Land consolidation as the driving force behind ecological and economic development of rural areas

The aim of spatial economy is to protect specific attributes of space and to ensure rational spatial planning by stimulating economic processes. Protective activities are initiated to maintain a balance between natural and anthropogenic elements of the environment. Comprehensive land consolidation, also known as full land consolidation, is a measure that most effectively promotes the development of non-urbanized areas. It involves the exchange of land plots as well as other activities that contribute to rural development, including land zoning for public utility projects, construction and surfacing of rural roads, construction of drainage systems and erosion control systems and environmental protection. Consolidation significantly influences space and often leads to dramatic changes in spatial patterns. The process has both positive and negative implications for the natural environment. In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on nonproductive, including ecological, functions of rural areas. For this reason, land consolidation measures have to account for the environmental value of transformed areas. The study analyzes environmental protection measures that are initiated in the process of land consolidation. The type of protective activities and the environmental impacts of land consolidation projects are discussed. Qualitative methods, in particular analytical, logical topology and identification methods, were used in the above research tasks. The deployed methods support a comprehensive approach to the analyzed problem and the formulation of optimal solutions. Other research methods involved comparative analysis as well as analyses of literature, documents and legal regulations relating to the discussed issues