Changes in land use and their consequences at the Tisza Lake

Vasvári, Mária – Dávid, Lóránt – Szabó, Szilárd

Keywords: Tisza Lake, area change, land use, settlement image, tourism

The Tisza Lake brought significant changes to the life of the region. It affected the spatial layout of the settlements. This change is clearly apparent in the figures presented in the paper. In the case of Sarud, Abádszalók and Tiszafüred it is obvious that the distortions in the spatial structure of the settlements were induced by the tourism opportunities offered by the beaches on the Tisza Lake.
The lake also played a role in changes affecting the build-up density of the settlements, the addition of new parts to the communities and the changes to their appearance. The beaches were also an important factor in the changes: they induced the development of linear infrastructural elements leading towards them, caused the lots along the roads to increase in value, and also induced changes along the waterfront (e.g. in Abádszalók).
The creation of the reservoir also affected land use. The region is dominated by ploughlands and is also characterised by shrubland and pastures. Inundation therefore caused a change in land use. In the subsequent years the structure of the landscape around the Tisza Lake underwent a gradual transformation.
The effect of the Tisza Lake as a natural element on the landscape is clearly apparent. The slow but inevitable changes in nature cannot be ignored by men. Changes promoting tourism will only be sufficiently successful if we only intervene in the natural processes to the minimum extent possible, as beneficial changes will only come from a harmonious cooperation between nature and humankind.

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