Artur Hołuj

Reflection Paper przedstawia ekspercką ocenę kluczowych zalet i słabości systemów planowania przestrzennego w państwach Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej. Na podstawie subiektywnych diagnoz krajowych specjalistów zestawiono podstawowe cechy instytucjonalne poszczególnych modeli, wskazując m.in. na znaczenie relacji między szczeblami planowania, rolę planowania strategicznego oraz wpływ jakości regulacji prawnych na skuteczność działań przestrzennych. Wnioski podkreślają potrzebę ostrożnego formułowania analogii między państwami regionu, a jednocześnie pokazują, że porównania międzynarodowe mogą stanowić użyteczne narzędzie dla dyskusji naukowej i praktyki administracji publicznej.

W artykule podjęto próbę poszerzenia dotychczasowej wiedzy na temat modelu struktury funkcjonalno-przestrzennej jako elementu strategii rozwoju o perspektywę praktyków planowania regionalnego. Zaprezentowane badania opierają się na analizie tekstów prawnych, literatury przedmiotu oraz wywiadów pogłębionych z 88 ekspertami, przedstawicielami administracji samorządowej i specjalistami planowania. Analizą objęto również strategie rozwoju województw. Przeprowadzona przez autorów artykułu dyskusja odnosi się do zawartości, charakteru oraz relacji modelu z planami zagospodarowania przestrzennego województw. Ponadto autorzy scharakteryzowali wyzwania związane z sekwencją wprowadzania reformy systemu zarządzania rozwojem w Polsce.

"In recent years, spatial planning has been subject of debate for researchers who focused on good practices and providing suitable solutions for various issues at the local or regional scale, but also on the poor quality practices, which particularly generate spatial chaos and other negative consequences. The identification and assessment of endogenous dependencies of the implemented spatial management policies require in-depth studies aimed at understanding their nature and consequences. Moreover, the integrated order and spatial development in the urban core area and the suburbs are to be considered when analysing these conditions and dependencies. If we also consider spillover effects and spatial externalities, we must tackle the intensification of problems in spatial management. Therefore, the various aspects of urban development and planning should be approached especially in relation to the economic and social aspects of urban, suburban and rural areas. "

"Climate change effects are becoming increasingly noticeable especially in the dynamic and overcrowded city areas. The frequency of occurrence and ways of appearance of natural risks along with the negative effects of intensive economic activities, energy conventional production, unsustainable transportation and energy consumption determine increases in dysfunctions that must be managed by the local authorities in the long term. This study addresses climate change in relation to policy and regulatory framework for urban planning. The article portrays several climate change-related threats that usually occur in urban areas, which are emphasized in the scientific literature, but also exemplifies practical solutions formulated by planners in their strategy for sustainable urban development as counteracting the current specific threats. The selected case studies are the cities of Kraków in Poland and of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Results of the literature review show that the main risks related to sustainability of the urban areas, as effects of the climate change and man-made actions, are correspondingly visible and addressed in the main strategic plans at the local level, adopted by the city authorities as practical measures and actions to be implemented by 2030 aiming to limit the effects of the climate changes that arise, as well as to limit the causes that generate these changes. By implementing the proposed measures and by achieving the objectives described in the presented action plans, both of the selected cities prove their engagement in the European mission of climate change adaptation and mitigation. "

"The study focuses on the process of reorganization of the primary school network in the Polish Carpathians, in the period 2000-2020, determined by population dynamics and the education reform in Poland, which focused on the abolition of middle schools (junior high schools) and the return to eight-year primary schools. Primary schools located in the Polish Carpathians represent almost 10% of all schools of this type in Poland, usually with a smaller number of pupils/school (1/4 when compared to the national average). In mountainous areas with a specific settlement network, the closure of a primary school in a small village usually leads to several socioeconomic issues and may become subject to changing the managing authority due to budgetary reasons. The main aim was to determine the dynamics of the process and analyze spatial differentiations, by investigating the relation between population change in the 15-39 age group and the change in the number of schools, and to identify the location of the closed schools. Results show variability in the dynamics of the analysed variables in the case of Polish Carpathians compared to the national level, for instance, much slower dynamics of school closures than the rest of the country, the number of primary schools dropping by 14% between 2000 and 2020, while the greatest decrease in the number of pupils was observed in the Carpathian communes of Subcarpathian Voivodeship, especially in peripheral locations. However, we can conclude that in mountainous areas school closure has been highly avoided due to the engagement of different types of managing authorities, from local government to other public or private entities, in governing these schools. "

Regardless of the aim, all man-made actions within a given space and using the available resources have a positive or negative impact on the anthropogenic and natural environment, both individually and in relation to one another. To a certain extent, spatial planning regulations and policies aim to regulate the amplitude of this impact and diminish the prospective positive and negative externalities. A categorisation of externalities was proposed in relation to spatial planning and spatial policy, real estate management, natural, environmental and agricultural conditions, and technical infrastructure. The assessment of particular externalities was based on integrated governance consisting of partial governance frameworks: economic governance, institutional and political governance, spatial governance, social governance, and environmental governance. The Delphi method was employed to evaluate externalities, by putting together a team of 12 spatial management experts. The methodological assumptions required adopting a definition of externalities and their features. Also, an in-depth analysis was conducted on the relationships and effects of activities carried out by entities operating in specific conditions and within the framework of social, economic and spatial policies. We considered the necessary assumptions aimed to explicitly define positive and negative externalities in spatial management, which was a difficult undertaking because of the particularities of cost-related and external benefits. A comprehensive list was created, relevant to the adopted classification of externalities. The conclusions provide recommendations for sectoral policies and advance further research directions.

The discussion about 15-minute cities (also referred to as cities of short distances) has gained considerable momentum in the last decade. Thanks to the optimal spatial layout of these urban areas, their residents can meet most or all of their day-to-day needs within a short walk or a bicycle ride from their place of residence. This is especially important in the context of problems currently faced by most large agglomerations worldwide, the negative externalities caused by predominantly motorised transport and inappropriate spatial planning policies that entail substantial environmental and technical infrastructure outlays. The concept of spatial proximity to services played a key role in the empirical part of the present study, where Krakow’s layout was analysed in detail from the perspective of a 15-minute city. Krakow is a resident-friendly, inclusive city created primarily with local communities in mind. However, certain design flaws in terms of spatial proximity to services prompted us to reconsider how its specific spatial components operate. To achieve the study’s goal—a comprehensive assessment of Krakow as a 15-minute city—we proposed several solutions that can be made universally adaptable for other urban areas striving to meet the short distance criteria.

Urban sprawl is a process that shapes contemporary urban spaces. Generally, this process is associated with negative effects due to the generation of high costs. However, not all the effects of urban sprawl should be considered in the context of the increasing costs of the use of space; some of them should be regarded as cost cutting factors, for example, the possibility of the use of roofed areas in generating energy from sunlight. Solar energy is believed to be one of the sources of clean energy that reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. However, solar energy generation necessitates the development of large areas for the purpose of installing photovoltaic modules and substantial funds for creating large solar farms. For this reason, a significant role in state energy policies is played by small dispersed installations mounted on the roofs of buildings. There is a gap in existing research on the assessment of urban sprawl in terms of the potential use of rooftops for solar installations in suburban areas. This research gap has not yet been filled, either conceptually and methodologically. Hence, the contribution of the research to the development of the current state of knowledge involves the identification of economic and environmental benefits of usually negatively perceived urban sprawl. The proposal of a method for the identification of suburban housing potential for solar energy generation constitutes another addition to the state of knowledge. The main objective of this article is to analyse the energy generating potential of buildings located in suburban and urban areas characterised by the confirmed occurrence of urban sprawl phenomena. CityGML data were used to conduct an analysis of the exposure of roofs to sunlight using algorithms based on vector data. The authors estimated the dynamics of changes in time and referred the existing photovoltaic installations to the total potential of a selected area. The use of the energy potential of the analysed roofs of buildings was used to evaluate the external costs and benefits of spatial planning. The discussion presented the current conditions of the energy sector and energy policies in Poland and the EU. In addition, recommendations were proposed for local spatial policies concerning the mitigation of the effects of suburbanization in the context of developing the system of PV micro-installations.