Procedura buforowania w analizie ilościowej morfologii jednostek osadniczych

The main objective of this study was to propose a set of indicators based on the buffering procedure and publicly available spatial data that could be used to determine the degree of compactness of development. The Database of Topographic Objects (BDOT 10k) provided by geoportal.gov.pl was used to perform the analyses, and the Buffer (Geoprocessing) tool available in ArcGIS was used to conduct the analyses. Three measures were used in morphology analyses using buffers: net population density, circularity index (compactness index) and proposed by authors the development compactness index, calculated as the ratio of the area of the consolidated buffer (the area of built-up areas) to the area of buffers around individual buildings (the non-consolidated buffer). The research was carried out on the example of three rural municipalities of the Lower Silesian province (Czernica, Udanin and Lewin Kłodzki) and towns of Kłodzko County. The study showed that the net population density calculated in relation to the built-up area and the development compactness index could be used in studies of the morphology of settlements, directly or indirectly indicating their compactness. In turn, the circularity index is negatively correlated with the other indices and population of settlements.