The phenomenon of urban sprawl in modern Poland: Causes, effects and remedies

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this article is to identify the reasons for the emergence of urban sprawl in Poland, with particular reference to selected medium-sized cities in the Małopolska voivodeship, located at different distances from Kraków. The second objective of this article is to indicate the awareness of the authorities of these cities of the influence of the core city (Kraków) and their efforts to use this phenomenon for their own developmental goals. Research Design & Methods: Documents defining the socio-economic development policies of Limanowa, Niepołomic and Nowy Targ were used for the analysis, as well as selected quantitative data indicating the direction and strength of the urban sprawl. An important element of this article is an indication of the consequences of this phenomenon and remedies for public administration of various levels in Poland. The model of gravitational potential was utilised as the research basis. Contribution / Value Added: As an added value, an attempt should be made to indicate the relation between the values of indicators and the policy of local development (actions of local authorities to eliminate negative effects of the urban sprawl phenomenon).Implications / Recommendations: Although the urban sprawl phenomenon is involuntary (and ubiquitous), it can be controlled, and the lack of actions to control consequences will make them even more acute. Solutions should be systemic in nature and implemented at the level of central administration in Poland, but the attitude of local authorities is also important. In addition, the influence of Kraków on its functional surroundings has a different strength and character. From the point of view of local authorities, it is important to diagnose strength and character (positive or negative) in order to properly choose the direction of the given city's development policy.

Regionally Divergent Patterns in Factors Affecting Municipal Waste Production: The Polish Perspective

“…In Poland, large cities have been attracting newcomers while losing their existing inhabitants to the neighboring communes (according to CSO data the development of housing in rural units from 2005 to 2018 was only 2 percentage points lower than in urban areas; the housing stock in cites increased by 15% and in rural areas by 13% [80]). This has led to urban sprawl and the proliferation of suburbs, and a rise in waste volume [83]. The European Environment Agency has acknowledged that despite the difficulties of quantifying the real impact of tourism on the environment, any rise in the number of tourists undoubtedly has an influence on waste generation and energy consumption (in terms of volume and local level) [84].…”

“…Moreover, population migration has changed from rural-urban to urban-rural (from 2005 to 2018 rural areas noticed an increase of about 10% in permanent residents). On average, most rural areas and small-sized cities located in subzones of Polish agglomerations noted an even higher number of registrations for permanent residency (from 17 to 63 per 1,000 people) than those large cities themselves, as large Polish urban areas are experiencing suburbanization and sprawl [83]. However, these immigration phenomena (internal and foreign) are divergently distributed among municipalities.…”

Revitalization of Public Spaces in Cittaslow Towns: Recent Urban Redevelopment in Central Europe

“…Of course, the problem of urban sprawl mainly affects large cities. However, the effects of this process may affect small towns located in areas near large agglomerations [9]. On the other hand, in small towns in the provinces, one can observe the phenomenon of migration of people to large cities.…”

Environmental consequences of the urban sprawl in the suburban zone of Nitra: An analysis based on landcover data

“…Residential suburbanisation and urban sprawl are currently the most important urbanisation processes in European post-socialist countries, especially in Central Europe (Bajmóczy, 2012;Csapó-Balogh, 2012;Hirt, 2007Hirt, , 2012Karwińska et al, 2018;Kubeš, 2013Kubeš, , 2015Leetmaa-Tammaru, 2007;Tímár & Váradi, 2001). In addition to the large number of case studies we also find works that compare the processes in the West and the East (Szirmai, 2011).…”