Method of Delimiting the Spatial Structure of Villages for the Purposes of Land Consolidation and Exchange

Land fragmentation and the distribution of plots in rural areas has a negative effect on the profitability and efficiency of agricultural production. Land consolidation and exchange is an operation that facilitates improvements in the spatial structure, while at the same time contributing to the sustainable development of rural areas. With regard to the large number of problem areas, they cannot be subject to land consolidation and exchange at the same time for reasons related to finance and human resources. Therefore, the authors propose that land for consolidation should be consolidated into larger typological units. Identifying those areas that are most similar facilitates the analysis and makes it possible to capture the spatial differentiation of land. The proposed method was tested on 116 villages in the county of Łęczna, situated in Lublin Voivodeship in Eastern Poland. The aim of this research is to develop the concept of village grouping into larger typological units. The obtained results allowed for the creation of a grouping methodology based on selected diagnostic variables that can be applied to other research objects. The description of differences between the identified groups of villages makes it possible to determine the hierarchy of urgency of for land consolidation and exchange. Although delimitation itself does not determine the sequence in which consolidation should be performed, it does allow for the identification of similar areas where such works should be performed at the same time. Based on properly selected guidelines, it is also possible to develop an adequate hierarchy of works. In addition, identifying areas which share similar spatial characteristics and consolidating them has a positive influence, primarily on the cultural heritage, because some variables reflect both quantitative and qualitative aspects of human development on the use of land and on the built-up environment