EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAND-PEOPLE RELATIONSHIPS IN A REGIONAL CONTEXT

Abstract

A methodological approach has been developed for the comprehensive analysis of spatial relationshipsbetween the concentration of various land categories and population concentration within territorial taxonomic units. The relevance of an integrated study of the land fund and demographic potential asinterrelated components of the "land–people" system is substantiated, as this system determines theefficiency of territorial economic organisation, the degree of spatial development, and the level of ecologicalbalance. The study is based on official statistical data on total and rural population size, the numberand structure of settlements, State Land Cadastre materials on the distribution of land by category, andcartographic materials unified within a single territorial hierarchy. A system of territorial concentrationcoefficients for land (TCC-L) and population (TCC-P) is proposed, grounded in a comparison ofthe area share and the corresponding land category or population within a higher-order taxonomicstructure. To enhance analytical precision, additional indicators have been introduced: the arable landconcentration coefficient, the forest ecological use coefficient, the residential development index, andthe water anthropogenisation coefficient, which allow the qualitative characteristics of individual landcategories to be taken into account. Ranking and matrix methods of spatial analysis are applied for thecomparative assessment of territorial units. The key outcome is an integral indicator of land-to-populationconcentration correspondence (L/PCC), which accounts for the modular values of concentrations, theirqualitative nature (excess or deficit), and the degree of system balance. An interval-based evaluation scaleis substantiated, distinguishing optimal, productive, notable, ineffective, and negative correspondence.The proposed methodology may be applied to territorial planning, land-use efficiency assessment, andthe identification of spatial imbalances in the "land–people" system.