Analysis of Correlation between Anthropization Phenomena and Landscape Values of the Territory: A GIS Framework Based on Spatial Statistics

Abstract

The evaluation of anthropogenic impacts on the landscape is an issue that has traditionally been carried out from a descriptive or at least somewhat qualitative perspective. However, in recent years, the technological improvements provided by geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial statistics have led to more objective methodological frameworks for analysis based on quantitative approaches. This study proposes an innovative methodological framework for the evaluation of landscape impacts of the usual anthropization phenomena, using a retrospective spatiotemporal analysis based on geostatistical indicators. Various territorial indices have been used to assess the spatiotemporal evolution of fragmentation of the built-up urban fabric, the construction of roads or linear communication works and the changes in land use. These phenomena have been statistically correlated with objective indicators of the landscape’s intrinsic value. The analysis of said spatial statistical correlation has been applied to three different but neighboring environments in the region of Murcia, located in the southeast of Mediterranean Spain, providing interesting results on the objective impact of each of these phenomena on the landscape and depending on the boundary conditions.