Analysis of the Variation of the Areas Under Urbanization Pressure Using Entropy Index

Abstract

Rural development is closely related to the transformation of land space in the immediate vicinity. The fast growth of Large Urban Zones (LUZ) entails rapid changes in land use not only within the city but also outside its territory, even covering whole regions. The impact of LUZ on social and economic communities living in areas close to the urban zones is noticed by many authors and it's especially manifested in forming and thus in land use. Based on these considerations, on the basis of free access spatial data and GIS technology, the authors tried to identify some relationships in the transformation of the structure of spatial capabilities in suburban areas. The study was based on Corine Land Cover (CLC) - surface data obtained by the visual interpretation of satellite images made at the request of the European Environment Agency (EEA), in order to monitor changes in coverage and land use in Europe. Collected in the previous campaign, and now updated every five years the data provide interesting and valuable source of information for analysing and modelling of spatial processes.Based on the obtained data set, the authors using the entropy index, then an indicator of multifunctionality decided to capture the dynamics of change and indicate possible trends of development in the coming years. Definition of entropy follows directly from the Second law of Thermodynamics, and frequently researchers used this value to study the changes of states of various phenomena, including the dynamic development of the area under urbanization pressure. Based on the results obtained erected the argument that the high value of entropy, which is a measure of disorder, is associated with a greater diversity of the area, thus a confirmation of the high dynamics of changes in land use. The authors decided to analyze these issues based on comprehensive and standardized data sets, which is CLC.