Cartographic analysis of transformations of the spatial structure of lands of Podgórze in Krakow in Poland in the period of 1847–2016

The first maps and studies in the field of land use were initiated in the United States as early as before World War I. Between the two world wars such studies were carried out with the main focus on regional planning. Planning process at all levels is usually based on rich statistical materials, which allows to compare the state of the space in different time periods. In the presented paper, the authors investigated transformations of the spatial structure of lands for a part of Podgórze, the district of Krakow for the period of the past 169 years. Source materials utilised for the research works and analyses included cadastral maps from the selected analysed years, i.e. 1847, 1909, 2003 and 2016. Based on the mentioned materials, the characteristics of land parcels as spatial features were analysed and changes were determined for the periods of 1847–1909, 1909–2003 and 2003–2016 showing the present situation. Computer processing of maps was performed for this purpose, and distributions and correlations between spatial variables characterizing parcel structure were analysed for the study area.