No abstract

The main goal of the article is the evaluation of usefulness of CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data—acquired predominantly by visual interpretation of Landsat satellite imagery—for monitoring of changes in settlement development and land use. This has been done by comparison of occurrence of buildings (and address points) in Poland with delimitations of land use belonging to particular classes in the CLC 2018 dataset. Large discrepancies have been identified, which reach on average approx. 34% of addresses and 35% of buildings located outside class 1 (artificial surfaces), mainly on terrains of class 2 (agricultural areas). Among single-family buildings it was 37% and among new addresses (forecasted or “under construction” buildings)—as much as 50%. This puts a question mark over the possibility of using CLC data with a resolution of 25 ha for monitoring of spatial planning and development in Poland for purposes of the diagnosis and assessment of the scale of dispersion of built-up areas. It is worth carrying out similar analyses in other countries, known for the deconcentration processes and a relatively large share of dispersed settlement, e.g., other CEE countries, Spain, Portugal, Italy.

The spatial management system in Poland struggles with serious costs as a consequence of local planning. The problem is the lack of appropriate value capturing mechanisms and cost compensation for municipalities, along with significant burdens. Private property is subject to special protection, but the public good is less valued. The article attempts to assess the situation in Poland, recalling also the experiences of spatial management systems from other European countries. It combines legal, economic, and geographical perspectives. The specific objectives were demonstration of geographical (interregional and functional) regularities related to the economic (financial) consequences of adopting local plans and identification of financial effects resulting from the implementation of local plans in communes, i.e., in particular, their size, structure of revenues (income), and expenditures, in relations with the budgets of municipalities and the population living in communes. First, the determinants of spatial policy were defined in the context of institutional economics and the real estate market. Then, a unique database of forecasted and realized budgetary revenues and expenditures of 2477 communes in Poland related to spatial development (infrastructure construction, land transformation, purchase, etc.) was analyzed statistically. Additionally, for five selected communes of different functional types, this issue was examined in detail. It has been shown that municipalities do not derive adequate income from spatial development, and improper policy of local self-governments results in heavy burdens, threatening to disturb their financial balance. The formulated conclusions regarding the legal, economic, and spatial mechanisms may contribute to building tools (instruments) for more effective spatial management in various countries.

Zastosowanie wskaźników koncentracji przestrzennej w badaniu procesów urban sprawl * App lication of spatial concentration indicators in the studies of urban sprawl processes

The purpose of this study was to determine the state of dispersion and concentration of buildings in the Warsaw urban agglomeration. In particular, a goal was defined to develop a typology of basic administrative units due to the level and characteristics of the spatial concentration of buildings. The study was conducted based on the municipalities (urban, urban-rural and rural) of the Warsaw Metropolitan Area (delimitation of the Warsaw urban agglomeration used for the strategic and planning purposes) and districts of the capital city of Poland. Data on buildings was obtained from the topographic objects database. The share of buildings in total, as well as single-family and multi-family housing objects, was taken into account (these two categories were assumed to be the main determinants of suburbanization). Two methods were used to analyze their distribution: the density quotient factor, and the average nearest neighbour method. The spatial arrangement of buildings covers a wide spectrum of types, determined by combinations of both extreme and intermediate values of two dimensions of spatial concentration – the density of objects and the degree of their spatial dispersion (level of regularity, randomization, or clustering in their distribution). The typology allows us to indicate units for which similarly oriented spatial policy should be applied. The method of construction of the developed typology may be useful for application to research in other areas.

World War II’s military activities and the post-war devastation period destroyed many European cities and towns. One of the areas that was struck the most was former East Prussia, currently located in Poland and the Kaliningrad Region (the Russian Federation). In addition to the destruction of cities, which are strategically and economically important, small towns have also suffered. An example of such a town is Węgorzewo, where the scale of destruction of the pre-war urban tissue exceeded 80%, and the old town’s built-up area practically ceased to exist. This town magnifies most of the processes and spatial problems characteristic of Central and Eastern Europe’s towns of the “metamorphic” type. Post-war zoning during the Polish People’s Republic period, in the spirit of constructing a socialist town and bypassing the original spatial arrangement, brought about irreversible changes in the urban tissue. This was reflected in the break with the town’s original layout and the creation of modernist buildings. The changes were solidified or even deepened during the economic and political transition of the 1990s in Poland. Today, decades after the end of World War II, despite taking corrective measures, the town is still facing the problem of spatial chaos. Its morphological and physiognomic manifestations in the lack of a central public space, the loss of its historic character, the disharmonization of the urban landscape, and the dispersed development are the main subjects of this article’s analysis. This study uses a diverse methodological apparatus consisting of an analysis of the town’s morphological transformations, an analysis of the physiognomy of the urban landscape and architecture, in situ studies, and an analysis of municipal documents and expert interviews. In the discussion, the study results are embedded in the context of the cases of other European cities and towns. The conclusions indicate the risks to the formation of spatial order in Węgorzewo and possible paths of action.

Abstract:Although the ecosystem services concept is very popular in recent years, its use in spatial planning is limited. The aim of this paper is to describe current problems of ecosystem services application in the spatial planning process. There are two aspects of research; the first is associated with the definitions and classifications of ecosystem services while the second is related to the use of the concept in supporting the decision-making processes in spatial planning. The first part of the paper discusses the definition and existing classifications system of ecosystem services and its usefulness for spatial planning. The second part is of more legal nature and is related to the spatial planning procedure. Proposals how to fit the ecosystem services concept into the planning process are presented in this part.

Zarys treści. Opracowanie delimitacji obszarów zurbanizowanych i obszarów powiązanych funkcjonalnie z największymi w skali kraju miastami jest istotnym elementem polityki przestrzennej oraz zagadnieniem badawczym. Metody wyodrębniania takich układów, jak aglomeracje miejskie i obszary metropolitalne ewoluowały w Polsce od lat 60. ubiegłego wieku do czasów obecnych. Postrzeganie struktur wielkomiejskich zmieniło się istotnie po 1989 r., wraz z transformacją ustrojową. Wiąże się to z procesami metropolizacji. Jak stwierdzono, niektóre koncepcje opracowane w okresie Polski Ludowej, w tym zaczerpnięte wówczas z literatury zachodniej, były na tyle nowatorskie, że mogły stanowić podbudowę współczesnych delimitacji. Ważne okazały się także wzorce z europejskich programów i projektów badawczo-statystycznych oraz nawiązanie do koncepcji miejskich obszarów funkcjonalnych. Współcześnie obserwuje się łączenie podejść funkcjonalnych -dotyczących takich zjawisk jak dojazdy do pracy i migracje do miast, aspektów społeczno-gospodarczych, związanych m.in. z poziomem przedsiębiorczości oraz podejść morfologicznych -określających rozwój urbanizacji w strefie podmiejskiej oraz stan i zmiany zasobów mieszkaniowych.