The relations between settlement and selected environmental features with regard to landslide hazard in the Polish Carpathians

Identification of relations between environmental conditions, including landslide occurrence, and location of settlements, is important for development policy in mountain areas. The research gap concerns the interaction between environmental factors and human settlements in relation to landslide hazard. The aim of this study is to assess the relation between housing locations and selected characteristics of the natural environment in the context of landslide risk. The paper presents the results of a detailed study, carried out in the Polish Carpathians of the relations between landslides occurrence and the distribution of address points (settlements), taking into account their environmental determinants. High-resolution vector data on landslides occurrence (about 70,000 polygons), land cover, relief and address points (about 537,000 address points) were used in the study. It was found that 3.1 % of addresses are located on landslides, and further 13.6 % within 100 m from them. Detailed studies were carried out in 24 communes, selected according to the following criteria: the share of address points in a given commune in the electronic database > 99 % (of all address points in this commune) and share of address points on landslides > 1 %. In these communes we identified 594 inhabited landslides. According to the statistical analysis, it was noted that in selected communes one of the most important factors preventing settlement on the landslides is sufficiently high share of forest area. Therefore, the proportion of forest, landslides and slopes are decisive environmental factors in determining the location of settlements on landslides. The altitude of the communes and the population density are also important. The population in these communes located at high altitudes and with high population densities is forced to settle on landslides due to the lack of suitable land for development. Knowledge of this is an important prerequisite for future land-use planning activities and settlement restructuring.