Dr. Krisztina Filepné Kovács - MATE Research
Overview
Research of Krisztina Filepné Kovács focuses on land-use changes in distinctive regions, such as peri-urban areas with particular attention to the natural and near-natural areas of dynamically transforming urban and peri-urban regions, as well as their protection and related conflicts. Major research direction is the comparative analysis of European spatial planning systems, especially analyzes the role of policy and planning instruments in mitigating urban sprawl, protecting landscape character. She carried out research focusing on the effects of regulatory frameworks of Balaton Law (2000) on the land use changes in the Balaton priority recreational area.
Research keywords:
Publications
Land Cover, Landscape Change
The Balaton region, Hungary’s most important recreational landscape, has faced growing pressure from vineyard abandonment and shoreline urbanization since 1990, threatening both its traditional character and ecological balance. This study examines land-use change between 1990 and 2018 and assesses the effectiveness of the 2000 Balaton Law, finding that vineyard areas declined substantially despite restrictive regulations, especially in high-pressure locations near the lake and tourist centers. The results show that existing controls were not precise or strong enough to prevent conversion of traditional cultivated land, highlighting the need for more targeted, enforceable regulation and better alignment of protected vineyard zones with active land use.
Kovács, K. F., Kutnyánszky, V., Shi, Z., Szilvácsku, Z. M., Kollányi, L., & Dancsokné Fóris, E. K. (2026). Traditional Cultivation and Land-Use Change Under the Balaton Law: Impacts on Vineyards and Garden Landscapes. Land, 15(1), 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15010106
Kovács, K. F., Iváncsics, V., Boromisza, Z., & Valánszki, I. (2022). Spatial trends of grassland changes based on Hungarian local studies after 1990 with a macro-regional perspective. European Countryside, 14(2), 397-419. http://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2022-0020
Sallay,Á. and Jombach,S. and Kovács,K. F., 20123198629, English, Journal article, Hungary, 1785-0037 1589-1623, 10, (2), Budapest, Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, (157–172), Landscape Architecture and Decision Support System, Landscape changes and function lost landscape values., (2012) Abstract
Cegielska, K., Noszczyk, T., Kukulska, A., Szylar, M., Hernik, J., Dixon-Gough, R., ... & Kovács, K. F. (2018). Land use and land cover changes in post-socialist countries: Some observations from Hungary and Poland. Land use policy, 78, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.06.017
Peri-urban Areas
The research analyzes the role of policy and planning instruments in mitigating urban sprawl in the metropolitan regions of the V4 countries, with particular attention to the stability and transformation of green spaces. Building on spatial analyses and a comparative methodology, the research shows the extent to which spatial planning tools can contribute to more sustainable urban development.
Filepné Kovács, K., Varga, D., Kukulska-Kozieł, A. et al. Policy instruments as a trigger for urban sprawl deceleration: monitoring the stability and transformations of green areas. Sci Rep 14, 2666 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52637-9
Iváncsics, V., & Kovács, K. F. (2021). Analyses of new artificial surfaces in the catchment area of 12 Hungarian middle-sized towns between 1990 and 2018. Land Use Policy, 109, 105644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105644
Spatial Planning in European Countries
Nowak, M., Petrisor, A. I., Mitrea, A., Kovács, K. F., Lukstina, G., Jürgenson, E., ... & Blaszke, M. (2022). The role of spatial plans adopted at the local level in the spatial planning systems of central and eastern European countries. Land, 11(9), 1599. doi.org/10.3390/land11091599
Landscape Functions, Ecosystem Services
Filepné Kovács, K., Valánszki, I., Jombach, S., Csemez, A., & Sallay, Á. (2014). Rural regions with different landscape functions: Comparison analysis of two pilot regions in Hungary. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 12(4), 867-886. doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1204_867886
Sallay, A., Jombach, S., & Kovács, K. F. (2012). Landscape changes and function lost landscape values. doi.org/10.15666/aeer/1002_157172
Projects
ConnectGREEN
ConnectGREEN was a transnational project funded by the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme, aiming to maintain and improve the ecological connectivity between natural habitats, especially between Natura 2000 sites and other protected areas of transnational relevance in the Carpathian ecoregion, namely in Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine.Partners from different countries and various fields of activity (spatial planning, research, government, biodiversity conservation) joined forces to increase the capacity of ecological corridors identification and management and to overcome the conflict between infrastructure development and wildlife conservation.
https://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/connectgreen
SaveGREEN
The project SaveGREEN aims to demonstrate ways of designing appropriate mitigation measures and maintaining or improving the functionality of ecological corridors through integrated planning. It thereby builds on key results of the DTP projects TRANSGREEN, ConnectGREEN, and HARMON. Monitoring the impact of such measures will help us to learn and derive proper recommendations for follow-up action and policy design. The focus of the project will be on critical ecological corridors of the Alpine-Carpathian Corridor, SW-Carpathians, Zakarpattia, Beskydy, Lyulin and Balkan mountains impacted by linear transport projects and unsustainable land use.
