The recent increase in urban areas has stimulated landscape urbanization. One of the ways to study this process is an analysis based on the structure of land cover. The aim of this paper is to assess the intensity of the urban landscape on the basis of the CORINE in the seven largest metropolitan areas in Poland and in the Ruhr Metropolis in Germany. To this end, an urban landscape intensity indicator (ULII) was used based on Corine Land Cover at three levels of detail: the metropolitan area, municipalities and hexagons. There are similarities in landscape structure in areas with similar origin (industrial function) and spatial organization (mono- and polycentric agglomerations). The landscape of the Upper Silesia-Zagłębie Metropolis differs from the landscape of other metropolitan areas in Poland and simultaneously shows similarities to the landscape of the Ruhr Metropolis. The results of the ULII also revealed a dependency: the dominance of rural and transitional landscapes in a majority of the study areas. Urban landscapes occur only in the central zones of the metropolitan areas. This proves that determining the range of a metropolitan area in terms of landscape factors is different from doing it with formal or legal ones.

Dynamic changes in the landscape have been observed in recent years. They are particularly visible in areas with a high degree of anthropopressure. An example of such areas is metropolitan regions and their immediate rural surroundings. The purpose of this article is to identify changes in land cover in the rural municipalities within metropolises and detect the processes of landscape transformation in rural areas, which are extremely sensitive to anthropopressure. The dynamics of land cover changes in the years 2000–2018 were determined using a change index (ChI), and their directions were determined using the indicator of changes in types of land cover. Corine Land Cover for level 2 groups (1.1–4.2) was used as research material, and the Upper Silesia-Zagłębie Metropolis was selected as the model area. The greatest changes in the landscape were observed in built-up areas, industrial areas, meadows and mining areas. This is due to the disappearance of the mining industry that was traditional for this region and the ongoing suburbanization process, as well as the re-industrialization of modern industry and the abandonment of arable land in rural areas.

Work on landscape diversification resulting from the European Landscape Convention obliges European countries to identify and assess the state of their landscapes. The aim of this article is to test a new method of landscape profiling, enabling measurement of the extent of anthropogenic transformation of a landscape and indication of zones of landscape disturbance. The method is based on an interdisciplinary analysis of various aspects of the landscape, consisting of an assessment of the degree of overlap between natural and non-natural boundaries. Three types of relationships were identified: landscape convergence (LC), landscape divergence (LD), and zone of landscape disturbance (ZLD). This analysis makes it easier for urban planners to change their existing land development plans. The method can be used universally to detect inappropriate land development, which is important in diagnosing the condition of landscapes and can be used in the spatial planning of cities and suburban zones.

In recent years, the dynamic of spatial change has been increasing, influenced by processes linked to the transformation of traditional industrial regions into metropolitan areas. This is related to changes in function and administrative status, but above all to spatial changes. Examples of cities experiencing dynamic landscape changes from coal mining cities to modern metropolises can be found in the former coal basins of Central Europe – the Upper Silesian Metropolis in Poland and the Ostrava-Karviná Region in the Czechia. This study analysed the transformation of the landscape on the basis of land cover data from the years 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018. The index of landscape change and the index of change of individual cover types were calculated, and on the basis of these indices the main processes responsible for the transformation of the landscape were determined. In the two study areas, similar changes in the landscape are taking place but at different rates. The main processes changing the landscape are suburbanization, reindustrialization and agricultural land abandonment. In space, they are manifested in an increase in the areas of residential, commercial and service development, the densification of the road network, and an increase in land allocated for new industrial plants. At the same time, the acreage of agricultural land (mainly arable fields, orchards and plantations but also open landscapes) is decreasing.