Landscape texture in anthropogenically transformed regions: The example of Upper Silesia and the Dąbrowa Coal Basin (southern Poland)

Katarzyna Pukowiec-Kurda

doi:10.7163/gpol.0132

Abstract

In recent years, we see growing importance of research on landscape texture, which enables scientists to assess landscape as to its esthetic (visual), planning, as well as ecological aspects. Analyses of landscape texture result in identification of landscape zones, classified according to their habitability, recreational potential and suitability for industry, which plays a crucial role for work on planning and strategic documents. The study area covers 12 selected municipalities of Upper Silesia and the Dąbrowa Coal Basin, which are highly industrialized regions. Combining an analysis of the degree of landscape enclosure/openness with an analysis of morphological diversity in the study area, the author identifies landscape texture units in accordance with the new, more detailed typology. This results in the emergence of 36 landscape texture types that take into account the land relief forms in the study area. For the needs of further analyses, these types are classified into three groups: open, mosaic and enclosed landscapes.

Highlights

Research on landscape physiognomy is among topics that enjoy little popularity among geographers, it plays a crucial role for landscape architecture and the so-called geoecology
The study area is characterized by diversified landscape texture, which results from both its physico-geographical location and the high degree of transformation
The domination of landscape texture units with inlaid elements and mosaic landscapes reflects the high degree of anthropogenic transformation

Summary

Introduction

Research on landscape physiognomy is among topics that enjoy little popularity among geographers, it plays a crucial role for landscape architecture and the so-called geoecology. Studies on landscape texture based on analyses of land cover and morphology have been rising in prominence recently (Plotnick et al 1993; Fischer et al 2008; Chmielewski et al 2014). Such studies enable scholars to assess landscape as to its esthetic aspects (e.g. by means of landscape panorama analysis) and identify its sanitary value. The latter aspect is related to the connections between landscapes and their inhabitants’ standard of living and health (Ulrich 1979) and is important in the context of current anthropogenic changes (Ward Thompson 2011)

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