Using the weighted urban proliferation (WUP) approach to measure the effects of planning strategies on urban sprawl in Poland

Urban sprawl is one of the major challenges facing urbanizing societies. This study quantifies the extent of urban sprawl in southern Poland’s four most populous metropolitan areas, encompassing 164 municipalities, and assesses the effectiveness of spatial planning strategies aimed at limiting sprawl. The first phase of the research establishes comparative parameters for evaluating sprawl across these urban regions. To measure it, we apply the weighted urban proliferation (WUP) method, which comprises three indicators: the proportion of built-up land, the degree of spatial dispersion, and land consumption per capita. The most dispersed metropolitan areas are Rzeszów and Upper Silesia-Zagłębiowska and the most compact are Kraków and Wrocław. In the second phase, we analyze sprawl at the municipal level and examine how specific planning instruments—namely local spatial development plans (MPZPs) and decisions on land development and management conditions (WZs)—influence its occurrence. We correlate the WUP metrics for each municipality with the percentage of land covered by MPZPs in 2018 and the total number of WZs issued from 2009 to 2018.

Click here to read the article in the journal Cities.

The analysis reveals diverse sprawl patterns, shaped by differing historical contexts, planning coverage (MPZPs), and intensity of WZ decisions. Notably, the number of WZs per square kilometer appears to exert a stronger impact on sprawl dynamics than the mere extent of MPZP coverage. Our findings indicate only weak to moderate correlations between the presence of MPZPs and sprawling development, suggesting the need for more targeted and effective anti-sprawl planning policies. This study highlights the critical role of well-designed spatial management tools for coping with urban expansion.

Exploring the Spatial Dynamics of Community for the Gay and Queer Population in Kraków, Poland by Daniel B. Hess

The population of sexual minorities in Poland has struggled to achieve equal rights since Poland gained independence after the post-socialist era began in 1989. This article traces the evolution of the LGBTQ+ minority in Poland, including discriminatory acts against sexual minorities in 2020 (punctuated by the creation of ‘LGBT zones’ by local municipal governments) and the actions the LGBTQ+ community has taken against this oppression and to further its aims for equal rights. Queer urban theory is employed as a lens for examining post-socialist space in Poland’s cities and queer political economy theory is used to explain the socio-spatial formation of enclaves for sexual minorities.

Click here to read the article in the journal Sexuality & Culture.

First, the article explores urban spatial dynamics of the gay and queer population and finds that LGBTQ+ spatial patterns are notably different in Poland’s post-socialist space compared to the Western gay-borhood model and that urban spatial processes in cities in post-socialist states may preclude the establishment of gayborhoods as they developed in Western Europe and North America. Second, the article explores the positioning of spatial analysis in scholarship about sexual minorities in Poland and finds that since queer communities cannot be readily understood within the framework of Western European and North American cities, new models are needed to explain the understudied spatial aspects of the LGBTQ+ community in cities in post-socialist states and the concomitant dispersal rather than spatial concentration of people identifying as sexual minorities.

Urban sprawl is a critical issue for people’s lives, our economies, our cities and our natural environments. This article explores urban development patterns as they are manifested in spatio-structural urban models in metropolitan areas (cluster, linear or dispersed) vis-à-vis evidence of sprawl. We focus on four metropolitan regions in southern Poland: the Wrocław metropolitan area, the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska metropolis, the Kraków metropolitan area and the Rzeszów metropolitan area. We use the GIS heat map tool to identify spatial models in our study areas and we isolate clusters of continuous compact development (and the spatial relationship of these clusters to urban boundaries) using the DBSCAN (density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise) algorithm.

Click here to read the article in Town Planning Review.

Findings suggest that most buildings (60 per cent to 65 per cent) tend to form clusters outside city boundaries across the four metropolitan areas studied; however, an exception is the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska metropolis, where clustering predominantly occurs within city limits. In addition, 20 per cent to 35 per cent of buildings in metropolitan areas across our study areas are not part of clusters, but the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska metropolis is again an exception, with only 5 per cent of buildings outside clusters. The research leads to four recommendations: promote cluster models for sustainable development, taking into account historical and policy influences; limit sprawl by adopting cluster model strategies in suitable urban zones; and pursue monocentric agglomerations, with the goal of sustainable urbanisation; cluster analysis with the DBSCAN algorithm determines more realistic urban development boundaries than the heat map tool. We propose action-oriented implementation strategies to reach these aims.

Re-examining fare-free public transport for greater inclusivity

Fare-free public transport (FFPT) schemes – in which public transport costs are paid through means other than individual ride fare – are gaining traction in improving public transport efficiency and accessibility. However, there is a lack of research about how these programs impact socio-economic, sexual orientation, and gender identity perspectives. While many studies collect demographic or economic data about public transport riders, they often fail to effectively utilize the data to its potential for research.

Click here to read the article in Transportation Research International Perspectives.

A review of 146 studies reveals significant intellectual gaps, including a lack of consideration for demographic characteristics of transport users, missed opportunities to incorporate socio-economic and sexual orientation and gender identity perspectives, and geographical imbalances in research. The review suggests the need for more comprehensive, equitable approaches to FFPT research that supports the development of inclusive public transport policies.

https://amzn.to/4lqq3Od

A critical component of climate change mitigation policy is to develop a sense of responsibility for climate change in children and young people. This study assesses the level of awareness among young people in small towns regarding climate change. The study also explores whether local climate change programmes involve urban communities in educational activities related to climate change and if these programmes have a real impact on the climate change awareness of young people.

Click here to read the article in MISCELLANEA GEOGRAPHICA – REGIONAL STUDIES ON DEVELOPMENT.

The research reports on a survey questionnaire of 195 young people in three types of secondary schools in the small town of Staszów, Poland. Findings suggest that there is no correlation between the type of school and the level of climate change awareness. Additionally, the study found that young people have a high level of awareness regarding local environmental activities.

Throughout Europe, large housing estates dating from the socialist era are an important part of the housing stock and cultural life, and in some cities the apartment buildings within them house more than half of the residents. There have been many attempts to regenerate large housing estates, since they were built with cheap materials, using contemporaneous (and outdated) planning principles, and were projected to be used for only one generation as ‘temporary housing’ until more permanent solutions could be established. Consequently, many large housing estates have survived beyond their useful life and are in need of renovation

Click here to read the article in Town Planning Review.

This article moves beyond individual and disconnected rehabilitation projects and renewal strategies and conceptualises a larger transformation of large housing estates in Central and Eastern Europe based on sustainability principles. We envision a comprehensive ‘green transformation’ that would transform large housing estates into ‘eco-villages’ that not only address current challenges but also propel large housing estates into their next lives as desirable residential space. The image of housing estates can be vastly improved if the built environments and landscapes are transformed so that housing estates possess green infrastructure and other features of sustainable design.

Fast food restaurants are ubiquitous in American cityscapes and often produce challenges for urban planners because their sites often require excessive provisions for automobiles in places where walkability and compactness are desired. This article explores the outcomes of a 2017 zoning reform in Buffalo, New York on the form and physical characteristics of fast food restaurants with drive through windows. Analyzing site plan and variance applications, we compare all drive through restaurant proposals approved under the new zoning code (2017 to 2022) with those approved prior to the zoning reform (2000 to 2016). After Buffalo’s transition to form-based zoning, fast food restaurant footprints consume on average 9 percent of property area, parking lots consume more land than building footprints in 90 percent of cases, and front setbacks are greater than 25 feet in 50 percent of cases. Automobile drivers continue to enjoy safer and more convenient site access than do pedestrians. The physical design and site layouts of drive through restaurants remain largely unchanged following the reform. Notable differences include a 25 percent decrease in parking lot size and 46 percent increase in vehicle stacking capacity in drive through lanes.

Following the zoning reform, a majority (80 percent) of proposed fast food restaurants were granted variances in the approval process to allow reduced façade transparency, excessive setbacks, and drive through lanes in prohibited zones. Stricter implementation and stronger incentives to develop in appropriate locations would support achieving the broad vision of the zoning code to preserve neighbor-hood character and activate mixed-use centers.

Click here to read the article in Discover Cities.

The world population continues to rapidly urbanise, and cities are increasingly relied upon to provide residents and visitors with opportunities for human growth and development. Even when societies confront challenges at national, multi-national or global scales, cities provide economies of scale and convenience that can help to deliver needed services efficiently and to provide a sense of connectedness for residents and visitors. For migrants, cities provide not only the possibility of a new beginning but also the promise of new opportunities and a fresh start in a new place.

Click here to read the article in Town Planning Review.

Three years on, dark stores continue to manifest. In 2021, during the high point of the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed an upturn in the number of dark stores that seemed to rapidly emerge as a result of changes in shopping habits and that gained a new prominence during and after lockdowns (Bitterman and Hess, 2021). This article updates and evaluates our original assertions about the rapid proliferation of dark stores and reflects on not only the continued progression of the dark store phenomena but also examines the economic and societal changes that both influence the popularity and sustain the growth of this unique retail typology and its effects on the built environment.

Click here to read the article in Town Planning Review.

The influence of nuclear deterrence during the Cold War on the growth and decline of the peripheral town of Valga/Valka

Estonia’s location in the geopolitically turbulent frontier area between the Russian and Western worlds has always affected the spatial development of Estonian cities and regions. Frontier lands inevitably experience militarisa- tion at times when international tensions build and demilitarisation and disarmament when tensions ease (Woodward 2005). In the 1990s, when Europe transformed at the end of the Cold War, one of the fastest growing research areas in the field of urban and regional studies was demilitarisation. Thirty years later, we are again living in times of rapidly growing military capabilities in Russian-Western border territories, including in Estonia where the deployment of military installations is back on the agenda (e.g., deploy- ment of NATO troops, residences of military personnel, and expansion of training grounds).

Click here to view the book Urban Planning During Socialism: Views from the Periphery on the Taylor and Frances webpage.

Leetmaa, K., J. Tintěra, T. Pae and D. B. Hess. 2023. “The Influence of Nuclear Deterrence During the Cold War on the Growth and Decline of the Peripheral Town of Valga/Valka.” in Urban Planning During Socialism: Views from the Periphery (Kadri Leetmaa and Jasna Mariotti, eds.) Taylor and Francis. [doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003327592-10]