Acta geographica Slovenica, 58-1, 2018, 69–82
Urban land use, which covers all built-up areas, areas with infrastructure facilities,
and other areas that permanently changed from a natural to a built environment,
is in general increasing in all countries and environments.
G
A
Š
P
E
R
 M
R
A
K
THE (NON)USEFULNESS
OF THE REGISTER OF EXISTING
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST
LAND USE FOR MONITORING THE
PROCESSES IN URBAN AREAS
Mojca Foški
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70
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.1805
UDC: 711.14(497.4)
COBISS: 1.01
The (non)usefulness of the Register of Existing Agricultural and Forest Land Use
for monitoring the processes in urban areas
ABSTRACT: The changing of urban land use is the key indicator of spatial processes at work. The only
systemic data source in Slovenia that can be employed to monitor land use changes is the Register of Existing
Agricultural and Forest Land Use. The hypothesis that the Register is not suitable for monitoring urban
land use changes was tested by comparing the data in the »built-up and related land« category for 2002,
2005, 2009, 2011, and 2013. The analysis was carried out at the level of Slovenia, and the results were inter-
preted in relation to small testing areas in NE Slovenia. We found that the methodology of data capture
varied to such a degree that the data fail to reflect the actual changes in urban areas.
KEY WORDS: spatial planning, land use, urban land use, spatial monitoring, Register of Existing Agricultural
and Forest Land Use, Slovenia
(Ne)upo rab nost Evi den ce dejan ske rabe kme tij skih in gozd nih zem ljišč za sprem lja nje
pro ce sov na urba nih območ jih
POVZETEK: Spre mi nja nje urba ne rabe pro sto ra je ključ ni poka za telj pro stor skih pro ce sov. Edi ni sistemski
vir podat kov v Slo ve ni ji, ki je lah ko name njen tudi sprem lja nju spre memb rab pro sto ra, je Evi den ca dejanske
rabe kme tij skih in gozd nih zem ljišč. Hipo te zo, da evi den ca ni ustrez na za sprem lja nje spre memb urba ne
rabe pro sto ra, smo pre ver ja li s pri mer ja vo podat kov kate go ri je »po zi da na in sorod na zem ljiš ča« v le tih 2002,
2005, 2009, 2011 in 2013. Ana li zo smo opra vi li na rav ni Slo ve ni je in rezul ta te inter pre ti ra li na manj ših
test nih območ jih seve ro vz hod ne Slo ve ni je. Ugo to vi li smo, da se je meto do lo gi ja zaje ma podat kov tako spremi -
nja la, da podat ki ne odse va jo dejan skih spre memb na urba nih območ jih.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: pro stor sko načr to va nje, raba zem ljišč, urba na raba, sprem lja nje sta nja pro sto ra, Evi -
den ca dejan ske rabe kme tij skih in gozd nih zem ljišč, Slo ve ni ja
Mojca Foški
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Chair of Spatial Planning
mfoski@fgg.uni-lj.si
The paper was submitted for publication on February 6th, 2015.
Ured niš tvo je pre je lo pris pe vek 6. fe bruar ja 2015.
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Acta geographica Slovenica, 58-1, 2018
1 Introduction
Knowing the situation and trends of land use and land cover changes is essential in order to make informed
decisions concerning spatial planning, land management, and economic planning. The changes in land
use and land cover are indicative of natural processes (e.g. transition from agricultural to forest land use)
or human activities (e.g. transition from agricultural to urban land use). Land use changes are often
reflected in changes to land cover, as land cover and land use are often correlated (Arnold et al. 2014;
Antrop 2005; Ellis 2010; Tavares, Pato and Magalhaes 2012), except for land use changes in urban areas.
In urban space only a small proportion of changes is detected as a change in land cover (e.g. change of
a brownfield into a park), while changes from housing to services can only be detected by having insight
into social and economic activities in the study area. It is accordingly important to distinguish between
land use – defining the purpose of using the Earth's surface (INSPIRE 2013a; INSPIRE 2013b) – and land
cover – defining the biological and physical cover of the Earth's surface (INSPIRE 2013a; INSPIRE 2014);
by knowing land use and land cover we are able to provide more accurate information about space
(Hovenbitzer et al. 2014). Land use is split up into the existing land use, and intended or planned land use
(INSPIRE 2013b). Existing land use is independent of legal provisions, which lay down the ways of acquiring
ownership and the rights thereof, and can be generally recorded on the ground (Metodologija … 2013),
unlike intended land use. Transitions into urban land use are mostly regulated by spatial planning documents.
A detailed review of the literature by Slovenian authors dealing with identifying and monitoring
land use changes was undertaken by Gabrovec and Kladnik (1997). The studies until 1997, and also
thereafter, focused on studying agricultural land use changes (Vrščaj 2007; Miličić and Udovč 2012;
Lisec, Pišek and Drobne 2013) or landscape changes (Petek 2002; 2005; 2007; Petek and Urbanc 2004;
Kladnik and Petek 2007), and through this lens they indirectly touch upon urban land use areas.
Urban land use changes have been addressed by Bogataj and Drobne (2002), Krevs (2004), and
Topole et al. (2006). Bole (2014, 2015) focused on identifying Slovenian traffic areas and how they are
changing.
The data on the surface area of urban land for Slovenia could be acquired from the Statistical GIS Land
Cover and Land Use database (Skumavec and Šabić 2005, SURS 2007), but since 2005 it is no longer updat-
ed, while already Krevs (2004) pointed out to its deficiencies.
The CORINE Land Cover (CLC) database of the European Environment Agency (EEA) (Corine…2014)
provides the data for Slovenia for 1995, 2000 and 2006, which are shown in the Environmental Atlas
(Atlas … 2014) and the Urban Atlas (Urban … 2014). This grid density is too low (cell spatial resolution
is 100 × 100 m) to identify the existing land cover changes in urban areas.
Many authors (Ilešič  1950; Medved  1970; Gabrovec and Kladnik  1997; Gabrovec, Kladnik and
Petek 2000; Lisec, Pišek and Drobne 2013; Bole 2014, 2015) used land cadastre data. The Surveying and
Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia stopped updating these data, but instead acquires them
from the records kept by other sectors (Metodologija … 2013).
The Register of Existing Agricultural and Forest Land Use (hereinafter: Register) is based on the method
of visual interpretation of orthophotos (DOF) with a resolution of 1 m, and the result is a topologically
correct vector database of existing agricultural and forest land use. Vector data for 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011,
and 2013 are publicly accessible at the website of the ministry responsible for agriculture (Internet 1). Although
the register was set up for agricultural policy needs, it was used in real property valuation (Zakon
o množičnem vrednotenju … 2006), pursuant to the Spatial Planning Act (2007) and the Rules on Land
Use and Legal Regimes Data (2008), as well as for showing the discrepancy between the existing and the
planned land use and for calculating the environmental indicator TP03 Built-up Land (Kazalci okolja
v Sloveniji 2014).
The data from the Register were used to test the hypothesis on the suitability of the register on mon-
itoring urban land use changes and the processes therein. We compared the categories of »built-up and
related land« (hereinafter: PiSZ) at different time points, i.e. for 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011, and 2013, and,
based on the findings, we gave recommendations with a view to establishing better and more wide-scale
use of the EDRKGZ.
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2 Data and methodology
2.1 Data from the Register and interpretation keys
The data from the Register for 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011, and 2013 are freely available at the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Food's website (Internet 1). The Register's timeline is presented in detail in the paper by Miličić
and Udovč (2012). The key to understanding and interpreting data is to know the interpretation keys (here-
inafter:  IK) (Interpretation Key  1.0  2002; Interpretation Key  2.0  2004; Interpretation Key 3.0  2005;
Interpretation Key 4.0 2006; Interpretation Key 4.1 2008; Interpretation Key 5.0 2009; Interpretation Key
5.2 2011; Interpretation Key 6.0 2013) with a comprehensive description of land use capture, illustrative
examples, and size of the areas. There are major modifications in IK 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0, and only minor
modifications in 4.1, 5.1, and 5.2, which relate to agricultural land and do not influence the PiSZ land use
capture.
The IK structure from versions 2.0 to 6.0 remained the same. In IK (2004), the use of PiSZ is defined
as land with buildings, roads leading to urban areas and houses, parking lots, mines, quarries and other
infrastructures intended for human activities. This category includes undeveloped land that is insepara-
bly connected with human activities, such as:
• industrial and domestic waste sites,
• abandoned land inside built-up areas,
• city parks and gardens,
• recreational areas,
• gardens and extensive orchards next to buildings if they are smaller than the minimum area prescribed,
and appertaining land of buildings,
• weirs, embankments and bridges if larger than 25 m2,
• hay barns fall within this category if they have a roof or are situated in land zoned for building,
• permanent buildings in agricultural land if they are larger than 25 m2 (apiaries, barns, sheds, etc.),
• zones along motorways, sown with grasses, trees and shrubs, and enclosed by fencing, are part of the motorway,
• grass-covered areas at airfields and airports are included only if enclosed by fencing,
• rural roads and forest roads are included in agricultural and forest land, respectively,
• land within urban areas exceeding 5000 m2 is excluded.
Changes regarding PiSZ land use capture were made to the following versions of interpretation keys:
IK 4.0, 2006: changed the criteria for connecting too small pieces of land to neighbouring land,
IK 4.1, 2008: all GERKs (Graphical Agricultural Unit of a Farm Holding) smaller than 5000 m2 and mead-
ow orchards in appertaining land of structures exceeding 5000 m2 are excluded from PiSZ
use; smaller pieces of land are excluded only if they are classified as a GERK,
IK 5.0, 2009: all roads, cart tracks, and ditches wider than 2 m are excluded from primary land use and
classified as PiSZ,
IK 5.2, 2011: walled slurry pits larger than 25 m2 are included under PiSZ land use,
IK 6.0, 2013: grass runway surfaces in small airfields are included under PiSZ,
The smallest surface area of PiSZ land use capture increased from 10 m2 in 2002 to 25 m2 in 2005, and
then stabilised (Table 1). The number of polygons of PiSZ land use capture significantly increased, i.e. from
71,279 in 2002 to 171,165 in 2013, possibly indicating the increased level of data capture accuracy.
To understand the Register it is necessary to know the general instructions for data capture, where the
emphasis is on the generalisation of linear structures narrower than 2 m, and the exclusion of details small-
er than 2 m, the criteria of merging and connecting polygons that do not meet the minimum illustration
criteria, and simplifications and positioning of lines. Since IK 2.0 (2004) onwards, the general instructions
for data capture did not significantly change, and we feel that they did not affect the quality of data.
2.2 Methods
The analysis was carried out at the level of Slovenia, as well as at the level of small testing areas. At the
level of Slovenia, the data for 2009, 2011 and 2013 are divided into four areas (Figure 1), and the polygons
are designated as OB_ID_1, 2, 3, 4. The data of 2002 and 2005 are adapted to these territorial areas.
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Table 1: Basic characteristics of PiSZ land use category at various points in time (Interpretacijski ključi … MKGP, author's calculations).
Basic data 2002 2005 2009 2011 2013
Year of digital ortophoto
image production as the 1997–2002 2000–2003 2006 2010, 2011 2011, 2012, 2013
source of data capture
Minimum PiSZ land use
capture area 10 m
2 25 m2 25 m2 25 m2 25 m2
No. of independent PiSZ 71,279 (654,270) 79,340 (715,243) 140,226 (965,793) 170,250 (1,481,001) 171,165 (1,639,321)
and use polygons out (10.8%) (11.1%) (14.5%) (11.5%) (10.4%)
of all polygons
Interpretation Key
(version) 1.0 2.0, 3.0 4.0, 4.1 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 6.0, 6.1
Distinctive features All land smaller than Cart tracks and rural The built-up and
in interpretation keys 5000 m2 and the land roads wider than 2 m related land use
for PiSZ land use classified as GERK and walled slurry pits includes grass-covered
is excluded. larger than 25 m2 runways at small
are captured. airfields.
A detailed data analysis was conducted for NE Slovenia (area 4 designated as NES, Figure 1), where
the A5 Maribor–Pince motorway section was built or upgraded.
Because the data for area 4 NES do not reflect the expected increase in PiSZ land use, a further analy-
sis in selected testing areas was conducted:
• an analysis of three continuous and three dispersed rural settlements,
• an analysis of infrastructure installations (motorway, rural roads and cart tracks, railway, small airfields
and energy facilities).
The analysis was performed in 0.5 × 0.5 km quadrants, where the DOFs of 2002 and 2013 show no con-
siderable changes that could be reflected in PiSZ land use data. The selection of areas without any actual changes
in space is essential, because then the data acquired would reflect both the methodological changes in data
capture as well as the capturer's interpretive abilities. The data analysis and processing were performed by
using the functions of merging, overlaying and clipping of vector data layers in ArcMap 10.2 and Excel 2007.
area 3: NWS
area 1: SWS
area 2:
SES
area 4: NES
Figure 1: Data processing areas for the territory of Slovenia.
3 Results
3.1 Analysis of land use »built-up and related land« for the territory of Slovenia
The graphic calculation of PiSZ land use for each study area (Figure 1), and for the entire Slovenia is given
in Table 2 and Figure 2. The proportion of PiSZ land use related to the surface of all land uses in the Register is
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Table 2: The graphic calculation of PiSZ land use per individual areas in Slovenia (Figure 1) and for the entire Slovenia in 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2013
(MKGP 2013; authors' calculation).
Year of the data from 2002 2005 2009 2011 2013the Register analysed
Quantified graphic
surface of all land uses 2,036,575 2,032,733 2,032,617 2,032,712 2,032,710
in the Register (ha)
Built-up and related Built-up and related Built-up and related Built-up and related Built-up and related
land (PiSZ) land (PiSZ) land (PiSZ) land (PiSZ) land (PiSZ)
(ha) (%) (ha) (%) (ha) (%) (ha) (%) (ha) (%)
area 1: SWS 35,026 1.72 37,160 1.83 36,509 1.80 37,179 1.83 37,016 1.82
Study area 2: SES 15,338 0.75 16,230 0.80 15,688 0.77 15,567 0.77 15,640 0.77
area area 3: NWS 15,382 0.76 16,067 0.79 14,889 0.73 15,913 0.78 16,096 0.79
area 4: NES 42,727 2.10 44,999 2.21 40,310 1.98 40,173 1.98 40,443 1.99
Slovenia 108,473 5.33 114,456 5.63 107,397 5.28 108,832 5.35 109,195 5.37
0
20.000
40.000
60.000
80.000
100.000
120.000
140.000
SWS SES NWS NES Slovenia
Testing area
h
a
2002 2005 2009 2011 2013
Figure 2: Illustration of PiSZ surface changing per individual study areas (Figure 1) in various periods (MKGP 2013; author's illustration).
74
also calculated. The surface of all land uses in the Register varied between 2,036,575ha in 2002 and 2,032,710ha
in 2013, i.e. by 3.865 ha. The total surface of all land uses in the Register stabilised in 2011 and 2013, as there
was only a 2-ha variation between the last two periods.
First, the PiSZ surface and proportion from the first data capture in 2002 until 2005 rose substantial-
ly from 108,473 ha to 114,456 ha (by 2983 ha) or 0.3%, and then in 2009 they decreased to the lowest level
of 107,397 ha or a 5.28% proportion of all land uses. From 2011 to 2013, the PiSZ land use surface area
grew by 363 ha or 0.02%.
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Figure 3: The progression of the A5 Maribor–Pince motorway construction in the Register by years, shown on the grid of sheets of the Basic Topographic
Map (Arh 2012).
Table 3: Built-up and related land associated to the A5 Maribor–Pince motorway section (Arh 2012).
Year Built-up and related land (PiSZ), associated to the Maribor–Pince A5 motorway section (ha)
2002 0
2005 76
2009 198
2011 465
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Acta geographica Slovenica, 58-1, 2018
Between 2002 and 2005 the data capture methodology's criterion regarding PiSZ increased from 10 m2
to 25 m2. It can be said that the accuracy of acquisition decreased, which probably affected the determi-
nation of the maximum PiSZ land use in the time period in question. Based on the reduced surface in 2009
we can conclude that in the previous observation cycle there was no significant urbanisation growth. The
reduced surface in 2009 could result from the changed data capture methodology concerning agricultur-
al land within urban areas, since until 2008 it only covered continuous agricultural land larger than 5000 m2,
while after 2008 also land smaller than 5000 m2, complying with the criteria for capturing other types of
existing use, and extensive meadow orchards smaller than 1000 m2 if they are inscribed as GERKs.
3.2 Analysis of »built-up and related land« land use acquisition for NE Slovenia
During 2000–2009 the construction of the A5 Maribor–Pince motorway section was underway in area 4 NES
(Figure 1). The Pomurje motorway branch consists of seven sections, and the connecting regional roads
Legend
Motorway in Register
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0,00
2,00
4,00
6,00
8,00
10,00
12,00
2002 2005 2009 2011 2013
Dispersed
settlement
Dispersed
settlement
Dispersed
settlement
Continuous
settlement
Continuous
settlement
Continuous
settlement
h
a
Figure 4: PiSZ use from the Register in testing areas of settlements (MKGP, author's illustration).
to Murska Sobota are included in the total length. The construction of the first motorway section Vučja
vas–Beltinci in a length of 14.6 km started in 2000, and was put into service in 2002/2003, while the rest
of the motorway of 71.2 km was completed between 2006 and 2008 (DARS 2006). As this was the only
major building intervention in the 2000–2009 period, we analysed the PiSZ land use change in area 4NES.
From the data from the Register we specifically excluded the motorway A5 branch (Figure 3) and graph-
ically calculated the associated motorway area (Table 3).
The 2011 data from the Register show that the surface of the A5 Maribor–Pince section is 465 ha.
From 2002 to 2011, the surface of PiSZ land use should increase by at least this amount, but this is not reflect-
ed in the data, as shown in Table 2 and Graph 1. On the contrary, in this period PiSZ decreased in area 4 NES, –
the most among all Slovenian areas in question.
3.3 Analysis of PiSZ land use capture on the sample of settlements
We selected three dispersed and three continuous test settlements, and calculated, for 0.5 × 0.5 km areas,
the graphic surface of PiSZ land use from the Register. The results are presented in Table 4 and Figure 4.
The decrease in PiSZ land use surface between 2011 and 2013 was established in three testing areas,
even though, based on the results for the entire Slovenia, we thought that the data capture methodology
had stabilised. In testing area 6 (Figure 5), the surface reduction was mostly due to the exclusion of exten-
sive orchards in the settlements and at their edges. Extensive orchards in the settlements right next to housing
and agricultural structures are the appertaining land of the structures and thus in spatial sciences con-
sidered as part of the built-up area.
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Table 4: PiSZ use from the Register in testing areas of settlements (MKGP, author's calculation).
Testing area 1 Testing area 2 Testing area 3 Testing area 4 Testing area 5 Testing area 6
dispersed dispersed dispersed continuous continuous continuous
settlement settlement settlement settlements settlements settlements
Area centroid Y: 578989 Y: 584012 Y: 614838 Y: 595499 Y: 613490 Y: 579040
X: 165290 X: 185752 X: 157074 X: 171530 X: 159598 X: 167805
Built-up and related land (PiSZ) in the Register in testing areas 0.5 × 0.5 km
(ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha)
2002 4.986 2.417 4.221 6.647 2.576 10.677
2005 3.718 2.417 3.600 6.531 2.418 10.561
2009 3.815 1.357 3.174 6.807 2.144 10.753
2011 3.469 1.543 3.565 6.957 1.275 8.302
2013 3.021 1.568 3.565 6.514 1.275 7.792
3.4 Analysis of PiSZ land use acquisition for infrastructure
We randomly selected six testing areas of a size of 0.5 × 0.5 km with various infrastructure facilities and
installations.
Even though there are no methodological changes in the interpretation keys concerning motorways,
there are significant discrepancies in the surface area of PiSZ land use (testing areas 7 and 8 in Table 5, Figure 6).
In the testing area of a small airfield (testing area 10) the impact of the changed data capture methodology
0 0.2 km
Content by: Mojca Foški
Map by: Mojca Foški
Source: Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo
© 2015, UL FGG
Testing area 0.5 km × 0.5 km
Legend
PiSZ_2013
PiSZ_2011
PiSZ_2009
PiSZ_2005
PiSZ_2002
Figure 5: PiSZ use from the Register in the case of testing area 6 (MKGP, author's illustration).
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Table 5: PiSZ use from the Register in the area of infrastructures (MKGP, author's calculation) *In 2002 and 2005 there was no motorway yet, so the
PiSZ land use was not captured.
Testing area 7 Testing area 8 Testing area 9 Testing area 10 Testing area 11 Testing area 12
motorway. motorway _2 cart tracks/ small airfield railway power plant
rural roads
Area centroid Y: 588188 Y: 575096 Y: 596278 Y: 590505 Y: 589637 Y: 560870
X: 166209 X: 160374 X: 164261 X: 165752 X: 170578 X: 145147
Built-up and related land (PiSZ) in the Register in testing areas 0.5 × 0.5 km
(ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha)
2002 0* 0.510 0 1.326 1.862 7.658
2005 0* 0.246 0 1.073 0.925 7.636
2009 4.039 2.124 0.282 1.499 1.336 6.530
2011 2.652 5.231 0.453 1.377 1.037 6.577
2013 2.917 2.998 0.363 6.749 1.064 7.931
0,00
1,00
2,00
3,00
4,00
5,00
6,00
7,00
8,00
9,00
Motorway
2002 2005 2009 2011 2013
h
a
Motorway Cart tracks Small airfield Railway Power plant
Figure 6: »Built-up and related land« from the Register in the area of infrastructures ((MKGP, author's illustration).
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is evident (IK 6.0 2013), because the runway previously classified under the category of permanent mead-
ows is now also classified as PiSZ. The surface changes in testing area 12 (power plant) cannot be attributed
to the changed data capture methodology; we think that the discrepancy is the result of the capturer's inter-
pretive abilities. The smallest discrepancies are associated with the railway area.
4 Discussion
Urban land use, which covers all built-up areas, areas with infrastructure facilities, and other areas that
permanently changed from a natural to a built environment, is in general increasing in all countries and
environments. We are certain that this is also the case in Slovenia, since SURS data (2013) show that, from 2007
to 2013, 29,972 building permits were issued for new spatial interventions. In Slovenia there are no in-depth
analyses of the situation and trends concerning the urban area changes; Topole etal. (2006) and Bole etal. (2007)
analysed several rural settlements, Ravbar (2007) noticed the trend of increasing settlement surfaces in
suburban settlements and on urban outskirts, while Bole (2015) noticed the trend of increasing traffic sur-
faces.
The data from the Register for the level of Slovenia in the first three data capture campaigns (2002,
2005, 2009) vary considerably and indicate even a decrease in PiSZ surfaces, which is a rare occurrence,
i.e. that urban land would be restored to its original use. Golobič (2013) reports only one such case, i.e. the
Gorenjska motorway section between Črnivec and the Peračica viaduct, which the municipality converted
back to agricultural land after the completion of the motorway.
After 2009 there are no major variations in PiSZ use, so the change in PiSZ land use could be the reflec-
tion of increased urbanisation. However, the results for testing area 4 of NE Slovenia (NES) (Figure 1) rejected
this claim, as between 2005 and 2011 there was no considerable increase in surface area by 465 ha, i.e. the
surface area of the newly built motorway A5 Maribor–Pince branch.
Urbanisation cannot be accountable for the rise by 0.02% or 360 ha of PiSZ land use from 2011 to 2013,
because in the most recent period the analysis of 12 testing areas also revealed huge discrepancies in the
data capture methodology. The increase in PiSZ areas is the result of methodological changes of settle-
ment data capture (exclusion of agricultural land from settlements), capture of rural roads and cart tracks
wider than 2 m, and some other types of land (the case of small airports). There is a general tendency that
the PiSZ land use is captured increasingly closer to the structures, as also reported by Arh (2012). There
is a particularly large discrepancy concerning dispersed settlements where the PiSZ land use is limited by
many polygons. Land use by appertaining land of structures was not captured.
We can confirm the hypothesis that the existing Register is not suitable for determining urban land
use areas and their changes, and also not for formulation of the indicator of urban land use changes in the
territorial monitoring system (Poročilo … 2015). The deficiency of the Register for determining the areas
zoned for development is also pointed out by Lampič and Repe (2012).
At the same time, we draw attention to the fact that its use for determining the discrepancy between
the actual situation in space and the planned land use in the illustration of spatial situation in the Municipal
Spatial Plan Preparation Procedure is unsuitable, even though the use of the Register is prescribed both
by the Spatial Planning Act (2007) and the Rules on Land Use and Legal Regimes Data (2008). The dis-
crepancies in the illustration of spatial condition may be due to the Register's shortcomings, and do not
necessarily reflect the spatial potential; indeed, this can lead to professional errors.
Next to the spatial non-homogeneity of the source DOFs in various periods, as pointed out by Krevs
(2004), we find that the data capture methodology is inhomogeneous as well, and that there are missing
urban land use subcategories, which causes problems in data interpretation. Miličić and Udovč (2012),
Mivšek et al. (2012), Lisec, Pišek and Drobne (2013), and Nastran and Žižek Kulovec (2014) also point-
ed out the deficiencies of the Register.
We propose that a single record be established, i.e. as those used in Austria (Land Information System
Austria 2014), Germany (Hovenbitzer et al. 2014), Spain (Valcarcel et al. 2008) and the Netherlands
(Hazeu 2014), which keep, maintain and interconnect data on land cover and land use in a single system.
The integrated systems for establishing spatial and environmental monitoring, thus supporting spatial, eco-
nomic and social planning and decision-making, are affected positively by the results of the project HELM
(internet 2; HELM 2014), which dealt with the methodology of establishing a land use and land cover sys-
tem, and the ongoing project EAGLE (EAGLE-Eionet … 2014).
Acta geographica Slovenica, 58-1, 2018
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5 Conclusion
Currently, the data from the Register are the only systemic and updated data source of the existing land
use. By analysing records from the period between 2002 and 2013 we found that the methodological changes
of urban use capture were so significant that the data do not reflect the actual urban land change. This
is why the Register is unsuitable for spatial monitoring – the necessary component of spatial planning
and its related activities. This means that it is necessary to establish a single system that would provide
the data both on land cover and land use, and allow for monitoring of spatial and socio-economic spatial
processes.
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