Is the impact of COVID-19 on housing construction activity inside and outside a large city evident? The example of Łódź (Poland)

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has influenced cities’ shape and future. Telecommuting, teleconferencing, telelearning and e-commerce are creating a new environment of human life. These new factors should be added to the existing problems of urbanisation that are urban sprawl and depopulation. The authors of the paper decided to examine the intensity and spatial distribution of residential construction activity and residential real-estate trade in one of the biggest Polish cities – Łódź – and neighbouring municipalities to answer the question of whether the pandemic has affected housing decisions taken by developers and buyers. Based on statistical data, attempts were made to observe new signs confirming the intensification or weakening of past trends. The research was based on desk research and comparative analysis.

The housing market in Poland during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…A source from Statista [30] reports that developers received 23.5% more building permits in March 2020 than in the same month of the previous year. Another study by M. Załęczna and A. Antczak-Stępniak [31] examined the intensity and spatial distribution of residential construction activity and trade in one of the largest cities in Poland. The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the construction industry, with a decrease in the number of building permits issued and actual construction work started.…”