Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006, 189-251 SPATIAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN BUILT-UP AREAS IN SELECTED SLOVENE RURAL SETTLEMENTS AFTER 1991 PROSTORSKE IN FUNKCIJSKE SPREMEMBE POZIDANIH ZEMLJI[^ V IZBRANIH SLOVENSKIH PODE@ELSKIH NASELJIH PO LETU 1991 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk Densely and dispersedly settled areas in our sample of rural settlements are at a ratio of 1 to 3. In the period from 1992 to 2005 the index of change indicates that in all types of settlements, construction in dispersedly settled areas grew more rapidly than in densely settled areas (photograph: Maja Topole). Razmerje med strnjeno in nestrnjeno poseljenimi povr{inami v na{em vzorcu pode`elskih naselij je 1:3. V opazovanem obdobju je bila relativna rast novogradenj najvi{ja v nestrnjeno poseljenih delih naselij (fotografija: Maja Topole). Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural settlements after 1991 UDC: 911.373(497.4) COBISS: 1.01 ABSTRACT: We determined changes in the settled areas of rural settlements by means of aerial photos and orthophotos, statistical data, and data obtained through field research. The expert sample compri-sed 14 rural settlements with 500 to 1100 inhabitants from a variety of Slovene natural and statistical regions which in the past ten-year period have shown positive growth in the number of inhabitants, jobs, and houses. We identified how the following categories changed in settled areas in the period from 1991 to 2005: residential areas, areas with central functions (supply, service, and business), traffic areas and green and other open spaces. Most apparent were differences among the types of settlements. We related land use to the relief and type of settlement, to the geographical location of the settlement, to changes in its struc-ture, and to trends in the number of jobs and extent of commuting. KEY WORDS: rural geography, Slovene countryside, rural settlements, settlement morphology, land use, jobs, suburbanization The article was submitted for publication on May 29, 2006. ADDRESSES: Maja Topole, Ph. D. Anton Melik Geographical Institute Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: maja.topole@zrc-sazu.si Franci Petek, Ph. D. Anton Melik Geographical Institute Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: franci.petek@zrc-sazu.si David Bole, B. Sc. Peter Repolusk, B. Sc. Anton Melik Geographical Institute Anton Melik Geographical Institute Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts of Sciences and Arts Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: david.bole@zrc-sazu.si E-mail: peter.repolusk@zrc-sazu.si Contents 1 Introduction 191 2 Methodology 191 2.1 Determination of rural settlement and selection of sample 191 2.2 Data gathered 195 2.3 Terminology 196 3 Socioeconomic characteristics of the settlements in the sample 205 4 Land use and density of jobs 211 5 Changes in land use in the period from 1992 to 2005 217 6 Conclusion 223 7 References 225 190 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 1 Introduction The new economic and social policies that were developed after Slovenia's independence in 1991 have had an impact on, among other things, Slovene settlement patterns. Processes which had begun earlier intensified during this period, and differences within the country were exacerbated. We investigated the extent and nature of these changes in the fifteen years since independence, based on a study of settlements which showed growth in population, housing, and jobs during this period. The-re are 284 such settlements in Slovenia. We determined the state of these settlements in 1991, or as close as possible to 1991, by means of aerial photos, their state in 2002, a census year, by means of orthopho-tos, and their state in 2005 by means of studies in the field. Comparisons among individual settlements was enabled by a calculation of the average annual growth in built-up areas. We related these data to the geographic position of the settlement, the number of inhabitants, the number of employed and the num-ber of available jobs, and the commuting patterns of residents. In order to obtain quantitative data and identify patterns and differences in the spatial and functional changes of rural settlements, we carried out field surveys of the settled areas of settlements. We distin-guished among areas used for housing, areas with supply, service and business or so-called central functions, areas used for traffic, and green and other areas without any buildings. The basis of this article is the report by Topole et al. (2005). The focus of this article is Slovene rural settlements; processes in urban and subur-ban settlements were studied at the same time by a different group of experts (Krevs 2005). 2 Methodology 2.1 Determination of rural settlement and selection of sample Our first task was to select an appropriate sample of Slovene rural settlements. Since the available fun-ding for the research did not allow for a sufficiently large statistical sample of settlements that would be manageable in the field, we were compelled to select a so-called expert sample of settlements which would be as representative as possible and would indicate the various possible paths of development of settled areas with respect to the natural conditions and types of settlements. A formal and fully elaborated definition for the expression rural settlement does not exist in Slovenia. The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia has only two classifications of settlement: urban and non-urban. According to this classification, all non-urban settlements are considered rural settlements. The Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Slovenia for 2005 classifies 156 Slovene settlements as urban settlements and settlements of urban regions. 967,496 people, or 49.5% of the total population of Slovenia and 48.5% of the economically active population live in these settlements. In order to be classified as an urban settlement a place must meet at least one of the following criteria: • have 3000 or more inhabitants (formal criterion) or • have 2000 to 2999 inhabitants and have more jobs than the number of the economically active residents of the settlement (formal, functional criterion) or • be a municipal seat and have at least 1400 inhabitants and a surplus of jobs or be a municipal seat and have at least 2000 inhabitants (formal, functional criterion) or • belong to an urban region; have a lower number of inhabitants but grow into a single functional whole with an urban settlement which has more than 5000 inhabitants and contiguous building. Commuting is considered to be an inclusionary criterion of functional connectedness, while a certain share of farm households in a suburban settlement is an exclusionary criterion (physiognomic-morphological, functional criterion). Non-urban settlements are all settlements which do not meet the statistical definition of urban settlements and settlements in urban regions; these are the ones which come under consideration for our study. In Slovenia as of 1 January 2005, 5842, or 97% of settlements were non-urban, and a little over half of the population of Slovenia live in them (985,809, or 50.5%). 51.5% of the total economically active population live in these settlements. We selected a sample from among these that met the following additional conditions: • the settlement was relatively large, with a 2002 population of between 500 and 1100 people (average 900), • the number of inhabitants and the number of houses grew during the period from 1991 to 2002, 191 Table 1: Basic data on the settlements selected name of settlement area of settlement in ha farm population in 1991 in% population index of natural population growth region 2002/1991 landscape type (Urbanc 2002) munici-pality statistical region distance type of from nearest settlement town inkm Maja Topole 1991 old method 1991 new method 2002 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 1878.7605 5.9 1323 1316 1517 115.3 edge of the [kofja Loka hills alpine hills Kranj Gorenjska 4 nucleated core dispersed outer areas 2 3 Ihan Brdinje 155.9065 899.6086 9.5 7.1 640 539 634 538 701 628 110.6 116.7 Kamni{ka Bistrica plain Western Pohorsko Podravje alpine lowland alpine hills Dom`ale Ravne na Kor Osrednje-slovenska Koro{ka 2 2 nucleated core dispersed outer areas roadside, hamlets and isolated farms Petek, Peter Repolus] 4 Lipovci 705.6035 21.0 1027 995 1047 105.2 Mura River plain Pannonian plain Beltinci Pomurska 1.5 nucleated — 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 969.7857 19.1 646 607 811 133.6 Slovenske gorice Pannonian hills Ptuj Podravska 6 dispersed, partially roadside 6 Ur{na Sela 1200.3761 10.4 546 541 588 108.7 Novo mesto region Dinaric valley system Novo mesto Jugovzhodna Slovenija 12 dispersed, partially nucleated and roadside 7 @u`emberk 776.5692 6.8 991 979 1085 110.8 Suha krajina Dinaric plain @u`emberk Jugovzhodna Slovenija 17.5 nucleated core, dispersed outer areas 8 Velike La{~e 597.3676 6.9 561 551 639 116.0 Velike La{~e region Dinaric valley system Velike La{~e Osrednje-slovenska 14 nucleated core, dispersed outer areas )uilt-up areas in selected slovene rural... 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 899.6086 3.7 1315 1307 1377 105.4 Notranjska valley system Dinaric valley system Lo{ka dolina Notranjska 14 nucleated core, dispersed outer areas 10 Parecag 11 Kri` and [epulje 982.2554 598.7303 6.9 11.2 760 432 751 438 910 580 121.2 132.4 Koper Littoral Karst Mediterranean Piran hills Mediterranean Se`ana Karst plateau Obalno-kra{ka Obalno-kra{ka 4.5 5 nucleated core, dispersed outer areas nucleated X total 9664.5720 9.4 8780 8657 9883 114.0 / / / / 7.5 / Surveyable map: Slovene Settlements Represented in Expert Sample Pregledni zemljevid - V ekspertnem vzorcu zastopana slovenska naselja 1 : 220.000 1 : 220.000 ^| settlement area / obmo~ja naselij | statistical region boundary / meje statisti~nih regij Settlement Map Legend / Legenda za karte naselij dispersedly settled area / nestrnjena poselitev nucleatedly settled area / strnjena poselitev ^| settlement area / obmo~ja naselij GIAM ZRC SAZU 2006 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… • based on data from 1991, the settlement had a relatively large share of residents engaged in agriculture, from 3.7% (Lo` and Stari trg) to 21% (Lipovci) and a large share of contiguous agricultural and forested areas, • municipal centers were included rarely, and only if they had fewer than 1400 inhabitants (@u`emberk and Velike La{~e, Stari trg pri Lo`u). In this way rural centers were included that were not in the vici-nity of large agglomerations, • the settlements lie in a variety of Slovene natural regions (alpine hills, alpine lowland, Pannonian plain, Dinaric valley system, Dinaric plain, Mediterranean hills, Mediterranean karst plateau) and thus belong to different morphological types (nucleated as well as dispersed, or clustered and roadside as well as those in the form of hamlets and isolated farmsteads), • the settlements are located in different Slovene statistical regions (Gorenjska, Osrednjeslovenska, Koro{ka, Pomurska, Podravska, Jugovzhodna Slovenija, Notranjska, Obalnokra{ka). A basic feature of changes affecting settlements in Slovenia is the growth of urban and the decline of non-urban settlements. Between 1991 and 2002 the number of registered housing units (RHU) increa-sed most in the settlement of Ljubljana (+3032), followed by other major urban settlements (Maribor, Novo mesto, Kranj, Koper, Celje). The number of RHUs did not increase in 1291 settlements, while for 958 settlements the number increased by more than 10 units. During the same period, according to census data, the population increased in 3338 settlements, remai-ned the same in 236 settlements, and decreased in 2318 settlements. Settlements showing the most growth were those located in the immediate vicinity of major cities, for example: Logatec, Ig, Trzin, Vrhnika, Grosuplje (vicinity of Ljubljana), Sv. Anton (Koper). Similarly, some settlements in the vicinity of smaller urban centers also increased in size, for example Kotlje, near Slovenj Gradec, or Lucija, near Piran. The population dropped most sharply in highly urban settlements such as Maribor, Jesenice, Ljubljana, and Celje and in markedly rural settlements far from urban centers. Our sample comprised 11 settlement units, or 14 settlements. In addition to eight separate settlements (Ihan, Brdinje, Lipovci, Kr~evina pri Vurbergu, Ur{na sela, @u`emberk, Velike La{~e and Parecag) we studied three pairs of settlements: Spodnja (Lower) and Zgornja (Upper) Besnica, Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u, and Kri` and [epulje; these are morphologically and demographically homogeneous units. The settlements vary in elevation - from 0 m or an average of 20 m in the case of Parecag to 685 m or an ave-rage of 450 m in the case of Brdinje. They are distributed among regions in all three major Slovene climatic types: temperate continental, submediterranean, and montane. Their distance from the nearest urban settlement ranges from 1.5 km to 17.5 km, averaging 7.5 km, and from the nearest major highway from 1 km 1500 -1400 -1300 -1200 -o 1100 -osi g 1000 -• S™ 900 -o_q 800 --JS 2 700 --o^i 600 --o, 500 --400 -300 -200 -100 - ¦ 134 . 13 .- "•_ -120 g 2 -110 ^g -100 -S ' M ' .V .Ž? =# <9» W* ->" „-& -p A* I within settled area / v okviru poseljenega obmo~ja ¦ within dispersedly settled area / v okviru nestrnjeno poseljenega obm. I within densely settled area / v okviru strnjeno poseljenega obm. I within built-up area / v okviru vseh pozidanih povr{in Figure 7: Areas with a mixture of functions (residential and activities) in settlements in 2005. Residential areas Residential areas covered a total of 202.94ha or 8.8% of all settled areas (range: 4.0%-20.7%). Of these, 140.9ha (24.6% of the total settled area, range: 8.5%-33.8%), were in densely settled areas, and 64.55 ha or 3.6% in dispersedly settled areas (range: 0.4%-5.7%). 69.4% of residential areas thus belong to densely settled areas and 30.6% to dispersedly settled areas in the settlements. The residential areas took up 69.0% on average (range: 31.8%-89.4%) of the built-up areas in the settlements. This share was lower in the settlements of Ihan, Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u and Velike La{-~e, which have large areas for non-residential purposes and activities; in the absence of these, the share would be 81.3%. Detached residential houses strongly predominated among the residential buildings, accounting for 98.8%. Multi-unit apartment buildings in the settlements studied covered only an area of 2.37ha, or 1.2% of the total residential area in settled areas (1.6% in densely settled areas and an almost negligible 0.2% in dispersedly settled areas) and 0.8% in built-up areas. Multi-unit apartment buildings were present only in the settlements of Parecag, Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u, Ihan, @u`emberk and Velike La{~e. The num-ber of such buildings was less than 10 in each case, and they were usually quite small. During the period studied only two new multi-unit apartment buildings were built, in the centers of Ihan and Stari trg pri Lo`u. In most other cases the buildings date from the 1960s and 1970s. Areas with a mixed residential/non-residential function Buildings with a mixed function, serving both residential and non-residential purposes, cover a total of20.03ha or 0.9% of the settled areas (range: 0.3%-1.7%), or 6.9% of the built-up areas. 15.0ha of the mixed areas are in densely settled areas (3.5%) while 5 ha or 1.2% lie in dispersedly settled areas. Thus three-fourths of areas with a mixed function lie in densely settled parts of settlements and one-fourth in dispersedly settled parts. 0 200 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 24 22 20 18 -16 14 12 10 - 8 6 4 2 _ i' lHi .....'^."c rr^i *$ & & <& L¦ «8- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ <& # ^ ^ .;* I within settled area / v okviru poseljenega obmo~ja j within dispersedly settled area / v okviru nestrnjeno poseljenega obm. I within densely settled area / v okviru strnjeno poseljenega obm. Figure 8: Areas devoted to activities in settlements in 2005. 50 -40 -'3>n 30 -20 -10 - 60,0 54,7 47,3 23,7 20,4 7,8 <*> ^ ^ # / &> J> ^ ^ JU /° # & Figure 9: Share of areas devoted to activities within all built-up areas of settlements in 2005. 0 201 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… Areas with non-residential buildings Areas with buildings which serve non-residential activities took up 70.13 ha in area, or 3.1% of the sett-led parts of settlements (range: 0.1%–15.7%) and 24.2% of built-up areas (range: 1.4%-60.0%). 50 ha of this area lie in densely settled areas, where they take up 8.7% of the total (range: 0%-23.9%), 20.14ha lie in dispersedly settled areas, where they occupy 1.2% of the area (range: 0.1%-6.2%). 71.3% of the areas intended for such activities are located in densely settled areas and 28.7% in dispersedly settled areas. Settlements which have the highest shares of areas devoted to activities in built-up parts are: Ihan (60%), Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u (47.3%) and Velike La{~e (33.3%). Buildings without a function Buildings without a function take up small areas in Brdinje, Ur{na sela and @u`emberk; Lo` and Stari trg stand out most in this respect (0.9% of built-up areas). In total they take up a little more than half a hec-tare (0.1% of settled areas). They are relatively more frequent in densely settled parts (0.2%). Traffic areas Traffic areas include transportation routes (roads, paths, railways) and parking areas. Traffic areas within fenced industrial and other areas which serve the internal needs of the businesses there were excluded. These traffic areas were taken into account in the framework of those activities. According to the classification of the Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Roads, the following types of traffic areas are distinguished: • national traffic areas, which includes motorways, major highways, category I and II main roads, and category I, II, and III regional roads. • other traffic areas, which include the remaining public roads - municipal roads (local roads and pub-lic paths) and private roads and paths (driveways and roads, farm lanes, and paths within agricultural and green areas in the settled parts of settlements). In the settlements studied, 114.91 ha belonged to traffic areas, which is a share of 5.1% of the settled areas (range: 3.6%–11.8%). Of these areas, only 14.4ha, or 12.5%, were national roads. 14 12 10 ^# 8 6 -4 2 - 11,8 a,- 4,7 -1 c s_ m -" 8,2 2,7 -^^- -|......vo S-i -1 A%L> «8- <¦#¦ A$6 J* & ,? n<> # TX J° .& ^ J° ^ J nr ^ <&< ^j> ^ ^ J? ¦ within settled area / v okviru poseljenega obmo~ja ¦ within dispersedly settled area / v okviru nestrnjeno poseljenega obm. I within densely settled area / v okviru strnjeno poseljenega obm. Figure 12: Sports grounds and parks in the settled parts of the settlements in 2005. 203 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… 90 t 80 70 60 - ° ^~ 50 jSTJ 40 30 20 10 0 ^n rrr} n n ¦ ¦ n l-l 52,0 43,2 55,8 56,2 45,2 71,2 47,6 44,7 47,8 51,6 38,3 1 72,4 64,7 64,1 64,7 61,8 56,4 62,7 76,5 50,6 88,8 63,3 59,2 65,6 50,9 39,4 |! 60,8 73,6 71,1 74,0 54,1 46,2 63,4 59,9 47,2 64,2 «8- <]P ^ / / & / F J° # / I within settled area / v okviru poseljenega obmo~ja I within dispersedly settled area / v okviru nestrnjeno poseljenega obm. I within densely settled area / v okviru strnjeno poseljenega obm. Figure 13: Green and agricultural areas in the settled parts of the settlements in 2005. We were especially interested in the difference between densely settled areas and dispersedly settled areas. We looked closely at the nucleated settlement of Spodnja Besnica, which is comparable in the lay-out of its buildings to an urban area. The built-up areas here occupied more than two-thirds of the area, with larger islands of green accounting for 14.7%, and traffic areas for as much as 15.2%. There are 52.85 ha of traffic areas in the densely settled areas (9.2% of the total area - range: 4.8%-12.9%), and 62.06ha (3.6% of the total area- range: 2.2%-10.2%) in dispersedly settled areas. The Pannonian settlement of Lipovci stands out among dispersedly settled areas with an exceptionally high share of traffic areas (10.2%), since a corridor of national importance runs through it. Otherwise, shares of traffic areas are between 2 and 3% in nucleated settlements. Only the settlements of Brdinje and Ur{na sela have shares over 4% in dispersedly settled areas due to their dispersed layout; Kr~evina pri Vurbergu also comes close to this figure. 46% of traffic areas are found in densely settled areas and 54% in dispersedly settled areas. The share of national roads in the total traffic areas is similar for both types of areas (12.3 and 12.7%). Sports grounds and parks Sports grounds cover only 3 ha (0.1%) of all the settled areas. They were found in only 6 of the 11 units. They are more frequent where there is an above average share of jobs (Ihan, Lipovci, Lo` and Stari trg), if there is a large share of second homes in the settlement (Ur{na sela), or if there is a major urban center nearby (Besnica). Green and agricultural areas Green and agricultural areas include relatively large gardens (wider and longer than 17 m), lawns, parks, and agricultural areas (crop-fields, meadows and pastures) - all within the confines of the settled part of the settlement. Stands of forest and consolidated agricultural areas are excluded from the analysis. A total of 1364.90 ha or 59.9% of the total area of settled areas is green space or agricultural land (range: 47.6%-73.6%). 19.8% (270.59ha) of this is in densely settled areas; within these areas such land takes 204 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 Figure 14: Forest areas found in the settled parts of the settlements in 2005. up 47.2% of the area (range: 38.3%–71.1%). 80.2% of all green space and agricultural land (1093.88 ha) is found in areas with dispersed settlement; within such areas this land takes up 64.2% of the total area (range: 47.8%-74.0%). Settlements which have the lowest share of green space and agricultural land are: Brdinje, both villages of Besnica, and Lo` and Stari trg. In the first two instances the reason for this is their dispersed layout, such that the intervening green and agricultural areas are categorized occur in large unbroken tracts and are thus excluded, while in the case of Lo` the low share is due to the density of building. Forest areas Forest areas found within the settled part of the settlement are taken into consideration. Their area amounts to 491.10ha, or 21.6% of the settled area. In densely settled areas, this share is only 7.5% (range: 1.0%–12.1%), in areas with dispersed settlement the figure exceeds one fourth (26.3%, range: 2.9%–43.9%). Two settlements in upland areas - both villages of Besnica and Brdinje in Koro{ka, a village consisting mainly of isolated farms - are heavily forested. Water areas Only water areas found within the settled part of the settlement are included. Their area amounted to only 11.68 ha or 0.5% of the settled area. Some regions, especially in the Karst, have no water areas at all. @u`emberk has an exceptionally high proportion, since the Krka River flows through the densely settled area, taking up 2.8% of the total area. 3 Socioeconomic characteristics of the settlements in the sample The most common method for identifying the socioeconomic characteristics of a settlement is through an analysis of the economically active population in the settlement and an analysis of the functions which the settlement has. Based on the 2002 Census, we determined the commuting patterns of the population, 205 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… Figure 15: Water areas in the settled parts of settlements in 2005. the ratio between the number of employed and the number of jobs in the settlement, and the role in the hierarchical network of settlements. For a more detailed determination of the types of activities of com-panies, we used the Business Register of Slovenia (Slovene acronym PRS - AJPES) for 2002. The daily commuting patterns of the economically active population is a basic indicator of the social characteristics of individual settlements. They can be shown by means of the share of daily commuters within the total number of economically active inhabitants residing in a given settlement. A commuter is any employee who travels to work in a settlement outside the settlement of his or her residence. Figure 16 shows the value of this indicator for the sample of rural settlements selected. There is alarge difference evident between the settlements of Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u, where the share of commuters is much lower than in the other settlements. The settlements Ur{na sela, Zgornja Besnica and Spodnja Besnica and Brdi-nje have extremely high values. In the majority of settlements in our sample the number of jobs and their structure is not in equilibrium with the economically active population. This leads to increased levels of commuting by residents. These data are not surprising, since agriculture, which was at one time the eco-nomic mainstay of rural areas, no longer plays a very visible role. The economically active population thus seeks employment in urban settlements where most jobs are concentrated. In our sample of settlements the majority of the economically active population commute to jobs in larger urban settlements: from Brdinje to Ravne (more than 50%), from Kri` and [epulje to Se`ana (51%), from Lipovci to Murska Sobota (52%), from Ur{na sela to Novo mesto (75%), and so on. From Velike La{~e the majority (58%) of the economically active population commute to the relatively distant city of Ljubljana. On average, 74% of the economically active population of the settlements in our sample commute elsewhere to jobs; the average for Slovenia as a whole is 54.6%. Also important are data on the economically active population according to place of residence and place of employment. Only Lo`-Stari trg and @u`emberk show a surplus of jobs over the number of the economically active population (Figure 17). Lo`-Stari trg pri Lo`u has an especially high number of jobs in the manufacturing plant of Kovinoplastika Lo`, and represents an important center of employment for nearby settlements. @u`emberk is also a large center of employment, with more jobs than the num- 206 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 80 -¦ 70 -¦ #-5 60 -'S>n 50 -¦ "S^> 40 -30 -¦ 20 -¦ 10 -¦ 90,3 72,3 89,5 83,9 84,0 90,6 59,5 75,9 80,5 80,0 74,0 Figure 16: Share of commuters (daily migrants) in the economically active population. 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 J& yf & g 50 -»^ 40 -30 -20 -10 - 6,1 9,1 11,1 8,6 4,8 4,8 8 6,1 5,3 5,2 8,6 3,1 14,3 12 16,3 93,9 88,6 88,9 90,5 84,2 94,8 88,6 86,3 74,3 75,5 * <> <*> ^ >' 1 1 1 to 4 employees / 1 do 4 zaposleni ? 5 to 19 employees / 5 do 19 zaposlenih 1 | 20 to 99 employees / 20 do 99 zaposlenih ? 100 + / 100 in ve~ zaposlenih Figure 19: The structure of companies by size (number of jobs) in % - by settlement, data from 2002 (AJPES) 90 -80 -70 -#-5 60 -'3>n 50 -»^ 40 -30 -20 -10 - 31,3 33,7 30,7 27,6 57 55,2 62,6 74,6 43,8 68,7 -0— 11,6 72,4 21,1 17,8 20,1 __ 31,4 15,9 10,2 11,8 7 9,6 5,6 18,1 13,2 11,9 1 1 to 4 employees / 1 do 4 zaposleni ? 5 to 19 employees / 5 do 19 zaposlenih ¦ 20 to 99 employees / 20 do 99 zaposlenih ? 100 + / 100 in ve~ zaposlenih Figure 20: The share of jobs with respect to size of company- by settlement, data from 2002 (AJPES). 215 Table 10: Areas of new construction in the period from 1992 to 2005 by settlement. name of settlement construction construction mixed of individual of apartment residential houses buildings and non-residential non-residential total construction of individual houses construction of apt buildings mixed residential and non-residential non- total residential A DENSELY SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT m2 m2 m2 m2 m2 share in % share in % share in % share in % share in % 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 8658 0 763 1127 10548 82.1 0 7.2 10.7 100 2 Ihan 4424 1916 1905 570 8815 50.2 21.7 21.6 6.5 100 3 Brdinje 1236 0 85 0 1321 93.6 0 6.4 0 100 4 Lipovci 14045 0 0 7216 21261 66.1 0 0 33.9 100 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 310 0 0 0 310 100 0 0 0 100 6 Ur{na Sela 5570 0 182 215 5967 93.3 0 3.1 3.6 100 7 @u`emberk 9220 0 1207 4372 14799 62.3 0 8.2 29.5 100 8 Velike La{~e 6856 0 387 5130 12373 55.4 0 3.1 41.5 100 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 5591 245 444 2481 8761 63.8 2.8 5.1 28.3 100 10 Parecag 2203 0 1932 1596 5731 38.4 0 33.7 27.8 100 11 Kri` and [epulje 24634 0 1602 6481 32717 75.3 0 4.9 19.8 100 S total 82747 2161 8507 29188 122603 67.5 1.8 6.9 23.8 100 DISPERSEDLY SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT m2 m2 m2 m2 m2 share in % share in % share in % share in % share in % I Spodnja Besniac and Zgornja Besnica 8442 0 1003 917 10362 81.5 0 9.7 8.8 100 to 2 Ihan 1146 0 0 3916 5062 22.6 0 0 77.4 100 5; 3 Brdinje 15940 0 644 1299 17883 89.1 0 3.6 7.3 100 4 Lipovci 6 0 0 5205 5211 0.1 0 0 99.9 100 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 28345 0 2147 882 31374 90.3 0 6.8 2.8 100 6 Ur{na Sela 8389 0 1398 348 10135 82.8 0 13.8 3.4 100 7 @u`emberk 1501 0 0 818 2319 64.7 0 0 35.3 100 8 Velike La{~e 1906 0 322 2191 4419 43.1 0 7.3 49.6 100 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 293 0 0 869 1162 25.2 0 0 74.8 100 10 Parecag 3139 0 671 0 3810 82.4 0 17.6 0 100 II Kri` in [epulje 5253 0 0 271 5524 95.1 0 0 4.9 100 S total 74360 0 6185 16716 97261 76.5 0 6.4 17.2 100 TOTAL SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT m2 m2 m2 m2 m2 share in % share in % share in % share in % share in % 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 17100 0 1766 2044 20910 81.8 0 8.4 9.8 100 2 Ihan 5570 1916 1905 4486 13877 40.1 13.8 13.7 32.3 100 3 Brdinje 17176 0 729 1299 19204 89.4 0 3.8 6.8 100 4 Lipovci 14051 0 0 12421 26472 53.1 0 0 46.9 100 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 28655 0 2147 882 31684 90.4 0 6.8 2.8 100 6 Ur{na Sela 13959 0 1580 563 16102 86.7 0 9.8 3.5 100 7 @u`emberk 10721 0 1207 5190 17118 62.6 0 7.1 30.3 100 8 Velike La{~e 8762 0 709 7321 16792 52.2 0 4.2 43.6 100 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 5884 245 444 3350 9923 59.3 2.5 4.5 33.8 100 10 Parecag 5342 0 2603 1596 9541 56 0 27.3 16.7 100 11 Kri` and [epulje 29887 0 1602 6752 38241 78.2 0 4.2 17.7 100 L total 157107 2161 14692 45904 219864 71.5 1 6.7 20.9 100 B C Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 and Parecag were in companies with fewer than 20 employees. In the remaining settlements the majority of jobs were in companies with fewer than 20 employees, most (over two-thirds) of them in the central settlements and employment centers of Lo`-Stari trg, Lipovci, Kri`-[epulje and @u`emberk (Figures 19 and 20). The greatest numbers of small companies were to be found in the fields of construction, transport, trade and other services. A concentration of such companies, and of the jobs within them, was typical of smaller settlements with a dispersed settlement pattern, which in recent years have grown as a result of the in-migration of residents from nearby urban settlements. 5 Changes in land use in the period from 1992 to 2005 In the context of the suburbanization process in Slovenia, the migration of population from cities to rural areas is also accompanied by the relocation of some economic activities to less expensive rural locations. We thus see the beginnings of a mixing of uses of rural land. Thus far large concentrations of jobs are rare, but the process is reflected in the lower degree of population decrease in the vicinity of these settlements (Kladnik, Ravbar 2003). In the period from 1992 to 2005 the built-up areas in all eleven settlements increased by 8.2% or 22 ha (Tables 10 in 11). Most of the new areas, 71%, were devoted to housing construction, while 21% was devo-ted to the construction of non-residential buildings. The remaining areas consist of new buildings with a mix of residential/non-residential functions. Among the various types of construction (individual houses, apart-ment buildings, mixed function and non-residential - buildings for economic activities and public functions, etc.) there are no significant differences in the rate of growth. The areas of the individual types increased by 7.3 to 10%. The most dynamic growth was shown by construction of apartment buildings, but in this case the area affected is quite small (2.4ha total, or 0.8% of built-up areas). Housing construction in general showed a somewhat higher rate of relative growth, which is directly connected to population in-migration, since many of the settlements studied typically lie in the direct gravitational hinterland of larger urban centers. average / povpre~je Kri` & [epulje Parecag Velike La{~e Lo` & Stari trg pri Lo`u @u`emberk Ur{na sela Kr~evina pri Vurberku Lipovci Brdinje Ihan Sp. & Zg. Besnica 0 % 67,5 1,8 6,9 23,8 75,3 4,9 19,8 38 4 33,7 27,8 55,4 [3,1 41 5 63,8 2,8 5,1 28,3 62,3 1 8,2 1 29,5 93,3 3,13,6 100 66,1 33,9 93,6 6,4 50,2 2 1,7 21,6 6,5 82,1 7,2 10,7 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % | construction of individual houses / stanovanja - ind. gradnja ¦ construction of apt. buildings / stanovanja - blok. gradnja 1 mixed - res. and econ. activ. / me{ano (stan. in nestan.) ¦ non-residential construction / nestanovanjsko 100 Figure 21: Structure in the period 1992-2005 of areas of new construction in densely settled areas by settlement. 217 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… Table 11: Index of change in the area of different types of built-up areas in the period 2005/1992 by settlement. name of construction of construction of mixed residential non-residential total settlement individual houses apartment buildings and non-residential construction A DENSELY SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 103.24 - 104.23 109.93 103.55 2 Ihan 106.57 266.61 111.74 100.4 103.9 3 Brdinje 102.8 - 100.97 - 102.48 4 Lipovci 105.09 - 100 112.56 106.07 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 102.38 - - - 102.38 6 Ur{na Sela 107.38 - 105.06 107.09 107.27 7 @u`emberk 105.43 100 106.86 115.11 106.72 8 Velike La{~e 112.52 100 103.56 117.31 112.66 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 103.15 102.64 102.24 101.77 102.5 10 Parecag 109.42 100 112.75 107.54 108.97 11 Kri` and [epulje 118.25 - 111.2 170.62 120.64 X total 106.35 110.56 106 106.6 106.41 B DISPERSEDLY SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 112.95 - 130.94 105.04 111.96 2 Ihan 110.86 - 100 134.19 122.52 3 Brdinje 125.71 - 109.38 300.46 125.31 4 Lipovci 100.27 - 100 119.53 117.21 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 113.37 - 119.11 105.55 113.12 6 Ur{na Sela 110.45 100 131.79 101.97 109.8 7 @u`emberk 105.98 - 100 109.56 106.38 8 Velike La{~e 118.93 - 119.21 128.56 122.76 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 102.65 - 100 101.4 101.56 10 Parecag 105.62 100 106.92 100 105.2 11 Kri` and [epulje 149.69 - 100 103.16 127.5 X total 113.65 100 114.12 109.05 112.53 C TOTAL SETTLED AREA OF SETTLEMENT 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 105.14 - 108.3 106.92 105.45 2 Ihan 107.15 266.61 111.41 102.93 105.58 3 Brdinje 116.18 - 104.65 300.46 115.5 4 Lipovci 105.06 - 100 114.77 106.95 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 112.73 - 119.11 105.55 112.56 6 Ur{na Sela 108.96 100 119.76 102.71 108.68 7 @u`emberk 105.5 100 105.95 113.84 106.67 8 Velike La{~e 113.51 100 105.66 119.62 114.34 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 103.12 102.64 102.12 101.66 102.34 10 Parecag 106.74 100 110.47 105.62 106.96 11 Kri` and [epulje 120.53 - 110.51 138.04 121.41 Z total 108.5 110.02 107.92 107.32 108.18 There are greater differences among settlements. Most intensive construction occurred in: • settlements with population in-migration (strong residential and non-residential construction: Brdinje, Kri`-[epulje, Velike La{~e); • in settlements with population in-migration (strong residential and mixed construction: Kr~evina pri Vurbergu); Less intensive construction occurred in: • settlements which were affected by suburbanization and population in-migration before 1990 (Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica, Ihan); 218 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 • settlements with signs of stagnation in demographic and economic development (Ur{na sela, Lipovci) and • settlements which are larger and have the qualities of small urban centers from which part of the popu-lation moves to smaller neighboring settlements - Lo`-Stari trg and @u`emberk. There are also pronounced differences in the characteristics of construction between the densely sett-led and the dispersedly settled areas within settlements. In the former, housing construction represents 67.5% of the total new construction, while in the latter this figure is 76.5%. In contrast, non-residential construction represents 23.8% of new construction in densely settled areas and 17.2% in dispersedly settled areas of settlements. The share of mixed function construction is very similar for both - 6.9 and 6.4%. Settlements can be divided into several groups with respect to the structure of areas of new construction and the differences between densely settled areas and dispersedly settled areas, though the differences among the groups are not pronounced (Figures 21-23): • Lo`-Stari trg, Ihan and Lipovci - here the share of housing construction in all new construction is under 65%, and the share of non-residential new construction in the dispersedly settled part of the settlement is high (in relatively large production premises at the edge of the village); • @u`emberk and Velike La{~e - the share of housing construction in all new construction is under 65%, and the share of non-residential construction in the densely settled part of the settlement is high; • Parecag - the share of new housing construction is 65%, and the share of mixed-function construction is high in both densely and dispersedly settled parts of the settlement; • Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica, Brdinje, Kr~evina pri Vurbergu, Ur{na sela - the share of housing construction in all new construction is over 80%, and this kind of new construction dominates in both densely settled and dispersedly settled parts of the settlement; the shares of mixed function and non-residential construction are equal; • Kri`-[epulje - this settlement has the most intense new construction of all the settlements treated; there is a preponderance of new housing construction. The bulk of areas of new construction (56%) is still in the densely settled core areas of settlements, but the dynamics of relative growth of building are greater at the edge of settlements, where the built-up areas increased by 12.5% in the period studied, while the figure for the centers of settlements is only 6.4% average / povpre~je Kri` & [epulje Parecag Velike La{~e Lo` & Stari trg pri Lo`u @u`emberk Ur{na sela Kr~evina pri Vurberku Lipovci 0 Brdinje Ihan Sp. & Zg. Besnica 76,5 6,4 17,2 0 % 95,1 4,9 82,4 17,6 4 3,1 7,3 49,6 25,2 74,8 64,7 35,3 82,8 13,8 3,4 90,3 1 6,8 2,8 1 99,9 89,1 3,6 7,3 22,6 7 7,4 81,5 9,7 8,8 0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 10 ¦ construction of individual houses / stanovanja - ind. gradnja 1 construction of apt. buildings / stanovanja - blok. gradnja 1 mixed - res. and econ. activ. / me{ano (stan. in nestan.) 1 non-residential construction / nestanovanjsko Figure 22: Structure in the period 1992-2005 of areas of new construction in dispersedly settled areas by settlement. 219 Table 12: Average annual growth in individual types of built-up areas by settlement (in %) for the period 1992/2005 and intervals within it. name of settlement construction of construction of mixed – residentia economic activities total Maja individual houses apartment buildings and economic activities A DENSELY SETTLED 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ AREA OF THE 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 SETTLEMENT % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 0.36 0.17 0.25 - - - 0.83 0 0.32 1.15 0.47 0.73 0.42 0.17 0.27 2 Ihan 0.93 0.12 0.49 17.75 0 7.83 1.87 0 0.86 0.07 0 0.03 0.6 0.04 0.29 3 Brdinje 0.24 0 0.18 - - - 0.08 0 0.06 - - - 0.21 0 0.16 4 Lipovci 0.25 0.46 0.33 - - - 0 0 0 0.29 1.55 0.79 0.24 0.62 0.39 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 0 0.29 0.18 - - - - - - - - - 0 0.29 0.18 6 Ur{na Sela 0.75 0.23 0.55 - - - 0 0.99 0.38 0.86 0 0.53 0.72 0.26 0.54 7 @u`emberk 0.54 0.32 0.41 0 0 0 1.34 0 0.51 0.87 1.23 1.09 0.64 0.42 0.5 8 Velike La{~e 1.87 0.1 0.91 0 0 0 0.59 0 0.27 0.57 1.81 1.24 1.3 0.6 0.92 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 0.47 0.09 0.24 0.52 0 0.2 0.44 0 0.17 0.35 0 0.14 0.42 0.05 0.19 10 Parecag 1.49 0.2 0.69 0 0 0 1.84 0.36 0.93 1.46 0 0.56 1.47 0.16 0.66 11 Kri` in [epulje 2.62 0.16 1.2 - - - 1.79 0 0.76 9.31 0 3.89 3 0.13 1.35 E total 0.76 0.23 0.47 1.69 0 0.78 0.9 0.06 0.45 0.59 0.41 0.49 0.74 0.26 0.48 B DISERSEDLY 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ SETTLED AREA 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 OF SETTLEMENT % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 1.17 0.8 0.94 - - - 5.54 0 2.1 0.99 0 0.38 1.31 0.6 0.87 2 Ihan 0 1.48 0.8 - - - 0 0 0 0 4.29 2.29 0 2.94 1.57 3 Brdinje 1.94 0.23 1.54 - - - 0.78 0 0.6 10.04 0 7.61 1.92 0.2 1.52 4 Lipovci 0 0.05 0.02 - - - 0 0 0 0.61 2.08 1.2 0.54 1.85 1.06 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 2.29 0.15 0.97 - - - 2.24 0.81 1.35 0.68 0.25 0.42 2.19 0.19 0.95 6 Ur{na Sela 1.04 0.33 0.77 0 0 0 1.03 3.95 2.15 0.24 0 0.15 0.9 0.44 0.72 7 @u`emberk 0.53 0.4 0.45 - - - 0 0 0 0 1.15 0.7 0.37 0.54 0.48 8 Velike La{~e 2.55 0.32 1.34 - - - 2.97 0 1.36 4.28 0 1.95 3.29 0.16 1.59 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri Lo`u 0.52 0 0.2 - - - 0 0 0 0.28 0 0.11 0.31 0 0.12 10 Parecag 0.65 0.28 0.42 0 0 0 1.35 0 0.52 0 0 0 0.67 0.21 0.39 11 Kri` and [epulje 6.29 0.47 2.92 - - - 0 0 0 0.52 0 0.22 3.73 0.29 1.75 E total 1.78 0.32 0.99 0 0 0 1.58 0.54 1.02 0.71 0.64 0.67 1.51 0.4 0.91 name of settlement construction of individual houses construction of apartment buildings mixed – residentia and economic activities economic activities total C TOTAL SETTLED 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ 1992/ 1999/ 1992/ AREA OF 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 1998 2005 2005 SETTLEMENT % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 1 Spodnja Besnica and Zgornja Besnica 0.52 0.3 0.39 - - - 1.61 0 0.62 1.05 0.18 0.52 0.63 0.27 0.41 2 Ihan 0.81 0.3 0.53 17.75 0 7.83 1.82 0 0.83 0.06 0.36 0.22 0.54 0.31 0.42 3 Brdinje 1.27 0.14 1.01 - - - 0.4 0 0.3 10.04 0 7.61 1.22 0.12 0.97 4 Lipovci 0.25 0.46 0.33 - - - 0 0 0 0.39 1.72 0.92 0.27 0.72 0.45 5 Kr~evina pri Vurbergu 2.17 0.16 0.93 - - - 2.24 0.81 1.35 0.68 0.25 0.42 2.08 0.19 0.91 6 Ur{na Sela 0.9 0.29 0.66 0 0 0 0.58 2.72 1.4 0.34 0 0.21 0.82 0.36 0.64 7 @u`emberk 0.54 0.33 0.41 0 0 0 1.16 0 0.45 0.67 1.21 1 0.6 0.43 0.5 8 Velike La{~e 1.97 0.14 0.98 0 0 0 0.92 0 0.42 1.39 1.39 1.39 1.64 0.52 1.04 9 Lo` and Stari trg pri L. 0.48 0.09 0.24 0.52 0 0.2 0.42 0 0.16 0.33 0 0.13 0.4 0.04 0.18 10 Parecag 0.9 0.26 0.5 0 0 0 1.65 0.22 0.77 1.1 0 0.42 1.05 0.19 0.52 11 Kri` and [epulje 2.91 0.18 1.34 - - - 1.68 0 0.72 5.52 0 2.33 3.08 0.15 1.4 X total 1.06 0.26 0.63 1.6 0 0.74 1.06 0.18 0.59 0.62 0.48 0.55 0.96 0.3 0.61 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… average / povpre~je Kri` & [epulje Parecag Velike La{~e Lo` & Stari trg pri Lo`u @u`emberk Ur{na sela Kr~evina pri Vurberku Lipovci Brdinje Ihan Sp. & Zg. Besnica 71,5 1 6,7 20,9 78,2 4,2 17,7 56 27,3 16,7 52,2 4,2 43,6 59,3 2,54,5 33,8 62,6 7,1 | 30,3 86,7 9,8 3,5 90,4 6,8 2,8 53,1 46,9 89,4 3,8 6,8 40,1 13,8 13,7 32,3 81,8 8,4 9,8 0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 % ¦ construction of individual houses / stanovanja - ind. gradnja ¦ construction of apt. buildings / stanovanja - blok. gradnja I mixed - res. and econ. activ. / me{ano (stan. in nestan.) | non-residential construction / nestanovanjsko Figure 23: Structure in the period 1992-2005 of areas of new construction in the total settled area by settlement. 120 -¦ 100 -¦ a. 80 -60 -40 -¦ 20 -¦ 1 1 densely settled area / strnjeno poseljeno obmo~je naselja 1 1 dispersedly settled area / nestrnjeno poseljeno obmo~je naselja Figure 24: Index of growth in built-up areas for the period 2005/1992 (1992 = 100) by type of settlement and by settlement. 222 Acta geographica Slovenica, 46-2, 2006 (Figure 24). This trend is typical for the majority of the settlements analyzed. In the case of Lo`-Stari trg and @u`emberk, the role of the edge is played by smaller neighboring settlements (elements of suburba-nization at the local level). Although Parecag is a dispersed settlement, it is, like many rural settlements in Slovenian Istria, made up of several smaller hamlets. These take the role of concentration within settlements, where most of the new construction takes place. The strengthening of construction at the edge of the settlement, in the zone of dispersed settlement, is typical for all types of construction (Figure 25), but especially for residential and mixed-function construction. The growth of construction was not evenly paced throughout the whole of the period analyzed. New construction was concentrated in the early and mid-1990s, while in the second half of the period it fell noticeably (Table 12). In total the intensiveness of new construction in the second half dropped by a factor of 3 (the average rate of growth in built-up areas was 1% in the first period and only 0.3% in the second); for hou-sing construction it dropped by a factor of 4 and for mixed-function construction by a factor of 6. A lower drop was recorded only for non-residential construction, which compared to the first half of the period decreased by only 23%. This trend is typical for all settlements (Figure 26) with the exception of Lipovci, where the intensiveness of construction increased as a whole, primarily due to the increase in non-residential areas in the dispersedly settled part of the settlement (in the industrial complex by the railway). 6 Conclusion This article examines the characteristics of the settled area in Slovene rural settlements and the spatial and functional changes in these settlements over a 15-year period beginning with the independence of Slo-venia in 1991. The analysis is based on aerial photos from 1991, orthophotos from 2002 and field surveys in 2005. Quantitative changes were found in 11 settlement units (14 actual settlements) occupying a total area of 9664.57ha and making up an expert, not a statistical, sample. The settlements in the sample were selected from a subset of Slovene rural settlements which showed growth in the numbers of inhabitants and houses in the period from 1991 to 2002, had a population between 500-1100 in 2002, a relatively high 115 -110 -'O-o 105 -100 -95 - 112,5 construction construction mixed - res. non-residential settled area / of individual of apt. buildings / and econ. activ. / construction / pozidane houses / stanovanja - me{ano (stan. nestanovanjsko povr{ine stanovanja - blok.gradnja in nestan.) ind. gradnja 1 densely settled area / strnjeno poseljeno obmo~je naselja 1 dispersedly settled area / nestrnjeno poseljeno obmo~je naselja 1 settled area / poseljeno obmo~je naselja Figure 25: Average index of growth of built-up areas of individual kinds by type of settlement (period 2005/1992, 1992 = 100). 223 Maja Topole, David Bole, Franci Petek, Peter Repolusk, Spatial and functional changes in built-up areas in selected slovene rural… 3,5 3,0 2,5 -¦ 2,0 -¦ 1,5 1,0 0,5 -¦ 0,0 JI A$6 4? ^ # / ^ f ^