover type was determined and the directions of transformations were identified. In the study, concentration was measured using the method based on the Lorenz curve in auxiliary units – housing estates, which allowed for the analysis of the spatial distribution of land cover changes in the city area. The obtained results showed that in the period covered by the study, there was an expansion of built-up areas – urban fabric, as well as sport and leisure facilities, mainly at the expense of agricultural areas. An interesting phenomenon was also the changes caused by the cessation of farming, which caused the expansion of vegetation into arable lands and resulted in their transformation into land principally occupied by agriculture, with significant areas of natural vegetation.