Uncoordinated new retail development and its impact on land use and soils: A pilot study on the urban fringe of Prague, Czech Republic

The past 10 years have seen a considerable increase in the number of large-scale retail outlets in the post-communist countries. Since these outlets are located mainly in greenfield areas in the urban fringes, their uncoordinated construction has led to several important problems. Among the most serious of these are land use changes and the loss of quality agricultural land in the hinterland of big cities. The aim of this paper is to investigate these impacts of the new retail development on the periphery of Prague. A pilot study has been conducted in this area, based on the identification of the large-scale retail objects in the suburban landscape from the orthophotomaps. The relevant plots in the affected caclastral units have been analyzed by GIS with regards mainly to the land use changes under the new retail development and the quality of appropriated soils. The results reveal that in Prague's periphery the large-scale outlets considered in this pilot study cover 128.3 ha of agricultural land. Despite Czech legislation imposing an obligation to protect the highest quality soils in particular cadastres, the soils appropriated are mostly in the higher quality ranks. particularly Chernozems and Luvisols which amount to a total area of 79 ha. It is obvious that large-scale retail construction has to be regulated and the protection of fertile suburban agricultural land should be at the top of the agenda of urban and regional planners in the Czech Republic. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.