Fractal analysis of land development elements for spatial planning purposes

Spatial planning is a set of complex processes that aim to determine the correct location of objects in the established area subject to planning procedures. Planning documents, executed at all levels of detail, must consider the current state of land development, both in the area subject to land-use planning procedures and adjacent areas. Hence, the creation of such documents must be preceded by multiple analyses. These considerations should lead to the determination of conditions to be met by future land development elements in such a way as to take into account and use the existing ones. Because land use elements such as river network, road networks, buildings or forest areas are considered examples of random fractals, it was considered that the detection of fractal structures in area subject to land-use planning procedures could facilitate decision-making processes during creation of planning documents on a regional scale. This paper checks if it is possible to mathematically describe the clear chaos that prevails in the existing area subject to land-use planning procedures and if the use of fractal analysis in spatial planning is possible. The research was based on data from the Database of General Geographical Objects and the Bank of Local Data. Analyses were conducted within the borders of provinces.