Cinq Continents (Jul 2016)
Space planning in Prahova Subcarpathians, Romania. Landslides - land cover relationship analysis
Abstract
Space planning in Prahova Subcarpathians, Romania. Landslides - land cover relationship analysis. There is a strong relationship between the anthropogenic influence and the geomorphological processes, resulting limitations for settlements expansion, but also changes of the relief caused by human activities. The aim of this study is to identify a model for the analysis of the relationship between society and environment under a geomorphological concern, with a case study from a representative Romanian-Subcarpathian hills region. The analysis consisted in combining two methods, one for the landslide susceptibility evaluation and another for the evaluation of the human component from the study area, taking into account the elements at risk, the infrastructure, the settlement growth etc. The results show the existence of important areas with high and very high levels of the landslide susceptibility overlapped with settlements built-up areas and other anthropogenic elements. In some areas the geomorphic risk problem stopped the expansion of the built-up area, while in other cases these problems were ignored. All these lead to the conclusion that these complex maps should be used when conducting a development plan for a settlement, thus ensuring the avoidance of a catastrophic event, otherwise difficult to predict.
