Studia KPZK

This article analyzes the social content of spatial order concept and manifestations of social participation in shaping this order using two examples: shaping the safety of public spaces and revitalizing cities. The author concludes with proposals to increase public participation in the creation of spatial order.

Socio-Economic Effects of the Spatial Chaos for the Settlement Systems and Functional Land Use Structure. The aim of the study is an attempt to estimate, on the basis of literature and own analyzes, how costs are related to spatial chaos, i.e. mainly dispersion of settlement. Mainly residential (housing) settlement was addressed, which contributes the most to the defective structure of the entire settlement. In particular, the analysis uses several concentration indicators and graphical methods, including the so-called minimal spanning tree (MST). Analyzes have shown that costs can amount to several dozen billion zlotys a year, resulting due to the lack of utilities, unsatisfactory condition of public infrastructure, morphological and functional chaos, excessive location of buildings in agricultural areas, oversupply of investment land with low location potential and as a result of low economic efficiency and effectiveness of settlement.

Transport and Space in Socio-Economic Life. This paper deals with key issues arising when transport is confronted with chaotic socio-economic environments. Nowadays especially urbanised areas are facing some crucial issues concerning urban planning under conditions of spatial chaos. Transport, having an important role in connecting the space of social and economic life, is a mean to reduce spatial chaos but is also subjected to the impacts chaotic socio-economic forces have. Within this research the interrelation between transport and disordered environment in which transport has to operate is addressed in regard to: transport infrastructure investment planning, traffic congestion management, transport accessibility, accidents and transport safety and impact of transport on the environment. It is the expected role of transport system to reduce chaos, especially in urban areas. But to what degree transport is actually fulfilling this task? In fact in many places badly organized transport might add to the problem instead of solving it. The effect the chaotic spatial organisation has on transport accessibility influences daily economic and social activity of people. Specifically there are numerous cost drivers activated by chaotic transport development resulting mainly in higher costs of moving people and goods, negative impact on value of time in transport processes, direct costs involved like more intensive fuel and material consumption or heightened depreciation of vehicles. Transport could be also perceived as a source of many significant external effects for society and environment, which entails valid environmental costs. The list of transport external effects is relatively long. This is due to the fact that transport is also one of the most important sectors of the modern industrialized economy and modern society. Poorly planned transport system adds to the already chaotic socio-economic setup. This is especially visible in cities where different layers of chaos can interfere and create dangerous synergies. Due to the lack of adequate space management, and this is the case in the discussed spatial chaos, environmental and social externalities are growing, which leads to higher social costs, which every citizen pays for in the final bill. On the other hand well planned transport system should help to curb chaotic socio-economic environment. Thus the key problem analysed in this paper is whether and how transport system could be an ordering force planned and enforced in effective way in order to reduce chaos created by other activities or rather an additional negative effect within the whole spectrum of chaos drivers.

Estimates of the Losses Incurred by the Society Living in the Functional Urban Areas. The study presents estimates of the losses incurred by the society living in the Functional Urban Areas of regional capitals of Poland in connection with the phenomenon of urban sprawl. The estimates are presented in terms of diagnostic to 2016 and as projected reaching 2030. The results of the analysis indicate that the social losses due to the urban sprawl in Poland can be evaluate as high, as it amounts to 25.4 billion PLN per year. In the 2030 losses could reach nearly 0.5 trillion PLN, of which 264 billion PLN of losses incurred directly, and 227 billion PLN on the value of lost time.

Social and Economic Costs of Spatial Chaos – Settlement of Rural Areas. Among the features of spatial structures of villages and characteristics of rural areas, which support multidirectional socio-economic development and improvement of living conditions of inhabitants and users of the countryside, the focused and compact character of the development is of particular importance. The observed lack of determination in preventing and limiting suburbanization processes, including in rural areas, directly and negatively affects both the natural environment and forms of development of these areas, causing the generation of additional economic and social costs related to the chaotic management of space. The aim of the article is to estimate the degree of concentration of buildings in various types of communes in Poland and to determine the spatial distribution of this phenomenon to be able to estimate the size of chaos costs on a global basis and determine its level in the comparative system of municipalities.

Expenditures Related to Technical Infrastructure. The aim of the study is to answer to the question what is the economic (financial) scale of expenditure and local investments related to the technical infrastructure and to what extent the investment processes are correlated with the planning coverage. The study is based on data used in the annual reports of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences on the state of planning work in communes. A detailed analysis of municipal budget expenditures was carried out, demonstrating large diversity of water and sewerage services, road construction and renovation, investment expenditures, etc. The research showed that a significant part of the investment is located outside local plans based on the decision on building conditions. This creates a serious risk of irrationality of spatial management and leads to increase of infrastructure service costs.

Air Pollution and Energy Unefficiency of Settlement Structures in the Context of Spatial Chaos in Poland (Chosen Examples from Lower Silesia). The deregulated spatial planning system in Poland has led to an emergence of incalculable economic, environmental and public costs that burden the society. Investment liberty is accompanied by a lack of coordination in the development of housing areas with public transport, electricity, gas and heating infrastructure. At the same time, revitalization is interpreted as a form of physical modernization of buildings, but not as social renewal. The result of spatial disorder is a reduction of energy efficiency of entire settlement structures, not just individual buildings. Old-fashioned methods of supplying buildings with heat, responsible for local emission, are sustained. Comprehensively, this condition contributes to the deterioration of air quality indicators in Poland.

Social and Economic Costs of Spatial Disorder in Agriculture. The main objective of the study was the identification of the phenomena of chaos in the structure and spatial organization of agriculture, that is the agrarian fragmentation of farms, exclusion of land from agricultural production in suburban zones and the fragmentation of the agricultural landscape. These processes cause a major increase in economic and social costs, which results in the loss of resources and spatial disorder in agriculture. An attempt was made to estimate the costs of these processes in economic, social and environmental terms. The economic dimension of spatial disorder in agriculture is manifested by negative results in the production and consumption sphere related most often to high labour costs, and consequently to low incomes. The social dimension of spatial disorder in agriculture is demonstrated by the effects of de-agrarization processes and deformation of social structures. De-agrarization means the processes of agricultural area reduction, extensification and fallowing as well as an increasingly limited significance of agriculture as a workplace and a reduction in the source of income by rural residents. A conducted analysis of spatial disorder in agriculture resulting from the lack of appropriate regulation and taxation systems as well as historical factors allowed determining direct and indirect results influencing the structure and spatial organization of agriculture. Direct results include: a chessboard pattern of agricultural land, marginalization of the agricultural function in rural areas which mostly applies to suburban zones, unregulated ownership of farmland, its unjustified designation for other purposes, a decrease in biodiversity in agriculture and fragmentation of the agricultural landscape. Indirect results include: an increase in the costs of agricultural production, expensive agricultural-installation plans, loss of direct payments, easement appurtenant, the emergence of human-environment conflicts and major transformations of the agricultural landscape in a suburban zone.

Costs of Spatial Disorder for the Real Estate Market. The article discusses the problem of costs which the spatial disorder in Poland causes in the real estate market. It also draws attention to the likely future consequences of the current lack of spatial order for the domestic real estate market. The impact of spatial chaos on the functioning of this market was considered in terms of economic, social and environmental costs. In the empirical part of the paper, analyzing land turnover in the Poznań agglomeration, the characteristics of the undeveloped real estate market in metropolitan areas in Poland were presented. At the same time, the negative effects of land trading in the situation of a flawed spatial planning system were emphasized. In addition, particular attention was paid to the common practice in Poland of excluding only part of the investment plots from agricultural use. At the same time, the urgent need to create the mechanisms of the actual protection of agricultural land within the agglomeration is emphasized.

The Influence of Spatial Disorder on Landscape Ecological Systems. Preparation of this report included the following steps: (1) Identification of the main directions of changes taking place in the landscape ecological systems (LES) of Poland in the last few decades; (2) Development of general models of LES response to these changes, with particular emphasis on the ecological effects of spatial disorder; (3) Indication of the main structural elements of the national LES, particularly those at the risk of chaotic or collisional land development; (4) Presentation of ecological and social consequences of changes taking place in LES as well as indication of possible directions of repair, together with an assessment of the scale of costs. Many changes occurring in the development of the country have a negative impact on the spatial order, resources and conditions of the functioning of ecological systems and the aesthetic values of the landscape. Generally these changes cause: (a) decrease in the natural potential of some supply ecosystem services; (b) decline in the natural potential of regulating ecosystem services; (c) decrease in the natural potential of habitat services; (d) decrease in the potential of some cultural services; (e) a decrease in the investment attractiveness of the landscape. Achieving high parameters of the living space should in particular be focused on the protection and harmonious shaping of: (I) a rich natural system, ensuring ecological balance and good rest conditions on the national and regional scale; (II) spatial order, ensuring efficient functioning of the economic system, protection of cultural heritage and high environmental quality standards; (III) high values of landscape physiognomy, including regional identity. The most urgent tasks necessary to improve spatial order in Poland, in particular the condition of landscape ecological systems and the advantages of landscape physiognomy, should be considered: (A) development and successive implementation of the National Landscape Policy, aimed at repairing and protecting landscape quality, including harmonious planning and effective management of its resources and assets; (B) introducing into the legal system provisions allowing for effective protection of spatial order as well as ecological and aesthetic values of the landscape; including the protection of particularly attractive open areas against changes in the character of its natural topography and natural land cover, as well as the repair and

Air Pollution in Poland – Condition, Causes and Effects. In the recent years the air in Poland seems to be the most polluted in Europe (it is worse only in a few times smaller Bulgaria). The concentration of particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), represented by benzo(a)pyrene are among the highest in European Union countries. They are highly toxic, especially PAHS, which damage the hematopoietic system, accumulate in living organisms leading to a cancerous process, they cause damages to the central nervous system and infertility. It is estimated that high air pollution causes 45-47 thousands premature deaths in Poland every year, as well as growth frequency of allergies and chronic diseases. Polish society loses about 520,000 potential years of life, and the economy of 18.5 million work days. It’s a very high price. The weather determines to a large extent the air pollution. The smog episode is usually accompanied by low wind speed or atmospheric silence, reduction of visibility and thermal inversions. However, the biggest problem is low emission, which is mainly related to individual heating of buildings (78-87% of the total emission of benzo(a)pyrene. The reasons for such poor sanitary condition of the air in Poland are complex and to a large extent they result from spatial chaos and lack of spatial planning, but also from general policy country. The most important reasons are i.a.: the lack of a planning policy and a sustainable transport policy, persistent subsidies for unprofitable coal mines, the lack of a policy promoting renewable energy sources and “clean” technologies, high gas price (the highest in Europe) and no subsidies for the poorest, scattered buildings which hinders access to system heat, inefficient and unsuitable transport based on road transport road and individual cars (often old, Diesel) etc.

Aesthetic Costs of Spatial Chaos. The most characteristic process of settlement’s development in Poland after 1989, is chaotic dispersion of the buildings, usually around cities, but also along the routes, tourist sites and agricultural areas. The result of this pressure is the fragmentation and the increasing isolation of the landscape ecological systems. These processes have also consequences in the degradation of aesthetic values of the landscape. This report shows the consequences of these processes and condemns the most important tasks that should be taken to repair the quality of the landscape. It is estimated that over 60% of the Polish population lives in the conflict countryside, undergoing pressure of spatial disorder, with reduced or degraded of compositional and aesthetic values. The disintegration of the landscape style and the place identity has also appeared in this areas. In the cities grows the visual aggression of advertising billboards. These phenomena are increasingly negatively assessed by the society. Improvement of spatial order and landscape aesthetics requires fundamental changes in the system of spatial planning, transfer of modern knowledge about the landscape systems to local governments and spatial planning staff, as well as a long-term, consistent work of the society.It is necessary to establish a new way of thinking and learning about the landscape systems. The development and dissemination of methods and techniques of GIS, opens up a new possibilities for diagnosing the physiognomy of the landscape. A methods of assessing the physiognomic structure of landscape as well as methods of design the composition of landscape interiors and scenic panoramas are developed. Since 2015, the landscape audit procedure is implemented. The National Landscape Policy, as well as a common landscape education should be developed, conducted in parallel to the already well-developed environmental policy and education.

Potential Compensatory Costs Related to Invalid Spatial Planning in Communes. The purpose of the article is to compare the costs of enacted local plans and their possible repeal in the part concerning the faulty (irrational) allocation of land for various functions. It was attempted to estimate the costs associated with the hypothetical repeal of local plans in a situation where such a need arises, resulting from the overestimation of areas designated especially for housing development. These costs are primarily the need to pay compensation to landowners for those parts of the land that first changed their intended use from a lower market value to a higher one, and then there would be a hypothetical “reverse” operation (e.g. restoration of agricultural use). It was obtained that depending on the methodology, these costs could fluctuate between 135-325 billion PLN. This means that there is no possibility of ‘automatic’ repealing defective local plans across the all country.

Spatial Disorder vs. Data Collection on Spatial Planning in Poland. The article deals with the issue of spatial disorder as a consequence of lack of information about spatial planning in local government administration units. An efficient monitoring system of spatial planning on the local level is indispensable for the effective implementation of public policies, development strategies and operational programmes. Lack of full knowledge of land use leads to irrational and unsustainable use of resources in municipalities. The activities of public statistics in the field of the quality of information on spatial management concern the quality and methods of obtaining data, while adjusting the information available to the needs of authorities responsible for spatial planning at all levels.