Introduction

Abstract

The collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s was a major natural experiment offering great insights for land use science. The changes that occurred in economies, societies and policies were swift and of high magnitude. However, changes differed among countries, allowing for cross-country comparisons. And last but not least, satellite data, especially from Landsat satellites is available from the late socialist years to today, providing an excellent data source to monitor land use before, during, and after the collapse. The major land use changes that occurred after the collapse were a) widespread agricultural abandonment, b) a general decline in forest harvesting with regional spikes due to illegal logging and forest restitution, and c) urbanization. The chapters of this book highlight the pattern, causes, and consequences of these land use changes throughout the quarter century since the collapse of socialism.