Marek Bryx

In recent years, a key challenge for most cities worldwide has been to eliminate or at least minimise the harmful impact of the pollution they generate on their own residents and surroundings. The authors have set themselves the goal of presenting current environmental issues and the possibilities for solving them, including the topic of undertaking pro-environmental actions and attitudes towards strategic development, particularly the implementation of eco-innovation in local government units. This is considered both at the current operational level and in terms of long-term strategic plans (through the application of solutions that take into account the principles of sustainable development or the ESG concept) with a focus on eliminating and/or mitigating environmental threats. The authors analysed examples from selected cities in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on their sustainable development strategies and the implementation of “green” investments. Various research methods were applied, including literature reviews, desk research, and quantitative, qualitative, and comparative analyses.

This article explores the dynamic interplay between the business cycle and the housing market in Poland from 2007 to 2022. It examines the complex relationship between economic cycles and the residential property sector, focusing on the impact of government intervention and market fluctuations. The research shows that the housing market is highly sensitive to external factors. It highlights the central role of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) in shaping the housing market through changes in interest rates and credit availability. The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily disrupted developer activity and housing demand, highlighting the vulnerability of the market to unexpected shocks. In addition to observations, this study calls for a critical analysis of housing policies, identifying potential shortcomings and offering recommendations for improvement. It underlines that economic crises are an inherent part of housing market cycles, promoting market cleansing and healthy competition. Finally, this research emphasises that the housing market is intertwined with broader economic trends. It highlights the need for central banks to strike a balance between managing inflation and supporting economic growth. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between the housing market and the business cycle, providing valuable insights for policymaking and investment decisions.

This article examines the impact of economic factors, such as changes in interest rates and inflation, on the primary housing market in Poland from January 2019 to September 2022, with particular focus on the Covid-19 pandemic. The research problem is to understand how these economic factors have affected the housing market, and the research objective is to analyze the activity of developers, building permits issued, investments started, and housing loans granted. The research methodology involves the analysis of data from various sources, including official statistics and reports from developers and investment funds. The research findings suggest that the decreased demand for housing loans has led to a significant decline in the allocation of new housing. However, the emergence of new major players, such as leading European and global investment funds, could provide opportunities for developers. The study concludes that caution is warranted in starting new construction activity and that the best performance in housing production in the transition period to 2021 is unlikely to be exceeded in the current or subsequent years. The implications of this study are that developers need to consider economic factors and market trends when making decisions about new construction and that investment funds may play an increasingly important role in the housing market.

The worsening housing problems of young adults in many countries have become a worldwide problem. Researchers point to a number of factors that influence young people’s decisions to own or rent their own apartments or houses. The term generation of renters or the lost generation has appeared in the literature in relation to the young adult generation. This article offers insights into the housing preferences of young adults aged 18 to 45 in Poland, with a particular focus on the renter cohort. Conclusions are drawn about whether young adults who are already renting prefer to buy an apartment or house rather than maintain their status quo, and what determines their decisions in this regard. The study identifies a number of socioeconomic factors that influence the housing decisions of young renters in Poland. It addresses some of the problems and challenges of today’s housing market and, in particular, examines what leads young Polish renters to switch from renting to buying their first home or, alternatively, to live in a rented apartment for years (thus showing indifference to homeownership). Some of the reasons for the change in attitude toward this issue are highlighted. The study is quantitative in nature, relying on an online survey and a mediation analysis that is particularly well suited to explaining the relationship between many different variables. Of the eight hypotheses tested in the study (using mediation analysis), only three could be proven, namely that the amount of rent payments and other costs for economic reasons influences the willingness to buy an apartment or a house, and also that the length of the rental period has a negative influence on the willingness to buy a house. Finally, the mediation model provides evidence that the higher a young renter’s tolerance threshold for mortgage interest compared to “rent payments”, the more inclined they are to buy an apartment or house. The study suggests that the housing finance subsystem has some shortcomings as far as financing young people is concerned. Strategically, there are two complementary solutions that could be implemented: (1) a long-term home savings plan or program and (2) innovative housing loan options tailored to the financial situation of young people.

The implementation of construction projects in Warsaw is associated with increasing difficulties in preparation, obtaining the relevant building permits and licences, partly due to the lack of water and sewage infrastructure and the inadequate management of rainwater in the city. All this leads to an increase in the cost of the construction projects undertaken. To illustrate a number of issues related to stormwater management in the city and the resulting problems, the study provides a number of different case studies, stylised facts and abductive conclusions to develop the best explanation for the existing problems. Specifically, the study presents the barriers to stormwater management in the city of Warsaw through an analysis of a hypothetical investment process (related to the Wawer Canal). The case studies analysed concern the deterioration of the “Bernardine Water” reservoir and the lack of appropriate investments in the Sluzewiecki Stream catchment, as well as a number of conflicting conditions in stormwater management in Warsaw. In contrast, examples of successful investments in stormwater management are also shown, e.g. Radex Park Marywilska, Stegny Południe settlement, Fort Bema settlement in Bemowo. In this way it is shown that with the right approach it is possible to carry out construction investments in water and wastewater infrastructure in an appropriate way, thus avoiding many stormwater management problems. The main conclusion of the study is that insufficient consideration of stormwater drainage issues in spatial planning will lead to further flooding and increasing water management problems.

Urban flooding is an increasingly common phenomenon around the world. The reasons are usually attributed to the insufficient capacity of the combined sewer system and its inability to adapt to the changing dynamics of rainfall. This is also the case in Warsaw (the capital of Poland), where the sewage system was designed in the 1960s. The aim of the article is to highlight possible hydrological solutions that would significantly improve Warsaw’s situation in terms of rainfall runoff. The article looks at some solutions that were previously mentioned in the literature and presents an assessment of the possible changes in land use/land cover on the hydrological processes and improvements in the general hydrological situation of Warsaw. In addition, the article points out the need to update the programme and spatial approach to the discharge of water from specific watersheds in Warsaw, as well as to establish a single manager for stormwater drainage in the city of Warsaw. An important issue is the restoration of natural retention basins in the city and the construction of artificial basins in places with frequent local flooding. The article emphasises the importance of building individual detention basins (as well as low-impact developments) for newly planned investments. Other important aspects are as follows: the construction of suitable underground or open channels, the need to disconnect Ursynów’s stormwater runoff from the catchment area of the Służewiecki Stream and to channel it along the southern bypass for Warsaw (S-2) to the dry lakes and ponds in Wilanów. Finally, the article discusses the application of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Real-Time Control (RTC) in urban drainage systems as a possible solution to improve wastewater management in urban areas.

The deteriorating housing situation of young adults in many countries has become a subject of global interest. Researchers point to a number of factors that influence young adults’ decisions to own or rent a home. This paper examines the relationship between young adults’ inclination to own their own home and a range of different socio-economic factors. The study is of a quantitative-qualitative nature and was based on the results of a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) questionnaire. The survey was conducted among young Poles aged 18–45 (n = 983). To analyse the results of the questionnaires, a logistic regression was used in which 24 different dichotomous and categorical variables were considered. Taking into account a number of individual characteristics (e.g., gender, education, hometown population size, etc.), the results show, for example, that single individuals and those with a higher level of tolerance for mortgage interest rates are more likely to own a home than to rent. This result highlights the desirability of easier access to mortgage credit. At the other end of the spectrum are those living with parents and those with dependents. The results imply that they are less interested in buying a home. Interestingly, declarations of a lack of funds for an own contribution when buying a new house/dwelling, or reluctance to expose oneself to financial difficulties throughout one’s life, do not discourage young adults from striving for their own dwelling, which further demonstrates the need to create appropriate mechanisms/instruments to facilitate the purchase of a dwelling for young adults.

Sustainable development is a concept that is already established in our consciousness. It can be assumed that, in relation to the city, it means the implementation of 4 principles (goals) that such a city and its inhabitants should strive to achieve (Szelągowska, Bryx 2015), namely: 1. Aspire to be close to the ecosystem, obtaining spatial order with the least possible interference in this ecosystem. 2. Produce no more waste than the city can assimilate, while consuming no more resources than it can recreate. 3. To promote and consolidate a lifestyle consistent with the above principles, which all residents create by their daily conduct, not just the city authorities. 4. Comply with the principles of honesty and justice. This definition, a little too detailed, aims to highlight two aspects of sustainable development: human proximity to the environment and ethics in human behaviour towards the natural and social environment. The university campus is part of the city, intellectually radiating, forging and disseminating new concepts. By disseminating the idea of a sustainable city, the campus should be an example of implementing these principles in a community constituting an urban enclave. Answering the questions: is this happening? and is it possible at universities that were created before the emergence of the idea of sustainable development ? is the purpose of this article. The author, considering these issues, uses the experience of the campus of the Warsaw School of Economics, designed 100 years ago, constructed in stages and seeking its path of development.