Environmental & Socio-economic Studies DOI: 10.1515/environ-2016-0024 Environ. Socio.-econ. Stud., 2016, 4, 4: 51-60 © 2016 Copyright by University of Silesia ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Original article Landscape effects of conflicts in space management. A historical approach based on the Silesian and Żywiec Beskids (West Carpathians, Poland) Michał Sobala Cultural Landscape Commission, Polish Geographical Society, Będzińska str. 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland E–mail address:
[email protected] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT A land use regime undergoes much change over time depending on the growth in the importance of various interest groups. Spatial conflicts repeatedly accompany this growth. The aim of the article is to determine the relationship between spatial conflicts and landscape changes. On the basis of the Silesian and Żywiec Beskid mountain ranges, it has been proven that conflicts arising between mountain grazing, agriculture, forest management, contemporary building and tourism development have significant impacts on the landscape. To this end, archive and contemporary cartographic materials, historical scientific works and archive photographs were used. The conflicts between mountain grazing and other types of human activity in the study area were analysed. Subsequently, their influence on the landscape was determined. As a result of the