Assessing Geographical Characteristic of Agricultural Land Conversion: A Spatial Analytical Approach

Abstract

Agricultural land conversion is a global and inevitable phenomenon. On the other hand, agricultural land is a fundamental asset and resource for those who depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihood. Preservation of agricultural land or controlling agricultural land conversion is a must. Therefore, information regarding the conversion of agricultural land and its related aspects is essential to support focused preservation. The main objective of this study is to explore the characteristic of agricultural land conversion. The study was conducted in the vicinity of Yogyakarta City that is the area inside the ring road of Yogyakarta. A spatial analytical approach was applied to obtain information regarding converted agricultural land's spatial distribution between 2000 and 2020 and its locational attributes. The study revealed that converted agricultural land is mainly located near the ring road of Yogyakarta, near main roads, and close to existing built-up or developed areas. In addition, the intensity of agricultural land has a strong relationship with distance to the ring road (R=0.97), main roads (R=0.98), and existing built-up areas (R=0.91). Those three geographical characteristics could be valuable variables for further research, particularly for predicting the location of agricultural conversion in the study area in the future.