Czekanowski’s Diagram and Spatial Data Cluster Analysis for Planning Sustainable Development of Rural Areas

Abstract

Defects in the spatial structure of agricultural land resulting from the common phenomenon of land fragmentation constitute one of the most important factors that contribute to the lack of rational land management. Reconstruction of the spatial structure of rural areas is essential for their sustainable development. The process of land consolidation is a tool that can arrange space and lead to the desired structural changes. It is reasonable to select objects for land consolidation in such a way as to obtain the best possible effect. This article presents an algorithm for grouping areas with the concentration of the external land ownership patchwork with the use of Czekanowski’s method of cluster analysis. The clusters determined this way can be treated as the whole objects subjected to land consolidation, for which the process will bring the greatest benefits in terms of the elimination of the external land ownership patchwork. The described algorithm is relatively simple to use and the graphical final form is easy for the result interpretation. It allows for multi-variant examination of the analyzed phenomenon and can be applied wherever there is access to reliable information from land registry and cadastral and GIS databases that are used to obtain a complete picture of the spatial and ownership structure of the analyzed areas.