Poorer Regions Consume More Undeveloped but Less High-Quality Land Than Wealthier Regions—A Case Study

Despite the efforts of developed countries to protect undeveloped land, development continues to expand beyond urban boundaries. High-quality land needed for food production is often consumed. This study aims to verify possible causes of undeveloped land and high-quality land consumption within regions (NUTS3) using a new approach to building growth monitoring. It investigates residential (RBs) and commercial buildings (retail and industrial buildings, RIBs). The development between 2006 and 2016 in the Czech Republic, a country in Central Europe, is used as a case study. Population growth and gross domestic product per capita (GDP) within regions are considered two potential causes of land consumption; this hypothesis is verified using a linear regression model. Only GDP showed statistically significant results. It correlated negatively with RBs and RBs + RIBs built on undeveloped land and positively with RBs + RIBs and either RBs or RIBs built on high-quality land. Based on the results, we recommend that land protection policies be differentiated according to regional specifics to be more effective. Regions with lower GDPs should obtain more support in protecting undeveloped land against residential development. The protection of high-quality land should be emphasized by supporting residential and commercial development on brownfield sites in regions with higher GDPs.