An Analysis of Urbanisation Dynamics with the Use of the Fuzzy Set Theory—A Case Study of the City of Olsztyn

Abstract

Quantitative, qualitative and structural changes in land use that occur in a given location over time are a manifestation and a measure of urban development. Urbanisation is a process of spatial diffusion that spreads from the urban core to peripheral areas. Urban development is linked with human activities in a specific location and in a given period of time. In the context of spatial management, urbanisation is a process where less intensive land-use types are replaced by more intensive forms of land use. The demand for new land for residential development, the search for alternative locations for housing construction and the development of sustainable land management plans require new methods that support decision-making in the process of land conversion in peri-urban areas. The aim of this study was to develop a methodology for identifying and localising the boundaries of urban development with the use of the fuzzy set theory and to analyse the rate of changes in land use based on data for 2005–2010–2017. The proposed method supports the identification and localisation of urbanised areas and an evaluation of the degree of urbanisation in the interval [0,1]. The case study was conducted in the Polish city of Olsztyn.

Keywords

• urban analysis
• spatial planning
• spatiotemporal analysis
• fuzzy set theory
• changes in land use and land cover