Public perceptions of rural landscapes in land consolidation procedures in Poland

A high level of fragmentation of farms exists in many parts of Poland, which leads to inefficiency in farm management and a range of logistical problems. Land consolidation is a process that reverses fragmentation by enabling an exchange of plots of equivalent value between participants. The primary aim of land consolidation is to improve spatial and economic conditions for farming by decreasing the number of separate plots that belong to a given farm, adjusting the shape of plots to enable mechanized cultivation of soil, and decreasing the distance between dwellings and cultivated plots. Contemporary consolidation works, performed in compliance with the principles of sustainable development, enable creation of legal and spatial conditions that allow the multifunctional development of rural areas and may be used as an instrument to shape rural landscapes. However, the implicit value of landscape is often not taken into consideration during the plot valuation that is undertaken as part of consolidation procedures. The aim of this research is to determine the perceptions and attitudes toward rural landscape elements held by three groups of landscape users: (i) visitors, (ii) farmers who live in areas that are not subject to landscape consolidation processes and (iii) farmers who are engaged in consolidation processes. The focus group method and the L-sort (Landscape sort) method were used to assess attitudes and perceptions, with particular focus on whether there are the differences between the groups and how the perception of landscape value is influenced by: (i) the land consolidation process itself; (ii) the development of farm tourism; and (iii) European Union policies. The results revealed a traditional pattern of landscape appraisal that is strengthened by a utilitarian approach to the value of land in the consolidation procedure. This pattern has the potential to change due to a developing awareness that optimally shaped landscapes may contribute to attracting visitors and/or allow the landowner to obtain financial support under European Union programs. The paper concludes that the esthetic and cultural value of landscape elements should be taken into consideration when evaluating land during the consolidation procedure. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.