**1. Introduction**

The need for knowledge and information on the state of our planet's surface and its occupation has boosted several initiatives to study land uses and cover and their patterns and dynamics [1, 2]. Several sets of global or continental land cover data, most of them from the Earth's observation by satellite, were promoted and created, and there is a variety of different mapping standards [2].

Facing today's society and its demands, territorial planning must inevitably consider its future, and it should be constructed in an organized way to satisfy the public needs and not be dictated by a casuistic and uncontrolled evolution from the point of political and/or individual interests. Thus, sustainable development and growth are undoubtedly the main

Dynamics of the Land Use Changes and the Associated Barriers and Opportunities…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80827

17

With the Brundtland report [11], the sustainability has become a worldwide concern, since we are stakeholders in the process. Issues like the meaning or how to measure sustainability, which strategies should be implemented, have been studied [12, 13]. Although there is a high interrelation between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions, in practice they are considered separately, which can lead to non-sustainable trends [12]. Limited land and water resources make the insular territories a case, where the harmonization of the different dimensions of sustainability is a challenging process since it can lead, for example, to the

The overall objective of this study is to analyze and assess the land use changes in peripheral or "ultra-peripheral" and insular territories—i.e., islands, through a practical approach to a case study—the Madeira Island, Portugal. Moreover, through the understanding of the land use changes and consequently the territorial dynamics and tendencies, barriers and opportu-

The present study is based essentially on CORINE Land Cover (CLC). The CLC is a vector map with a scale of 1:100000, a minimum cartographic unit (MCU) of 25 ha, and a geometric accuracy better than 100 m. It maps homogeneous landscape patterns, i.e., more than 75% of the pattern has the characteristics of a given class from the nomenclature. This nomenclature is a three-level hierarchical classification system and has 44 classes at the third and most detailed level (**Table 1**). To deal with areas smaller than 25 ha, a set of generalization rules

In this regard, the years of 1990, 2000, 2006, and 2012 were analyzed through direct and indirect tools and methods. Thus, exploratory tools were used as is the case of GIS tools, CLC, or the site analysis conducted by the authors. Moreover, a literature review has been performed in order to properly describe, discuss, and understand the obtained results—the land use

Nevertheless, later in the present chapter, these methods will be exposed and further

The Madeira Archipelago is located in the North Atlantic Ocean. Covering an area of 802 km<sup>2</sup>

the Madeira Archipelago is composed of the following islands: Madeira (742 km<sup>2</sup>

,

) (**Figure 1**),

nities for a sustainable growth and development will be explored and addressed.

concerns and objectives of the regional territories [7–10].

degradation of the natural habitats [12, 14].

**2. Material and methods**

change dynamics in Madeira Island.

**2.1. Case study: the Madeira Island**

were defined [15].

developed.

The quantity of available products reflects the wide scope of interests. It is important to highlight the Global Land Cover (GLC2000) created for the year 2000 at a global level in Europe, the Pan-European Land Cover Monitoring (PELCOM) based in 1996 images, and the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) maps at regional and national levels [1].

In Europe, many efforts to quantify a standardized way of the land cover have been done. In this regard, the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) has been created and processed by the EEA based on the guidelines for "land and ecosystems" of the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA), and it is used by many of the organizations [3].

Since 2006, in several countries, such as Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, and others, the map is obtained from generalization techniques from national maps with greater detail than the traditional photo satellite interpretation [4]. These different methods conduct to heterogeneity in the land cover maps, which have been a discussion topic [4]; nevertheless, the different ways of producing CORINE maps have been used to analyze soil applications [1].

The land use and land cover maps can play an important role in the balance of the socioeconomic, political, cultural, and environmental factors of a certain territory [5]. In fact, they allow analyzing significant changes in the landscape, study cycles, and trends. Several studies have been conducted in the European territories concerning land uses and their patterns and dynamics; however, in relation to the case of peripheral and insular territories/regions as is the case of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (RAM) (Portuguese Island), such typology of studies has not been carried out—increasing the relevance of the work toward a better understanding of the territorial dynamics, barriers, and opportunities for a sustainable growth and development.

Contextually, insular territories are affected by their geographic position, which gives them a high degree of isolation and their small dimensions (spatial constraints), and so they represent a specific challenge and fragility in the face of changes [6]. This typology of territory is affected directly and indirectly by the proximity to the sea and is considered a coastal territory.

In this sense, the territorial planning is a fundamental instrument to attribute conditions of prosperity to its inhabitants and consequently to future generations, promoting the mitigation of social inequalities and spatial imbalances, as well as a catalyst tool for sustainable development. In this context, the sustainable development allows not only to respond to the problems discussed above but also to create opportunities and more competitive territories. Facing today's society and its demands, territorial planning must inevitably consider its future, and it should be constructed in an organized way to satisfy the public needs and not be dictated by a casuistic and uncontrolled evolution from the point of political and/or individual interests. Thus, sustainable development and growth are undoubtedly the main concerns and objectives of the regional territories [7–10].

With the Brundtland report [11], the sustainability has become a worldwide concern, since we are stakeholders in the process. Issues like the meaning or how to measure sustainability, which strategies should be implemented, have been studied [12, 13]. Although there is a high interrelation between the economic, social, and environmental dimensions, in practice they are considered separately, which can lead to non-sustainable trends [12]. Limited land and water resources make the insular territories a case, where the harmonization of the different dimensions of sustainability is a challenging process since it can lead, for example, to the degradation of the natural habitats [12, 14].

The overall objective of this study is to analyze and assess the land use changes in peripheral or "ultra-peripheral" and insular territories—i.e., islands, through a practical approach to a case study—the Madeira Island, Portugal. Moreover, through the understanding of the land use changes and consequently the territorial dynamics and tendencies, barriers and opportunities for a sustainable growth and development will be explored and addressed.
