Changes in Rural Areas in Poland. Spatial and Technical Aspects

Tomasz Budzyński, Sebastian Goraj, Marta Gwiaździńska‐Goraj, Wioleta Krupowicz, Agnieszka Szczepańska, Monika Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska, Michał Wrzosek

CHANGES IN RURAL AREAS IN POLAND. SPATIAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS

Zagreb, Croatia, 2015

Reviewers

Katarzyna Sobolewska-Mikulska Katarzyna Kocur-Bera

Scientific Editor

Tomasz Budzyński

Published by: Croatian Information Technology Society, GIS Forum 10 000 Zagreb, Ilica 191e, Croatia

ISBN 978‐953‐6129‐48‐5 Nacionalna knjižnica, Zagreb, Croatia

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ...... 4 1. CHANGES IN AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN NORTHERN POLAND IN 2002‐2010 ...... 6 1.1. Materials and methods ...... 6 1.2. Results and discussion ...... 11 1.3. Conclusions ...... 21 2. CHANGES IN THE AREA OF THE GREEN LUNGS OF POLAND ...... 22 2.1. Forms of environmental protection in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland ...... 23 2.2. Characteristics of the area of the Green Lungs of Poland in the aspect of land use and protected areas ...... 24 2.3. Materials and methods ...... 29 2.4. Research results...... 31 2.5. Conclusions ...... 39 3. PROCEDURE, CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS OF CONVERSION OF ARABLE LAND INTO BUILDING PLOTS BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE DĘBE WIELKIE COMMUNE ...... 40 3.1. Legal and technical aspects of the procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots ...... 4 1 3.1.1. Planning stage ...... 41 3.1.2. Preparatory stage ...... 45 3.2. Conditions and effects of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 53 3.2.1. General description of the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 53 3.2.2. Conditions of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 55 3.2.3. Effects of the process of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 56 3.3. Conclusions ...... 59 4. NEW MATERIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE SURFACES OF AGRICULTURAL ROADS IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ...... 60 4.1. Sustainable development of rural areas ...... 61 4.2. Classification of roads in Poland ...... 62 4.3. Structure of agricultural roads in Poland ...... 64 4.4. Technologies of road surfaces using recycled materials ...... 70 4.5. Ecological surfaces ...... 74 4.6. Comparative analysis of the surfaces of agricultural roads commonly applied in Poland and the world ...... 76 4.7. Conclusions ...... 77 REFERENCES ...... 79 LIST OF FIGURES ...... 84 LIST OF TABLES ...... 86 NOTES ON THE AUTHORS ...... 87

INTRODUCTION

This book presents current research on changes in rural areas in Poland. Particular attention has been paid to the spatial and technical aspects of these changes. The issue of the changes in Polish rural areas is the subject of numerous works and research interests. Particularly noteworthy subject related to rural transformation is agriculture, which plays an important role in the development of rural areas. Chapter 1 is an attempt to show the transformation of rural areas of Northern Polish, which occurred in the period between 2002 and 2010. This chapter contains only selected segments of the spatial structure of agriculture in combination with the structure of land use and agricultural production. For a more complete analysis and evaluation of the obtained spatial systems, in the research there are taken into account the influence of external conditions and the changes affecting agriculture. The scope of the chapter covers/refers to the time period between two Agricultural Censuses (2002‐2010) as especially important for changes in agriculture. For presentation of spatial differentiation of changes in agriculture and the direction of their development, thematic maps produced using GIS software are provided. Basic units for analysis are counties from 4 voivodeships: Pomeranian, West Pomeranian, Kuyavian‐Pomeranian, and Warmian‐Masurian. Chapter 2 concerns changes in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland. The region is situated in the north‐eastern part of the country, and it covers approximately 20% of Polish territory. The Green Lungs region covers the most valuable ecosystems in Poland and Europe. It abounds in large forests and water resources characterized by unique natural value, diverse flora and fauna and low population density. All activities initiated in the discussed region have to comply with the principles of sustainable development. The most valuable resources are entitled to various forms of legal protection to preserve the unique character of the Green Lungs of Poland. The majority of legal protection measures refers to surface resources, which is reflected in the local land‐use structure. Chapter 2 analyses changes in land‐use structure, using GIS, in particular in protected areas, to evaluate the processes observed in the Green Lungs of Poland. The discussed region is analyzed at the level of municipalities, the smallest administrative unit in Poland. The analysis covers the period of 2004‐2013. The results and the goals of Poland's environmental policy are discussed to illustrate development trends in protected areas that contribute to the preservation of the unique character of the Green Lungs of Poland. The next chapter of the monograph presents the process of conversion of arable land into building plots. The process, currently occurring in rural and suburban areas, considerably changes its character. The primary objective of the conversion of arable land is to create the possibilities of its development. The chapter 3 includes the legal and technical aspects of the procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots. They are discussed based on the description of the planning stage involving the development of the local plan and its passing, or obtaining the decision on the conditions of land development and management, and the preparatory stage involving undertaking actions aimed at preparing land for the future investment, including division of property, introducing technical infrastructure, and exclusion of land from agricultural production. The second part of the chapter presents conditions of conversion of arable land into building plots in the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune, which is located near Warsaw. The analysis covers planning documents and soil conditions. It is preceded by the description of the commune in terms of location, car and railway transport and the land use structure. Chapter 3 also presents effects of conversion of arable land into building plots in the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune such as the increase in residential areas and the number of population. Chapter 4 aims to present technical aspects of the changes in rural areas in Poland. The development of rural areas in Poland largely depends on efficient transport. The role of transport is systematically increasing along with the development of modern means of transport, machines, and tools. Such development, as well as the modern European approach to the changes in rural areas based on sustainable development, must be accompanied by progress in the application of 4 new material and technological solutions for the surfaces of agricultural roads. The objective of the chapter is to analyse the application of new materials and technologies in the construction of agricultural road surfaces in the aspect of the specific environmental‐landscape conditions, with emphasis on the “greening of roads” – a concept commonly applied in European countries. The chapter presents analysis of new technological solutions commonly applied in Poland and abroad, as well as the assessment of the possibilities of application of the best road solutions in rural areas in Polish conditions.

I wish You a fruitful reading. Scientific Editor Tomasz Budzyński

1. CHANGES IN AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN NORTHERN POLAND IN 2002‐2010

Rural areas in Poland are characterized by significant variations in natural, social and economic conditions. Historical events, the political transformations of 1989 and membership in the European Union have profoundly influenced the development of Polish rural areas. The impact of every factor is determined by the specific attributes of a given area. In the past, the main driver behind rural development was agriculture accompanied by other forms of human activity such as forestry, fisheries and settlement (KOSTROWICKI, 1972). With time, rural areas witnessed an increase in non‐farm productivity. Non‐farming activities were undertaken subject to the availability of local resources as well as social and economic demand to ensure that rural space is rationally managed. The introduced functions should not limit the development of agricultural practices, in particular in regions with highly favorable conditions for agricultural production. Specialization in farming is determined mainly by natural conditions (BAŃSKI, 2007). This work discusses changes in the use of agricultural land and agricultural production in northern Poland. Rural counties from 4 voivodeships: the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, and the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship were analyzed based on their environmental attributes, social and economic growth and history. The main aim of the study was to evaluate transformations of agricultural systems in the surveyed counties between 2002 and 2010, and to determine whether the present farming trends are consistent with the directions of agricultural growth in northern Poland.

1.1. Materials and methods Rural areas in northern Poland differ significantly in their natural conditions, levels of social and economic prosperity, and history.

Fig 1. Northern Poland by counties. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj. The present condition of rural areas in the northern parts of the country was greatly influenced by historical factors, in particular the partitions of Poland by foreign empires. Before World War II, most of the analyzed territory remained under Prussian rule. Unlike Russian and Austrian occupants, the Prussian authorities introduced land consolidation measures and more 6 advanced farming solutions, which contributed to intensive farming and high agricultural productivity. After World War II, former German estates and fallow land were transformed into State Agricultural Farms (PGR). In consequence of the political transformation of 1989, State‐ owned land was gradually privatized. In northern Poland, the highest number of collective farms had been set up in the Warmian‐Mazurian Voivodeship and the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Those territories rely on extensive farming with hired labor, and they are characterized by low levels of social development due to poor qualifications of the local labor force and passive attitudes of the local communities. Therefore, studies on development of agriculture and its transformation as an important role is the labor market, which can be seen in the context of the demographic structure of education and professional activity. In terms of the demographic the most important are changes related to the structure of the population in each group economics. In terms of the labor market it is of paramount importance in the productive age population specifying the main resource possible to use the workforce and pre‐working age population leads to the conclusion about the future potential of population. Table 1. Population in rural areas of northern Poland in economic groups

Specification northern Poland The population structure by economic groups in 2002 2010 percentages:

Population pre‐working age 28,0 22,9

Population in working age 59,4 64,4

Population in retirement age 12,6 12,8

Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl In the area of the northern Poland the percentage of each age group it stood in 2002 and 2010 at the same level (Table 1). Moreover, it deserves special attention the problem of aging persons engaged in agriculture. Age farmer in charge of a farm often has an impact on the flexibility in introducing innovations by farmers on the farm. The process of advancement of an aging population in the countryside can provide value ratio determining the share of the population aged 65 years older to the total population. In rural areas in northern Poland the share of the population aged 65 and over accounted for an average in 2002 was 10.8% and 2010 was 10.3%. It should be also remembered that this ratio varies regionally, where the highest participation received in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship and the lowest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. An important role in the efficiency of farming also plays called human capital, understood as a resource skills, knowledge and work experience. According to HALAMSKA (2013) education determines to a large extent, not only in socio‐professional, but also for employment. According to the educational level of rural population among the various groups of the population employed lowest rate hold a farmers. This is not a favorable situation because the level of education of people working in agriculture is an important factor in its development. As more and higher technological level of agricultural production requires skilled workers. In 2002 the percentage of university graduates to the total population aged 13 years and more rural areas of northern Polish amounted to 3.8% in 2011 to 8.7%. The spatial distribution analyzed indicator shows the spatial diversity but in both analyzed years the highest percentage of rural population with tertiary education was at the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and the lowest at the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship. Another important issue affecting the development of agriculture are labor resources. Rural surplus labor resources, which, without additional conditions may be subject to activation are in the form of unemployment (STANNY, 2013). The problem of identifying the actual level of unemployment is very difficult because most of the unemployed registered among rural residents is derived from landless families. If you are 7 from farming families not having another job are usually "work" even in part‐time on the farm. At the same time thus causing a surplus of labor resources in agriculture, which takes the form of hidden unemployment. In this case, the overriding objective of management becomes a family economic security, not profit maximization or efficiency (STANNY, 2010). This means that unemployment recorded mainly informs about unemployment among the population landless and hidden unemployment in the form of excessive employment in private farming. According to STANNY (2010), registered unemployment in the country for many years characterized by relatively stable spatial distribution, where the highest unemployment rate persists among others, in northern Poland. In 2010, the rate of unemployment in rural areas in northern Poland amounted to 16.8%. However, the distribution of analyzed indicator shows the importance of the impact of historical conditions resulting from the restructuring of the former state‐owned farms. Socio‐economic transformation after 1989 contributed to the decline in employment in the national economy. It is therefore particularly unfavorable situation has arisen in areas of those voivodeships where land accounted for a large share of the state sector (the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship, the West Pomeranian Voivodeship). After the collapse of state‐owned farms (PGR) thousands of villagers have lost their jobs, often the livelihoods of families (ZGLIŃSKI, 1994; STASIAK, 1995; GWIAŹDZIŃSKA, 2004). In addition, employees of state farms often characterized by low education. And difficulty finding work helped to shape the passive attitude of the post‐ State farms to seek work. In addition, unemployment in these areas often simultaneously bind co‐ create post‐State farms to housing communities. In addition, unemployment in these areas often co‐creator bound simultaneously post‐State farms to housing communities. Among the analyzed voivodeships received the highest unemployment rate in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship ‐ 20.0%. The largest concentration of counties where the registered unemployment rate in rural areas was above 21% occurred in the eastern part of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship, where it performed the largest share of state land in the total area counties. The lowest rate of unemployment received in the Pomeranian Voivodeship ‐ 12.3%. This result was influenced by the fact that in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship dominated by individual agriculture. On the other hand, there is the danger of hypertrophy of employment in individual farms that family absorbed the surplus labor force in the absence of non‐agricultural jobs (JEZIERSKA‐THÖLE, KLUBA, 2012). This condition can contribute to the underutilization of labor resources in these holdings, resulting in a relatively low their efficiency. Therefore, an important measure of the labor input of workers in agriculture is the number of AWU per 100 ha of farmland (POST, 2003; FRENKEL, 2007). This ratio expresses the constant activity on labor incurred to produce agricultural production within 12 months. Due to the high share of employment in agriculture in part‐time and seasonal employment of casual workers, contract employees as part of helping one's neighbor and "other workers" shall be calculated annual work unit (AWU) as a lack of equivalent full‐time. AWU calculated by dividing the number of hours performed during the year by the annual number of hours equivalent of full time. For the Polish equivalent of full‐time work 2,120 hours were adopted in the year, ie. 265 days working 8 hours a day working on the assumption that 1 person can not be more than 1 AWU, even if in fact the person works longer. The density ratio of the agricultural labor force in terms of units AWU allows a comparison of labor between the studied individuals in the Polish agriculture. The number of employed in agriculture in units AWU per 100 ha of arable land in 2010 at the northern Poland averaged 7.1. The spatial distribution of the analyzed ratio shows the inverse of the decomposition rate of registered unemployment. High values obtained, counties in the provinces characterized by traditional family farming and the lowest in the counties provinces, where there were state‐owned farms and now large farm holdings.

Fig. 2. The number of employed in agriculture in units AWU per 100 ha of arable land in 2010 at the northern Poland. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl According to ZEGARA (2003) socio‐economic development must be based not only on agricultural production but also in the non‐agricultural entrepreneurship, because only such a combination will encourage the development of the region. Entrepreneurship development as it allows the use of on‐site manpower freed‐up resources, allowing you to work or supplement their income rural population. In rural areas, the northern Polish between 2002 and 2010, the number of entities of the national economy according to the code has increased from 24889 to 31415th. However, the concentration of economic entities is illustrated in more detail, however, the number of operators per 10 thousand. residents. On the basis of the above‐mentioned ratio clearly shows its regional diversity. The highest values obtained districts of the province earthly of the Weast Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the least favorable for the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship.

Fig. 3. The number of economic entities per 10 000 population in rural areas of northern Polish. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl 9

At the same time the diversity of the spatial structure of national economy in terms of business activity in rural areas of the northern Polish in existing natural conditions and historical past. On account of its operations by division into sectors I, II and III, the largest share in rural areas are the northern Polish economic entities classified as a service. Entities operating in the industrial and construction dominate in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and connected with agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship. Those areas differ considerably from rural counties in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship where the agricultural sector involves mostly individual farms and traditional farming methods. In this study, local agri‐environmental conditions were assessed with the use of a method for the evaluation and classification of agricultural land, developed by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Puławy (BAŃSKI, 2007; KULIKOWSKI, 2007; KOSTROWICKI and FALKOWSKI, 2001). Land quality indicators (LQI) were developed based on four principal natural factors: soil quality and productivity, climate, land relief and hydrological conditions. High LQI values indicate land characterized by high agricultural potential (the national average is 66.6 points). LQI values differed significantly across the analyzed counties of northern Poland, ranging from 95.5 points in the Malbork county (the Pomeranian Voivodeship) to 45.4 points in the Kościerzyna county (the Pomeranian Voivodeship). The highest LQI values (>80 points) were noted in the area of Żuławy Wiślane (Vistula delta), Pyrzyce‐Starogard Plain, Chełm Lakeland, Inowrocław Plain and Kujawy Lakeland. The lowest values of LQI (<40 points) were noted in the Kurpie Plain, Kaszuby Lakeland, Charzyków Plain and Augustów Plain.

Fig. 4. Land quality indicators in northern Poland. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on agricultural space valorisation Polish, 2000, IUNiG, Puławy Northern Poland is also characterized by significant differences in levels of social and economic development. According to STANNY (2013), rural development in Poland is polarized – rural areas are more developed in western than in eastern parts of the country, and the highest social and economic progress is noted in rural municipalities situated in suburban zones of regional hubs. This study was carried out between two agricultural censuses of 2002 and 2010. The analyzed period was particularly important for Polish agriculture, mainly due to the availability and effective utilization of EU funds (RUDNICKI, 2013, 2014). Census records from 2002 and 2010 offer a wealth of information and support a detailed evaluation of the analyzed period. The surveyed areas were rural counties in 4 voivodeships: the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship, the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, and the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In order to analyze the following indicators were used: 10

 proportional share of arable land in agricultural land,  proportional share of orchards in agricultural land,  proportional share of grassland in agricultural land,  proportional share of major cereals and cereal mixtures in cropped area,  cattle population per 100 ha of agricultural land,  pig population per 100 ha of agricultural land. Agricultural land use and agricultural production in northern Poland were evaluated based on diagnostic indicators given in the literature. The selected indicators were analyzed to determine the spatial distribution and rate of changes in the agricultural sector of the surveyed areas. The values for the initial year of the study (2002) represented 100%, and the values for the final year (2010) were benchmarked relative to 100%. Based on the values of indicators in each group, countries were divided into five classes through class I (highest values) to class V (lowest values).

1.2. Results and discussion Agricultural land use is determined by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Agricultural land is defined as land that is directly used in agricultural production, mainly arable land, orchards and permanent grasslands. The correlations between various land‐use types strongly influence the production profile of a farm (RUDNICKI, KLUBA 2014). The present changes in the structure of agricultural land are driven mainly by the availability of EU funds, mostly Single Area Payments and subsidies granted as part of the Rural Development Program. In northern Poland, the area of agricultural land decreased from 4,178,139.2 ha in 2002 to 3,981,754.7 ha in 2010, i.e. by approximately 5%, which could be attributed to reduced profitability of agricultural production as well as growing afforestation. In 2002, the percentage of agricultural land in total land area varied significantly between the surveyed counties. The Pisz county (the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship) had the lowest percentage of agricultural land (24.4%) and a high percentage of forests. The share of agricultural land is generally low in areas characterized by low agricultural productivity and high forest cover, such as the Pisz Forest and the Tuchola Forest. The highest percentage of agricultural land (84.8%) was observed in the Malbork county (the Pomeranian Voivodeship).

Fig. 5. The area of agricultural land in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Counties with a high share of farmland in their total area were situated mostly in Żuławy Wiślane, Chełm Lakeland and Inowrocław Plain which are also characterized by high LQI values. The Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, which is renowned for its high quality soils, was characterized by the highest number of counties occupied by agricultural land in more than 80%, whereas the percentage of farmland was evenly distributed in the remaining regions. In 2010, the share of farmland in northern Poland ranged from 21.2% in the Police county (the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) to 95.2% in the Inowrocław county (the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship). The spatial distribution of agricultural land in the analyzed counties was very similar in 2002 and 2010, and those similarities can be attributed mainly to natural factors. The area occupied by farmland decreased in 58 out of 72 rural counties of northern Poland. However, the decrease in agricultural area exceeded 10% in only 35 counties in 2010, as compared with 2002 data.

Fig. 6. Dynamic of change in the area of agricultural land in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002‐2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl Table 2. Agricultural land in the years 2002 and 2010 in the northern Polish

Agricultural land in ha The dynamics of change Specification 2002 2010 in 2002 = 100 The Kuyavian‐Pomeranian 1097179 1076132 98 Voivodeship The Pomeranian Voivodeship 863335 809737 94 The Warmian‐Masurian 1179714 1113130 94 Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship 1037911 1076132 104 Northern Poland 4178139 3981755 95

Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl Between 2002 and 2010, the percentage of agricultural land decreased in all analyzed regions excluding the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The noted decrease did not exceed 5%. The observed decline is an inevitable, long‐term process which is particularly often observed in the vicinity of urban areas where land is put mostly to non‐agricultural use. Another reason for the above trend is low productivity of poor quality soils.

Table 3. Agricultural land in the northern Polish

Proportional share Proportional share Proportional share of arable land in of orchards in of grassland in Specification agricultural land agricultural land agricultural land

2002 2010 2002 2010 2002 2010 The Kuyavian‐ Pomeranian 88.2 83.1 0.9 1.0 10.9 13.1 Voivodeship The Pomeranian 81.6 69.0 0.4 0.8 18.0 16.5 Voivodeship The Warmian‐Masurian 69.9 56.1 0.2 0.8 30.2 31.6 Voivodeship The West Pomeranian 81.2 69.0 0.4 2.8 17.7 16.0 Voivodeship Northern Poland 80.0 69.6 0.5 1.3 19.5 19.7 Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl Crop and livestock productivity is determined by the types of agricultural enterprises set up on local ground (RUDNICKI, KLUBA, 2014). Arable land was the predominant type of agricultural land in northern Poland in both 2002 and 2010. However, the area occupied by arable land decreased in all analyzed regions. The highest percentage of arable land was observed in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship which has favorable conditions for agricultural production. The Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship is characterized by the least favorable conditions for crop production and the highest share of grasslands. Orchards are important permanent croplands, but they account for a small proportion of agricultural land in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship. The highest percentage of orchards was noted in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The area of agricultural land occupied by orchards increased in all analyzed regions. The spatial distribution of orchards was determined mainly by natural factors and environmental conditions as well as the level of social and economic prosperity.

Fig. 7. The area of arable land in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Arable land accounts for a high proportion of agricultural land in Poland (SZCZĘSNY, 1997, p. 13). In rural areas of northern Poland, arable land occupied 80.3% of total farmland in 2002, but only 74.3% in 2010. According to GŁĘBOCKI (2014), the noted decrease is inevitable, but arable land should be more rigorously protected against conversion to non‐agricultural uses. In northern Poland, the Szczytno county had the lowest proportion of arable land at around 45% in 2002. Rural counties where arable land represented less than 60% of farmland are situated in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship and are characterized by low LQI. In 2002, the highest share of arable land was noted in the Mogilno county at approximately 94.6%. Rural counties where arable land occupies more than 90% of agricultural land are situated mostly in the Kuyavian‐ Pomeranian Voivodeship, which has favorable conditions for agriculture, in particular high quality soils.

Fig. 8. Dynamic of change in the area of arable land in the agriculture land in northern Poland in 2002‐2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl In 2010, the proportion of arable land in farmland ranged from 27.9% in the Szczytno county to 93.6% in the Mogilno county, and the average for northern Poland was 74.3%. Between 2002 and 2010, the area occupied by arable land increased in only seven counties, and it decreased in the remaining counties. The highest decrease of more than 40% was noted in the Szczytno county in the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship. In most cases, the greatest reduction in the percentage of arable land was observed in rural counties in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship and the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Cropped area is an important indicator in evaluations of changes in agricultural land use. In spatial analyses of agricultural productivity, crop plants are classified according to various criteria including their botany, uses and cultivation method (CYMERMAN, 2012; RUDNICKI, KLUBA, 2014). In northern Poland, cropped area increased from 2,675,907 ha in 2002 to 2,746,103 ha in 2010. Cereals occupy the largest cropped area in the entire country. In northern Poland, the percentage of cropped area sown with cereals (pure stands and mixtures) decreased from 75.2% in 2002 to 65.1% in 2010. Various factors induced changes in the structure of cereal crops. Between 2002 and 2010, a decrease was noted in the percentage of rye (from 15.8 % to 13.0%), barley (from 15.7% to 14.3%) and cereal mixtures (from 13.9% to 10.9%), whereas an increase was observed in the proportions of triticale (from 12.9% to 19.2%) and oats (from 6.1% to 6.9%) in the analyzed part of the country. The area under wheat remained fairly stable (35.6%% in 2002 and 35.8% in 2010). In northern Poland, spatial variations were observed in the percentage of area sown with various cereals. Wheat is the strategic crop in all analyzed regions, and its significance is determined by LQI values as well as economic and organizational factors (KACPRZAK, 2014). Wheat had the highest share of the area sown with major cereals and 14 cereal mixtures in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in particular in the Szczecin Lowland. The second predominant crop was rye, a cereal which has low soil, climatic and cultivation requirements. The highest percentage of arable land sown with rye was noted in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Triticale is an increasingly popular crop in Poland, and in northern Poland, the percentage of area sown with triticale was highest in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship. According to KULIKOWSKI (2005), the growing significance of triticale, which is gradually replacing rye and oats, is a positive sign because this cereal species is characterized by a higher nutritional value for livestock than those two staple crops. KACPRZAK (2014) argued that the demand for triticale is increasing in farms where pigs are fed cereals with the addition of protein concentrates, mostly in regions that specialize in commercial pork and poultry production. Barley was the predominant crop in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship. Oats, a crop that can grow within a relatively wide range of temperatures, is a highly nutritional component of both human and animal diets. The highest percentage of area under oats was noted in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. A predominance of cereal mixtures was observed in areas with less fertile soils where those crops were grown mainly for feed. Cereal mixtures were most highly represented in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship. Industrial crops are also an important part of the Polish cropping system. Sugar beets are very labor‐intensive and require high levels of mineral fertilization, skillful cultivation and high‐ quality soils. In northern Poland, the percentage of beet acreage decreased from 3.2% in 2002 to 2.3% in 2010. The largest area under beets was noted in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship where it accounted for 5.9% of total cropped area in 2002 and only 4.3% in 2010. Sugar beets were the least significant crop in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship where their share of total cropped area did not exceed 1%. The above can be attributed to low LQI values of agricultural land in Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship. Potatoes are also a very important crop which is widely used in human nutrition, industrial processing and animal feed. The proportion of area sown with potatoes in total cropped area decreased from 4.3% in 2002 to 2.4% in 2010 in northern Poland, which can be attributed to changes in the nutritional preferences of Polish consumers, changes in pig nutrition and the production of concentrate mixtures (KACPRZAK, 2014; RUDNICKI, 2014). Potatoes had the highest share of cropped area in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, which was determined at 5.7% in 2002 and 3.7% in 2010. The area under potatoes decreased in all analyzed regions. Vegetables play a vital role in human nutrition, but the area occupied by vegetable crops is relatively limited. Vegetable production is labor‐intensive, and it is concentrated mostly in the vicinity of urban centers where the produce is sold. In northern Poland, the percentage of area under vegetables in total cropped area remained fairly stable in the analyzed period at 1.0% in 2002 and 1.1% in 2010. In Poland, vegetables have the highest share of cropped area in the Vistula valley, in midstream and downstream sections of the river. In the analyzed area, vegetable acreage had the highest percentage of sown area in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship (1.6% in 2002 and 2.3% in 2010) and in the Pomeranian Voivodeship (1.3% in 2002 and 1.0% in 2010). The distribution of specific vegetable crops varied between the analyzed regions due to differences in local climate, soil conditions and the cultivated varieties.

Fig. 9. The area of major cereals and cereal mixtures in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Fig. 10. Dynamic of change in the area of major cereals and cereal mixtures in northern Poland in 2002‐ 2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl The spatial distribution and the rate of changes in agricultural land use in northern Poland between 2002 and 2010 was analyzed based on the data covering major cereals, including cereal mixtures. Cereals are the most versatile crops which can be cultivated in the widest range of soil and climate conditions. Cereals are used in human and animal nutrition, they are industrially processed, and straw, the main by‐product of cereal production, is the main component of manure (BAŃSKI, 1998; GWIAŹDZIŃSKA, 2004). In northern Poland, the area under major cereals and cereal mixtures decreased by 11.3% in the analyzed period, from 2,014,232 ha in 2002 to 1,786,463 ha in 2010. Cereals had the highest share of cropped area in the Nowe Miasto county (the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship) at 84.9% and the lowest share in the Grudziądz county (the Kuyavian‐Pomerania Voivodeship) at 66.5%. The proportion of area under cereals in total cropped area was highest in rural counties in the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship and lowest in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship. An analysis of the spatial distribution of counties with the highest and lowest percentages of cereal crops revealed a 16 significant influence of natural factors and environmental conditions. Major cereals and cereal mixtures occupied the smallest proportion of cropped area in counties characterized by high soil quality and soil productivity. In the analyzed period, the area under major cereals and cereal mixtures remained stable or increased in only seven out of 72 rural counties of northern Poland. The share of cereals decreased in the remaining rural counties, and the noted decrease exceeded 20% in 80% of those counties. The observed changes have positive implications. According to KACPRZAK (2014), a very high percentage of cereals in the cropping system leads to excessive simplification of crop rotation, which reduces the content of humic substances in soil.

Fig. 11. The area of permanent grasslands in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Fig. 12. Dynamic of change in the area of permanent grasslands in northern Poland in 2002‐2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl The percentage of permanent grasslands in agricultural land is an important consideration when planning agricultural production. Areas with a predominance of permanent grasslands are particularly suited for cattle, sheep and horse breeding. The total area of permanent grasslands in rural counties of northern Poland was determined at 772,573.41 ha in 17

2010, and it decreased by 14,805.14 ha in comparison with 2002. The greatest differences were observed in the area of permanent meadows and permanent pastures. In 2002, meadows occupied a total area of 48,063,003 ha and pastures – 30,674,852 ha. In 2010, the area of meadows was determined at 521,357 ha and the area of pastures – at 251,216 ha. The observed reduction in pasture area and the simultaneous increase in meadow area could be attributed to EU funding and the afforestation of pastures characterized by low productivity. Higher subsidies were granted in respect of meadows that were used in line with EU recommendations, in particular those covered by the Natura 2000 network that provides protection of endangered bird species and natural habitats. The above scheme increased the area of meadows and decreased the area of pastures, some of which were classified as meadows or planted with trees (GŁĘBOCKI, 2014). The spatial distribution of permanent grasslands was evaluated based on their percentage in total farmland area. In 2002, the share of permanent grasslands varied widely from 5.1% in the Mogilno county (the Kuyavian‐ Pomeranian Voivodeship) to 54.9% in the Szczytno county (the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship). The above points to a predominance of permanent grasslands in rural countries characterized by poor soils, unfavorable hydrological conditions for crop production and a short growing season. More than 30% of counties with a high proportion of permanent grasslands in their total agricultural area were situated in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship which has the least favorable conditions for growing crops. The share of permanent grasslands increased in 22 counties, which could be attributed to the availability of EU funds. This increase was observed mainly in rural counties of the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship which had the highest percentage of permanent grasslands already in 2002. In 2010, the greatest reduction in the share of permanent grasslands relative to 2002 was noted in rural counties in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Fig. 13. The cattle populations in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Fig. 14. Dynamic of change cattle populations in northern Poland in 2002‐2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl Livestock farms supply products intended for direct consumption as well as raw materials for the food processing industry. Livestock numbers per 100 ha of agricultural land point to the predominance of cattle and pig farming in northern Poland. Cattle farming has a long tradition in Poland, but cows are bred mainly for milk and milk products rather than beef which is not very popular on the domestic market. In northern Poland, the size of cattle populations per 100 ha decreased from 12.6 head in 2002 to only 8.7 head in 2010. Cattle statistics differed significantly between the analyzed areas, from 5 large head per 100 ha in the Wałcz county (the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) to 62 large head in the Rypin county (Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship). Commercial cattle farming is correlated with the presence of a favorable breeding environment and the abundance of permanent grasslands. The highest number of counties with cattle populations in excess of 20 head per 100 ha of land was noted in the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship and the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, whereas the smallest cattle herds were found in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. In the analyzed period, the highest, nearly 50% increase in the size of cattle populations was noted in the Police county (the West Pomeranian Voivodeship). Despite the above, the Police county is still characterized by a low level of cattle production in comparison with the remaining rural counties. A high increase was also observed in counties where cattle populations exceeded 40 head per 100 ha already in 2002, mostly in the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship. In the analyzed period, cattle production increased mainly in counties with a high proportion of permanent grasslands in total agricultural area.

Fig. 15. The pork production in the rural areas in northern Poland in 2002 year. Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl

Fig. 16. Dynamic of change pork production in northern Poland in 2002‐2010 (2002=100). Source: S. Goraj, M. Gwiaździńska‐Goraj calculations based on www.stat.gov.pl Pork production is also a major component of Polish agriculture. The size of pig populations is not highly correlated with the area of agricultural land, mostly because non‐ marketable feed components are not widely used in pig nutrition. Today, most pig breeders rely on concentrate which is often supplied by external producers (GŁĘBOCKI, 2005; GŁĘBOCKI, 2014; RUDNICKI, KLUBA, 2014). The pig population in rural counties of northern Poland decreased from 117 head per 100 ha in 2002 to 95 head in 2010. Significant variations were observed between counties – from 20 large head per 100 ha in Police (the West Pomeranian Voivodeship) to 334 large head in Nowe Miasto (the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship). Pig population density was highest in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, which has been long renowned for its livestock, and lowest in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship and the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Between 2002 and 2010, pig populations per 100 ha of farmland decreased in all analyzed counties, excluding Szczecinek, Człuchów, Nowe Miasto and Iława. 20

1.3. Conclusions The results of our study indicate that northern Poland is characterized by favorable conditions for agricultural development. In the analyzed regions, the success of agricultural practices can be attributed mainly to natural factors, high farming standards and the political transformations of 1989. Northern Poland is characterized by spatial variations in agricultural land use, cropping systems and livestock farming. Those differences contributed to the development of specific branches of agriculture across the analyzed regions. The highest LQI values were noted the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, in particular in rural counties in the southern part of the Voivodeship and in rural counties situated along the border of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship in the downstream section of the Vistula River. Agricultural acreage in northern Poland decreased in the analyzed period. The highest decrease was observed in counties with unfavorable soil and climate conditions, mainly in the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship. In most cases, the reduction in the area of agricultural land can be attributed to afforestation or land conversion to non‐farming purposes. The analysis also revealed differences in the structure of agricultural land in northern Poland. The percentage of arable land in total agricultural area decreased between 2002 and 2010, but the rate of the observed changes differed between counties. The greatest reduction in area occupied by arable land was noted in rural counties with unfavorable conditions for agriculture. The share of arable land increased in rural counties characterized by the most supportive agri‐environment. A region's existing potential determines the optimal type of agricultural production. A decrease was also observed in the proportion of permanent grasslands in total agricultural area. Grasslands had the highest share of farmland in rural counties with unfavorable conditions for crop production. In the analyzed period, the noted increase in the share of meadows was accompanied by a decrease in the percentage of pastures, which could be attributed to the higher value of EU subsidies for farmers who stopped grazing their pastures. Agricultural subsidies for walnuts contributed to an increase in orchard area. Between 2002 and 2010, the highest increase in orchard acreage was noted in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The proportion of land sown with major cereals and cereal mixtures in total cropped area was also analyzed in the study. In both 2002 and 2010, cereals had the highest share of the cropping system at 75% and 65%, respectively. Cereals have low soil requirements, and they were the least significant crops in rural counties in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Pomeranian Voivodeship which are characterized by the highest soil quality and productivity. The study also analyzed changes in cattle and pig production between 2002 and 2010. In northern Poland, the largest cattle populations per 100 ha of agricultural land were noted in the southern part of the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship and in the northern part of the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship. Livestock production also increased in the above regions. Cattle farming was least intensive in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Pig production is a very important component of Polish agriculture, and the optimal conditions for pig farming were observed in rural counties in the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, characterized by favorable environmental conditions and located in the vicinity of large pork markets in urban centers. In can be concluded that agricultural transformations in northern Poland, reflected in changes in the values of the analyzed indicators, point to growing specialization in crop or livestock production subject to local agri‐environmental conditions.

2. CHANGES IN THE AREA OF THE GREEN LUNGS OF POLAND

The idea of the Green Lungs of Poland was initiated in 1983, and it concerned the north‐ eastern part of Poland (Fig. 18), due to its high natural values that are unique on the European scale. Based on its concept, the Green Lungs of Poland covered the areas [STANKIEWICZ, 1993a; Development Strategy of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland. Thesis provision. 1999; WOLFRAM, 2010]: – of similar natural features; – of significant percentage of water areas of lakes and wetlands; – of dense forest complexes with high forest cover; – which are legally protected flora and fauna refuges; – of large areas of protected areas; – of low population density, urbanization and industrialization level; – with prevalence of traditional agriculture (extensive farming of agricultural lands); – of lower level of risk to environment in comparison to the country's level (first and foremost, no major air pollution sources). The idea was based on comprehensive protection of nature heritage in this area in conjunction with economic growth and the progress of civilisation, which complies with the principles of ecodevelopment. On 20 December 2004 in Warsaw, the Fourth Agreement on Cooperation for the benefit of Sustainable Development and Promotion of the Green Lungs of Poland area with preservation of its biological diversity and cultural identity, called the Green Lungs of Poland Agreement, was put into force. The Agreement stipulated that the following objectives should be met [WOLFRAM, 2010]: – revival and pro‐environment focus on social and economic development of the area; – growth of attractiveness and competitiveness of Poland on the European arena; – inclusion of the area and function of the Green Lungs of Poland in spatial and regional policy of the state; – improving knowledge on natural and cultural values of the Green Lungs of Poland among the inhabitants of the region, Poland and Europe. High quality natural environment is the greatest opportunity for the regions composing the Green Lungs of Poland. High quality natural environment translates into high tourist attractiveness. There is a high tourism demand for unique natural resources both on the European and world scale. The historically developed network of urban centres of high cultural values is an element that fosters growth in tourism. Its even location in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland enhances the tourist values of the area and provides tourism traffic services. Indeed, as set forth by the Development Strategy of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland. Thesis provision. [1999], it is a “symbiosis of urbanized environment with the natural environment, which enhances the values of these lands for tourism development”. Along with its traditional agricultural functions, tourism is the main direction of development of this area. The concept of the Green Lungs of Poland was a starting point for the concept of the Green Lungs of Europe. The Green Lungs of Europe area covers the most valuable natural lands of the north‐eastern part of Poland, Russia, the northern administrative units (oblasts) of Ukraine and the entire areas of Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, due to their unique environmental values (Fig. 17). The area covered by the concept of the Green Lungs of Europe includes regions similar in terms of their natural, economic and cultural features, which results both from its natural and historical conditions [STANKIEWICZ, 1993b; LULEWICZ, WOLFRAM, 2007].

Fig. 17. Coverage of the Green Lungs of Europe. Source: The Green Lungs of Poland Foundation http://www.fzpp.pl/assets/files/Nowa%20mapa%20ZPE.pdf 2.1. Forms of environmental protection in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland The greatest achievements of the Green Lungs of Poland should include establishment, as a result of the Agreement, of the largest system of protected areas in Poland, which consists of different forms of nature protection: national parks, nature reserves, landscape parks, protected landscape areas, landscape‐nature complexes, documentation sites, nature monuments, ecological areas and Natura 2000 areas (including those listed by UNESCO, Polish Red Book of Animals or Polish Red Book of Plants). Pursuant to the Environment Protection Law, the particular forms of protection are defined as follows: – national park ‐ includes protected areas distinguishing for particular natural, scientific, social, cultural and educational values, not smaller than 1 000 ha, where all nature elements and specific landscape features are protected; – nature reserve ‐ includes areas in natural or slightly changed state, ecosystems, refuges and natural habitats. It also protects habitats of plants, animals and fungi as well as formations and elements of inanimate nature, having essential environmental, scientific, cultural values or landscape features; – landscape park ‐ is an area protected because of its natural, historical and cultural values as well as for landscape features. The aim of landscape park creation is preservation and dissemination of these values in conditions of sustainable development; – protected landscape area ‐ covers the lands protected due to their unique landscape of varied ecosystems, valuable due to the possibility to fulfil the needs related to tourism and recreation or its function of ecological corridors; 23

– landscape‐nature complexes ‐ are fragments of natural and cultural landscape that are worth protecting due to their scenic or aesthetic features; – documentation sites ‐ are not distinguished on the surface or are possible to be distinguished, important in scientific and educational terms, places of occurrence of geological formations, concentrations of fossils or mineral formations, caves or rock shelters along with silt‐covered grounds and fragments of active or closed surface and underground excavations; – nature monuments ‐ are single objects of animate and inanimate nature or their clusters of special environmental, scientific, cultural, historical or landscape value and of distinctive individual features, trees of impressive size, native and alien shrubs, springs, waterfalls, karst springs, rocks, ravines, erratic blocks and caves; – ecological areas ‐ are worth protecting fragments of ecosystems of significant importance for biodiversity – natural water reservoirs, field and forest ”small ponds”, groups of trees and shrubs, swamps, peatbogs, dunes, patches of non‐used vegetation, old river beds, rock outcrops, scarps, gravel‐banks, etc.; – Natura 2000 Area – Special Protection Areas of birds – SPA, Special Areas of Conservation of habitats – SAC or an area of significance for the European Union, established for the purpose of protection of naturally occurring wild bird populations or natural habitats or species of interest for the European Union.

2.2. Characteristics of the area of the Green Lungs of Poland in the aspect of land use and protected areas The area of the Green Lungs of Poland covers the north‐eastern part of Poland and stretches over the territories of five voivodeships: the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Mazovia Voivodeship, the Podlaskie Voivodeship, the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship. Currently, the area covers a total of 63 234 km2 (in 1993, it was 60 759 km2), which is 20.2% of the total area of the country (Table 4). It covers 386 municipalities (gminas) being parts of 58 districts (poviats) (Fig. 18). Table 4. Area and administrative structure as of 31 December 2012 Voivodeship Area [km2] Number of municipalities [items] The Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship 3 442 33 The Mazovia Voivodeship 14 810 114 The Podlaskie Voivodeship 20 187 118 The Pomeranian Voivodeship 794 6 The Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship 24 001 115 The Green Lungs of Poland in total 63 234 386

Source: Green Lungs of Poland in 2012,Central Statistical Office in Białystok, 2014

Fig. 18. Area of the Green Lungs of Poland. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study Analysing geodesic status and directions of land use, we can state that agricultural lands and forests cover the greatest percentage of total area in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland (Fig. 19). It a characteristic of these areas that results from their typical agricultural role, which translates into high natural environment values.

Fig. 19. Green Lungs of Poland – land use 2012. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study based on Green lungs of Poland in 2012

The natural character of the environment of the Green Lungs of Poland area is determined by forests and permanent pastures. For the area of the Green Lungs of Poland, a high percentage of permanent pastures in the total area of agricultural lands, substantially higher than the country average, is its characteristic feature. This is relevant, because grasslands together with forests determine the natural values of this area. At the end of 2012, the area of forests within the borders of the Green Lungs of Poland (Fig. 20) accounted for 19.7% of national resources. The large forest complexes situated in the central and eastern part of the area create an abundance of forest resources. The forest cover indicator was calculated as the percentage ratio of forest area to total geographical area. The Green Lungs of Poland indicator equals 28.5% and is close to the country ratio.

Key: GLP‐ Green Lungs of Poland, K‐P ‐ The Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship, Mas ‐ The Masovia Voivodeship, Pod – The Podlaskie Voivodeship, Pom –The Pomeranian Voivodeship, W‐M – The Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship

Fig. 20. Forest land area in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha]. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study based on Green lungs of Poland in 2012, 2009 and 2006 The forest area indicator per 1 inhabitant in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland (Fig. 21) is significantly higher than the country average. This is due both to the high percentage of forests and low population density, which results from the agricultural character of these lands.

Fig. 21. Forest area per 1 inhabitant in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha]. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐ Pszczółkowska study based on Green lungs of Poland in 2012, 2009 and 2006 In order to preserve the unique character of the Green Lungs of Poland, the exclusions of agricultural and forest lands should be minimized. As regards the type of exclusions, those related to residential areas are predominant. They are followed by industrial and communication land exclusions. The scale of exclusions in the years 2006, 2009 and 2012 is presented in Fig. 22. A great diversity of this phenomenon might be observed. In the areas of respective areas composing the Green Lungs of Poland, opposing upward or downward trends are shown.

Fig. 22. Agricultural land designated for non‐agricultural purposes and forest land designated for non‐forest purposes in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha]. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study based on Green lungs of Poland in 2012, 2009 and 2006

As set forth by the Development Strategy of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland. Thesis provision. [1999], “the environment of the Green Lungs of Poland demonstrates a high self‐renewal capacity, which is in addition maintained by the already developed system of legally protected areas and supported by the programme of uncultivated lands and biodiversity enrichment action“. In order to implement the programme of natural environment protection, the Strategy indicates the tasks that need to be performed: – establishment of new and extension of existing national parks, landscape parks, nature reserves, local and supralocal systems of protected areas; – excluding from development the areas of the highest natural and landscape values and the areas that perform important ecological functions; – sustainable forest management; – afforestation of part of the lands excluded from agricultural production; – resignation from economic use of part of the agricultural lands excluded from production; – use of fallows and set‐aside lands. In order to preserve the natural environment values of the Green Lungs of Poland, The Framework Programme for Development of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland for the years 2007–2015 [2007] puts forward the following activities: – prevention from biological diversity loss; – stimulating and coordinating activities targeted at creation of new protected areas; – intensification of afforestation; – development of agro‐environmental areas. Due to high natural values of the Green Lungs of Poland area, 35.5% of its total area as of 31 December 2012 was composed of legally protected areas possessing unique environmental value, excluding Natura 2000 areas (for country: 32.3%). This rate is significantly higher if Natura 2000 areas are included. The areas of special natural values accounted for 22.1% of the national resources. Pursuant to the Framework Programme for Development of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland for the years 2007–2015 [2007] and The Green Lungs Of Poland. Nature and landscape values [2009], the ecological system of protected areas in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland includes: 4 national parks (Białowieża, Biebrza Narew and Wigry National Parks), 235 nature reserves, 13 landscape parks, 56 protected landscape areas, 745 ecological areas, 10 nature‐landscape complexes and 5 documentation sites. This system is complemented with 5 231 nature monuments and 43 Natura 2000 areas. The structure of special nature value areas within the Green Lungs of Poland is presented in Fig. 23.

Fig. 23. Forms of protection of unique environmental value areas within the borders of the Green Lungs of Poland. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study based on Green Lungs of Poland in 2012 28

The unique environmental values of the Green Lungs of Poland area are reflected in nature valuation. In line with the concept of the National Ecological Network (ECONET Poland), in this area, there are 11 out of 46 core areas of international significance designated in the entire country. Their area accounts for 32% of the total areas of this class in Poland [The Framework Programme for Development of the Functional Area of the Green Lungs of Poland for the years 2007–2015 [2007]. The areas of the highest values within the ECONET network overlap largely with the Natura 2000 network. This is an essential element complementing the National System of Protected Areas. The Natura 2000 network is composed of two types of areas: – 42 Special Protection Areas of birds – SPA – established under the Birds Directive; – 93 Special Areas of Conservation of habitats – SAC – established under the Habitats Directive. As of 31 December 2012, Natura 2000 areas covered an area of 2 224 797.6 ha, which accounted for 35.2% of the Green Lungs of Poland area. Analysing implementation of the operations related to afforestation, it can be concluded that in 2012 an area of 1 855.7 ha was afforested in the Green Lungs of Poland, which accounts for 37.8% of afforestation carried out on the domestic scale (in 2006, it was, accordingly, approx. 40%, and in 2009, approx. 30%). Analysing Fig. 24, we can observe that there has been a clear decline in afforestation dynamics since 2006, which is an adverse phenomenon in terms of the special character of this area.

Fig. 24. Non‐forest land afforestation in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha]. Source: Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study based on Green lungs of Poland in 2012, 2009 and 2006 2.3. Materials and methods The objective of this study was to analyze changes in the land use structure in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland in view of the local environmental conditions (including the presence of legally protected areas, in particular NATURA 2000 sites). The study was performed in 2004 ‐ 2013. In order to show the existing development trends, the following analyses were conducted: – time and space analysis of afforestation changes in the years 2004–2013;

– time and space analysis of changes in the area of agricultural land in the years 2004– 2013; – time and space analysis of changes in the area of built‐up and urbanized land in the years 2004–2013 (at the level of voivodeships ‐ NTS2), with particular focus on the years 2012–2013 (at the level of municipalities ‐ NTS5); – time and space analysis of changes in the area of lands under legal forms of environmental protection in the years 2004–2013; – spatial analysis of distribution of Natura 2000 areas (at the level of municipalities ‐ NTS5) and time analysis of changes in Natura 2000 total areas in the years 2004–2013 (at the level of voivodeships ‐ NTS2).

The research procedure of the first four analyses included the following phases: – building a database to analyse changes in the area of forests, agricultural land, built–up and urbanized land and the areas under legal forms of environmental protection; – calculating relative single‐base percentage increment of forests, agricultural land, built– up and urbanized land and the areas under legal forms of environmental protection in the research period covering the years 2004–2013 (1) y y d  t  1 (1) t /1 y1

dt /1 – relative single‐base increment – dimensionless value expressed as a fraction; interpreted in [%] y – the value of the phenomenon in the research period t

y1 – the value of the phenomenon during the period taken as a basis of comparison – value reference of relative single‐base percentage increments to the value of 100% (this represents no changes of the phenomenon); – carrying out a spatial analysis of dynamics of area changes in respect of the analysed category of land areas for subject units; – establishing the change dynamics interval span for the areas of the subject land category ‐ the intervals were adjusted to the level of variability of the subject indicator; for the change dynamics of forest and agricultural land areas that show greater variability, intervals of a 5% span were used, while for the change dynamics of built‐up and urbanized land and the areas under legal forms of environmental protection, the interval span was established at a level of 2.5% due to very low variability of the subject phenomena; – the results of the analysis were presented as cartograms. The research procedure of the analysis of spatial distribution of Natura 2000 areas was different. The phases of this procedure included: – connecting the WMS server with spatial data on distribution of Natura 2000 areas to the ArcMap application in GIS software; – carrying out readings of the area of particular Natura 2000 lands within the borders of each subject spatial unit with the use of advanced spatial analyses conducted with GIS tools; – calculating percentage of Natura 2000 areas in the total area of a given municipality; – presentation of a spatial distribution of the calculated indicator in the form of a cartogram designed with the use of ArcGIS 10.2 software. The data of the Central Statistical Office and the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography were used for analysis of area changes of forests, agricultural land, built‐up and urbanized land and the areas under legal forms of environment protection, including Natura 2000 areas (at the level of voivodeships ‐ NTS2). The data timescale covers the years 2004–2013. In order to carry out a spatial analysis of Natura 2000 area distribution in the background of the municipalities located within the borders of the functional area of the Green

Lungs of Poland, spatial data from the Geoserwis portal of the Director‐General for Environmental Protection was used (geoserwis.gdos.gov.pl). In order to present a graphic representation of the research results in the form of cartograms (designed with the use of GIS software), we used a database of the state registry of plot boundaries and areas of the state territory division units (PRG), which was provided by the Central Office of Geodesy and Cartography. 2.4. Research results To demonstrate the forest coverage of the Green Lungs of Poland, an analysis showing forest cover rate for particular municipalities was carried out (Fig. 25). The forest cover rate represents the percentage of forest area in the total area of the subject unit. As defined by the Forest Act of 28 September 1991, a forest is a land of contiguous area of min. 0.10 ha covered with forest vegetation (forestry crops) ‐ trees, bushes and undergrowth. The land may be temporarily vegetationless, but is should be used for forest production or constitute a nature reserve, form a part of a national park or be documented in the register of monuments. In addition, a forest is land related to forest management (buildings, structures, forest roads, timber storage places, etc.). In the analysed area, there are three clusters of municipalities with a forest cover rate exceeding 50%. One of these complexes is located in the central part of the area, while the other two are located at its eastern border. They overlap largely with the areas of national parks and landscape parks that cover the forests of unique environmental values and large forest complexes, such as: Białowieża, Knyszyn, Augustów, Pisz, Borecka, Romincka, Kurpiowska and Napiwodzko‐Ramucka Forests.

Fig. 25. Percentage of forests in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2013. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study

In order to show the existing development trends in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland, an analysis to determine time and space forest cover changes in the years 2004–2013 was carried out. The dynamics of forest area changes in particular municipalities covered by the functional area of the Green Lungs of Poland is presented in Fig. 26. Over the last decade, the changes of forest acreage in particular spatial units have not been intensive. In the majority of municipalities, they have oscillated up to (+/‐) 10%.

Fig. 26. Dynamics of forest area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004– 2013. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study A fall in forest area has been observed in 48 subject units that account for only 12% of the analysed municipalities that are located within the area of study. In 33 units out of all showing a downward trend of forest cover, the loss of forest acreage oscillated around 5%. In 7 municipalities, the fall was slightly larger, i.e. up to 10% of the existing forest area. Only in 7 units was the forest cover fall over 10% of acreage as compared to the state from 2004. Based on the observations of spatial distribution, we can conclude that the fall in forest area occurred mainly in the areas of larger towns and the municipalities located in the central part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship (the eastern part of the area of study). These are suburban municipalities directly adjacent to the city of Białystok ‐ the largest city in the Green Lungs of Poland area. A loss of forest acreage has been also observed in some municipalities in the south‐eastern part of the Masovia Voivodeship in close proximity to the town of Sokołów Podlaski. Constant and upward trends in the forest area were recorded in 339 municipalities in total, which account for 88% of the subject units. In a vast majority of these municipalities (220 units), the increase in forest area oscillated up to 5% of the existing acreage. In only 65 subject units was the dynamics of changes within the range of 105.0%–109.9%. Analysing the spatial distribution of the investigated phenomenon, we can conclude that the greatest growth dynamics of forest acreage have been observed in the municipalities located in the northern part of the area of study. A relatively high increase in forest area has also been observed in the municipalities that form a contiguous area located to the south‐east of the city of Elbląg. Forest cover growth has also

32 been observed in the municipalities located along the south‐western border of the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship, the south‐eastern border of the Podlaskie Voivodeship and the north‐ western and the southern border of the Masovia Voivodeship (in the part covered by the research area). A necessary phase in the process of determining the existing development trends of the Green Lungs of Poland area includes carrying out an analysis showing time and space changes in land use. Pursuant to the Ordinance of the Minister of Regional Development and Construction of 29 March 2001 on the Land and Building Register, the lands in use comprise the following groups: agricultural land, forest land including wooded and shrubby lands, built‐up and urbanized land, ecological land, wasteland, land under water and different lands. The subjects of analyses conducted within this research were two aforementioned lands in use, namely: agricultural land, built‐up and urbanized land. Agricultural lands include: arable lands, orchards, permanent meadows, permanent pastures, built‐up agricultural lands, lands under ponds and ditches. On the other hand, built‐up and urbanized lands include: residential lands, industrial lands, other built‐up lands, urbanized undeveloped lands, recreational and leisure land, fossil lands and communication lands (roads, railway lands and other communication lands). As a part of the research, analysis of the dynamics of area changes of two different, characteristic forms of use was conducted: – agricultural land, regarded as one of the most natural ways of land use; – built‐up and urbanized land, regarded as a typically anthropogenic way of land use. To demonstrate spatial distribution of agricultural land in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland, an analysis showing agricultural land percentage rate in the total area of particular municipalities was carried out (Fig. 27). The greatest density of the municipalities with a high agricultural land percentage rate in the total area was found in the southern part of the area, frequently in the vicinity of larger urban centres. They include those municipalities where the forest cover rate was at a low level.

Fig. 27. Percentage of agricultural land in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2014. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study

The dynamics of agricultural land area changes in the area of study in the years 2004– 2013 is presented in Fig. 28. In the analysed period, a vast majority of the subject units showed a relatively low intensity of agricultural land area changes. In a vast majority of the municipalities, these changes fluctuated around (+/‐) 10%.

Fig. 28. Dynamics of agricultural land area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004– 2013. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study

The negative dynamics of agricultural land area changes has been observed in 90 spatial units, which account for 23% of the analysed municipalities. As regards the units showing a downward trend, 62 municipalities recorded a loss of agricultural land acreage oscillating around 5% of their existing area. In 18 units, this decline oscillated around 5%–10%. Only in 10 municipalities did the dynamics of agricultural land area changes oscillate around 90% (a decline above 10% of the existing acreage). Analysing spatial distribution of the subject phenomenon, we can state that the largest loss of agricultural land acreage was found in the area of the easternmost municipalities. A downward trend has also been observed in the subject units situated in the north‐eastern and central part of the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship. Decline in agricultural land area has been also found in the municipalities located in the south‐westernmost point of the Green Lungs of Poland (the units adjacent to the city of Toruń). A vast majority of the subject units (297 municipalities ‐ 77% of total) shows constant or positive dynamics of agricultural land area changes, 240 of which show changes oscillating up to 5% of the exiting acreage. The observations of spatial distribution show that agricultural land area increase has been found mainly in the municipalities located in the central part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship and the southern part of the Masovia Voivodeship (within the border of the area of study). In addition, agricultural land area increase has been also found in the units located nearby the Vistula Lagoon. In the years 2004–2013, in the area of the Green Lungs of Poland, there was a gradual increase in the acreage of built‐up and urbanized land. In the analysed period, the area growth for this type of lands was 1.4% in the territory of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. An analogous situation has been observed in the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship, where the area of built‐up and 34 urbanized land increased by 3.9%. A general gradual upward trend has also been found in particular municipalities of the analysed area in the last years of 2012–2013. The dynamics of built‐up and urbanized land area changes in the municipalities located within the borders of the Green Lungs of Poland in the years 2012–2013 is presented in Fig. 29. Variability of the subject phenomenon is not very high. Nearly 83% of the subject units present the dynamics of changes of built‐up and urbanized land at a level of (+/‐) 2.5%.

Fig. 29. Dynamics of built‐up and urbanised land area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2012–2013. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study An area loss of this type of lands has been observed in 49 municipalities, which accounts for 13% of the subject spatial units. In only 7 municipalities out of these showing a downward trend, there was a decline in the acreage of lands of the most anthropogenic character at a level above 2.5% of the existing area. Analysing spatial distribution of the subject phenomenon, we can state that the largest negative dynamics of changes has been found in single municipalities of each voivodeship within the borders of the area of study. These municipalities do not form contiguous complexes. They are located in an island type of arrangement. The greatest number of this type of municipalities is in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. A majority of them are located in the cross‐border areas of the region. A constant and upward trend of built‐up and urbanized land areas has been found in 338 municipalities, which account for over 87% of the subject units. This fact gives evidence of the economic growth of the Green Lungs of Poland. However, the intensity of this growth is not very high, as 82% of the municipalities with an upward trend are units that show the dynamics of changes of the subject phenomenon at a level of 100.0%–102.4%. The observations of spatial distributions provide a conclusion that the largest growth of built‐up and urbanized land occurred in the central part of the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship to the south‐west of the city of Olsztyn. Large complexes of municipalities with the largest increase in the area of lands of a heavily anthropogenic character are also located in the central part of the Masovia Voivodeship

35 and along the eastern (Brodnica‐Rypin) and the western (the city of Toruń and the adjacent municipalities) border of the Kuyavian‐Pomeranian Voivodeship. A significant factor that influences development trends of the Green Lungs of Poland is the presence and spatial distribution of areas under legal forms of environment protection, including the areas that compose the European Ecological Network Natura 2000. The percentage of areas of protected lands in the total area of particular municipalities is presented in Fig. 30.

Fig. 30. Percentage of protected lands in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2014. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study A density of municipalities with a high percentage of protected areas, which exceeds 50%, in the total area was found particularly in the north‐eastern, eastern and western parts of the Green Lungs of Poland. These are mostly municipalities with surface forms of nature protection within their areas, such as: national parks (Biebrza, Białowieża, Narew, Wigry National Park), nature reserve, landscape parks (for example: Masurian, Suwałki, Knyszyn Forest, Dylewo Hills, Romincka Forest), protected landscape areas and landscape‐nature complexes. They partially overlap with the areas of high forest cover rate. The dynamics of legally protected land area changes in total in the years 2004–2013 is presented in Fig. 31.

Fig 31. Dynamics of area changes of the lands under legal forms of environmental protection in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004–2013. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study This phenomenon shows relatively high stability. In over 70% of the subject units, no area changes of the lands under legal forms of environmental protection have been found. Negative dynamics of changes of the subject phenomenon has been observed in 31 municipalities, which accounts for only 8% of the analysed units. The loss in the area of protected areas is marginal in a vast majority of these municipalities, and this may result from the adjustment of borders of particular forms of environmental protection or a loss of values that determine granting the status of a given form of protection. On the other hand, positive dynamics were found in 79 subject units. This growth results from an increase in the area of lands of the lowest level of protection (e.g. park‐landscape complexes). Analysing spatial distribution of this phenomenon, its point character may be noted. Both areas of negative dynamics of changes and those showing an upward trend are located in an island type of arrangement. Some of them form very small, contiguous complexes, consisting of 2‐4 municipalities, e.g. the area located in the northern part of the Warmian‐Masurian Voivodeship (Pozezdrze–Węgorzewo–Kętrzyn–Ryn) or the area located at its southern border (Działdowo–Rybno–Płośnica). The constant growth of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 is of great significance for specifying development trends of the Green Lungs of Poland, thus determining an increase in the area of lands under legal forms of environment protection. Only the Warmian‐ Masurian Voivodeship itself recorded an increase of Special Protection Areas of birds (SPA) by 2.9% and Special Areas of Conservation of habitats (SAC) by 7.8% in the years 2004–2013. The Podlaskie Voivodeship recorded even larger growth of Natura 2000 areas: SPA areas grew by 4.7%, while SAC areas grew by 15% in relation to their area in 2005. The present state and spatial distribution of Natura 2000 areas are presented in Fig. 32.

Fig. 32. Spatial distribution of Natura 2000 areas in the Green Lungs of Poland area. Source: A. Szczepańska, M. Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska study The greatest number of Natura 2000 areas is concentrated in the northern part of the Green Lungs of Poland. These areas form a contiguous band of 115 km in length that stretches along the state boundary with the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. A relatively large area of Natura 2000 lands is also located in the eastern part of the analysed area. It covers the forest complexes of the Augustów Primeval Forest and the Knyszyn Forest. A significant number of Natura 2000 areas are located in the Masurian Lake District (the central part of the area of

38 study ‐ the Pisz Forest, Napiwodzko‐Ramucka Forest). The areas under this form of environment protection are also concentrated in the Masovian Voivodeship. They cover the forest lands composing the Biała Forest. 2.5. Conclusions The trends of economic growth of the functional area of the Green Lungs of Poland might be established by comparing the results of the analyses regarding the most natural forms of land use (i.e. dynamics of changes of forest areas, agricultural land, the areas under legal forms of environmental protection, including Natura 2000 areas) with the results of the analysis of the dynamics of changes of built‐up and urbanized land, which represent the most anthropogenic manner of land use. The results of the analyses characterizing the most natural forms of land use show positive or constant dynamics of changes in most subject units. Forest cover growth may result from, inter alia, implementation of the National Programme for Increasing the Forest Cover. Another factor that affected forest area increase was Poland's access to the European Union (2004) and, consequently, adopting the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy. As a result, Poland implemented the Rural Development Programme for the years 2007–2013, which, under measure No. 5 “Afforestation of agricultural and non‐ agricultural land”, allows one to apply financial mechanisms for afforestation of the areas (Report on the Results. National Agricultural Census 2010). An important impact on forest cover growth may also have been inclusion of large forest complexes (i.e. the Pisz, Augustów, Knyszyn, Biała Forests) in the system of areas under legal forms of environment protection, which protects them against exclusion from forest production and use for other purposes (non‐forest). Forest area growth may also result from reclamation of devastated and degraded lands for forest purposes. This is one of the most common directions of reclamation in Poland (CYMERMAN, MARCINKOWSKA, 2010). The Green Lungs of Poland area covers, in a large part, lands of a typical agricultural character. The main determinant of agricultural land area growth is the possibility to use direct agricultural subsidies by Polish farmers. The area of the regions under legal forms of environment protection has not changed in the vast majority of the subject units. A slight increase in the areas of high nature values may result from adjustment of their borders. In some cases, it also results from the growth of the area of the lands under the lowest forms of protection (e.g. park‐landscape complexes). The constant growth of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000 greatly affects the increase in area of the lands under legal forms of environment protection. The results of the analysis of dynamics of built‐up and urbanized land changes show a gradual increase in their area, which may indicate the social and economic growth of the Green Lungs of Poland. Nevertheless, this increase is not very high. The factor that influences urbanization of the area of study may be implementation of the Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland (e.g. communication investments). In addition, due to its high nature values, this area is the place where intensification of tourism infrastructure development takes place. Over a number of years, there has been a social trend of building so‐called "second homes" in the area of study. These homes are used seasonally for leisure purposes, mainly or exclusively by their owner or their families (ADAMIAK. 2013). By comparing spatial distribution of the dynamics of natural forms of land use changes with spatial distribution of built‐up and urbanized land changes, we can conclude that the most dynamic increase in the area of highly urbanized lands occurred in the area of spatial units that present a stagnation or downward trend of areas legally protected or with a relatively low percentage of Natura 2000 networks. This may possibly result from considerable planning or legal restrictions that comply with provisions of local spatial development plans or programmes of this land protection. A similar trend of urbanization growth has been observed in municipalities where there was a fall in agricultural land. This may indicate gradual exclusion of lands from agricultural production and their use for other purposes. 39

3. PROCEDURE, CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS OF CONVERSION OF ARABLE LAND INTO BUILDING PLOTS BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE DĘBE WIELKIE COMMUNE

The monograph chapter presents the process of conversion of arable land into building plots. The process, occurring in currently rural and suburban areas, considerably changes its character. The primary objective of the conversion of arable land is to create the possibilities of its development, resulting in an increase of its value and therefore permitting obtaining profit from the sale of the resulting building plots. The introduction includes the explanation of the basic terms related to the conversion procedure, including the terms of arable land and building plot, as well as of the investment process part of which is the conversion procedure. Next, the legal and technical aspects of the procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots are discussed based on the description of the planning stage involving the development of the local plan and its passing, or obtaining the decision on the conditions of land development and management, and the preparatory stage involving undertaking actions aimed at preparing land for the future investment, including division of property, introducing technical infrastructure, and exclusion of land from agricultural production. The second part of the monograph chapter presents conditions of conversion of arable land into building plots in the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune. It is a commune located near Warsaw. The described process of arable land conversion occurs in its area. The analysis covers planning documents and soil conditions. It is preceded by the description of the commune in terms of location, car and railway transport and the land use structure. This chapter also presents effects of conversion of arable land into building plots in the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune such as increase in residential areas and the number of population. The procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots constitutes proceedings aimed at the conversion of land described as arable into building plots. The term arable land is included in the act of 3 February 1995 on the protection of arable land and forests. Pursuant to art. 2 of the act (1995), arable land is the following land: 1) designated as agricultural land in the land register; 2) under fish ponds and other water bodies used exclusively for the purposes of agriculture; 3) under residential buildings included in agricultural homesteads and other buildings and facilities used exclusively for the purposes of agricultural production and food processing industry; 4) under buildings and facilities used directly for agricultural production considered a special branch, pursuant to the provisions on personal and corporate income tax; 5) rural parks, tree stands, and woodlots, including under windbreaks and anti‐erosion facilities; 6) allotment gardens and botanical gardens; 7) under water melioration and anti‐flood and fire facilities, facilities supplying agriculture with water, sewage and wastewater and waste treatment facilities for the purposes of agriculture and inhabitants of rural areas; 8) reclaimed for the purposes of agriculture; 9) peatlands and water holes; 10) under access roads to arable land. Among the aforementioned types of land, land designated as agricultural land, and particularly arable land in the land register is the most frequently the subject of conversion into building plots. The term building plot is defines in two acts, namely the act of 27 March 2003 on planning and spatial development (ACT, 2003) and act of 21 August 1997 on real property management (ACT, 1997). In the context of the discussed issue, the definition included in the act 40

(2003) is more relevant. Pursuant to art. 1 point 12 of the act (2003), a building plot is land property or plot with a size, geometric features, access to the public road, and technical infrastructure meeting the requirements of execution of construction objects resulting from separate provisions and local legal documents. The conversion of arable land into building plots is directly related to the investment process of which it constitutes a fragment, whereas the investment process is the course of subsequent and causally linked activities related to land property aimed at “land development” (CYMERMAN, 2012). The literature on the subject distinguishes three basic stages o the investment process (CYMERMAN, BAJEROWSKIM KRYSZK, 2006) in which the value of land property is subject to considerable changes. Stage I – so‐called planning process, involves the preparation of a draft of the local development plan and its passing, or obtaining the decision on the conditions of land development and management. Stage II – preparatory, covers all activities aimed at preparing land for the future investment, such as the division of the land property, introduction of technical infrastructure, as well as exclusion of land from agricultural production. Stage III, so‐called implementation stage, involves the direct implementation of the planned investment. The procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots covers the planning and preparatory stage. Therefore, the remaining part of the investment process is not discussed in this chapter.

3.1. Legal and technical aspects of the procedure of conversion of arable land into building plots 3.1.1. Planning stage The document specifying the spatial policy of a given commune is the study of conditions and directions of spatial development. It is of obligatory character, and is passed by the commune council. In the legal sense, it is not a legal document, but a document on the spatial policy of the commune. Although the study does not have the character of local law, its provisions affect the development of features of land property covered with the document. This results from the fact that each prepared local plan must be in accordance with the study. The basic tool used by the local authorities to specify the conditions of spatial development is the local plan of spatial development. It is a document of local law, and it is binding in the area covered by the plan. The decision on the preparation of the local plan of spatial development and its passing is taken by the commune council in the form of a resolution. In the resolution, the commune council specifies the boundaries of the area covered by the plan, and the subject and scope of its provisions. Pursuant to the act on spatial planning and management (ACT, 2003), the preparation of the local spatial development plan is facultative, according to the assumptions of the spatial policy of the commune. An exception from this rule are special provisions imposing the obligation to prepare the plan – art. 14 par. 7 of the act (2003) the preparation of the local plan is obligatory if stipulated by separate provisions. One of such provisions of the act on the protection of cultivated and forest species (ACT, 1995) – pursuant to art. 7 of the act, a change of the purpose of selected arable land and forests to non‐ agricultural and non‐forest purposes is stipulated in the local plan. The preparation of the local plan can also be obligatory in a situation when public purpose investments with supra‐local importance are planned to be implemented in a commune, or when the commune itself plans the implementation of investments of infrastructural character with designation of protection zones. Moreover, pursuant to art. 10 par. 2 point 8 of the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003), the study of conditions and directions of spatial development designated areas for which it is obligatory to prepare the local spatial development plan based on separate provisions, including areas requiring land property consolidation and 41 division, and areas with commercial objects with a sales area of more than 400 m2. Pursuant to art. 62 par. 2 of the act (2003), in the case of lack of the local spatial development plan and the obligatory character of its passing, decisions on conditions of development and land management cannot be issued. The administrative proceedings regarding the determination of the conditions of development are then suspended until the moment of passing of the plan. The local plan stipulates among others the purpose of land, conditions of its development, and rules and conditions of its division into building plots, as well as the rules of operation of the infrastructure. The local spatial development plan is a document disclosed to all interested parties. An excerpt and sketch from the plan is available on request against payment of stamp duty. The procedure of preparation of the local plan is complex due to the obligation to prepare a forecast of the financial effects of passing the plan, obligation to apply for opinions on the draft of the plan, and review of comments regarding consecutive proposals, making it very time‐consuming. In extreme cases, passing the local plan can even last up to several years. Passing the local plan resulting in an increase in the value of land property can lead to charging so‐called zoning fee. Pursuant to art. 36 par. 4 of the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003), should the value of land property increase in relation to the passing of the local plan or its amendment, and the owner or perpetual user sells such land property, head of the commune, mayor, or city president charges a one‐off fee stipulated in such a plan, specified in per cent relation to the increase in the value of such land property. The fee constitutes own revenue of the commune, and its amount cannot be higher than 30% of the increase in the value of the land property pursuant to art. 36 par. 4 of the ACT (2003). The zoning fee can be charges within 5 years from the day on which the plan came into life – art. 37 par. 3 of the aforementioned act. Head of commune, mayor, or city president specifies the fee based on a decision immediately after receiving the excerpt from the notarial deed sent by the notary public in the case of sale of land property pursuant to art. 37 par. 6 of the act (2003). An increase in the value of land property can occur in several cases. The first and most common case involves the change of purpose of non‐urbanised to urbanised areas. This concerns rural areas, where land with agricultural function were purposed for development – particularly residential. The value of land property also grows, when pursuant to the provisions of the plan, given land property purposed for development obtained a more profitable purpose, e.g. land property with residential function obtained service function. In the case of lack of the local spatial development plan, in the planning sense it is replaced with the decision on conditions of land development and management. It is an administrative decision issued by head of the commune, mayor, or city president based on the application of the interested party. The decision specifies what can be constructed in a given area, but it does not specify the technical conditions of the investment – they will be subject to analyses at the stage of proceedings related to the issuance of the building permit. The decision can be only issued in the case of meeting all premised specified in art. 61 of the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003). On the other hand – in the case of meeting all such premises, the authority is obliged to issue such a decision. Pursuant to art. 61 par. 1 of the aforementioned act, the issuance of the decision on conditions of development is only possible in the case of meeting of all of the following conditions: 1) At least one adjacent plot, accessible from the same public road, is developed in a manner permitting the determination of requirements concerning new development in the scope of continuation of functions, parameters, features, and indicators of land development and management, including the size and architectural form of construction objects, building alignment, and intensity of land use; 2) The area has access to a public road; 3) The existing or designed infrastructure has to be sufficient for the building investment; 4) The land does not require obtaining the permit for a change in the purpose of arable land and forests to non‐agricultural or non‐forest purposes, or it is covered by the permit obtained in the course of preparation of local plans;

5) The decision is in line with separate provisions (the area cannot be covered with environmental, conservation, or archaeological protection, unless an agreement on supervision over construction was concluded with the heritage conservator). It is best to apply for the decision on conditions of development before the purchase of land property. This permits the verification whether the construction plan of the investor is feasible on particular land property. Applications for the issuance of the decision on conditions of development are accepted and reviewed by commune architecture divisions. The application forms are increasingly frequently available for download from websites of commune offices. Filling such a form is often difficult for investors alone. Therefore, they hire an architect already at this stage, giving them authority to act on their behalf. The application should include the specification of among others:  the registry number of plots included in the property,  cadastral area,  boundaries of the land covered by the application, presented on a copy of the basic map,  description of the existing land management,  description of the planned land management,  area and dimensions, as well as purpose of the planned construction objects,  planned access to the plot,  needs in the scope of technical infrastructure (manner of water supply, sewage disposal, heating, electricity supply)  description of the effect of the investment on the environment (in the case of detached houses the effect is marginal; therefore it does not require performing professional analyses). The following should be enclosed with the application for the determination of conditions of development:  two copies of the basic map of the plot with the designation of the boundaries of the area covered with the application,  concept of land development in the area of the plot subject to the application,  provision of the possibility of electricity and water supply in the form of a certificate from the energy provider and water supply company stating that the area features sufficient infrastructure, and if not – a guarantee of connecting the land property to their networks.  Proof of payment of stamp duty in the case of development other than residential. The act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003) does not specify the term in which the authority should issue the decision on conditions of development. Due to this, the term specified in the provisions of the act Code of Administrative Conduct (ACT, 1960) should be adopted. Pursuant to art. 35. § 1, Public administration authorities are obliged to conclude matters with no unnecessary delay. § 3. Concluding a matter requiring explanatory proceedings should occur not later than within one month, and particularly complex matters — not later than within two months from the day of commencement of the proceedings, and in appeal proceedings — within one month from the date of receipt of the appeal. § 5. The terms specified in the provisions do not include terms stipulated in legal provisions for the performance of particular activities, periods of suspension of proceedings, and periods of delays resulting from the fault of a party or from reasons independent from the authority. Due to the above, the authority has one month for issuing the decision on conditions of development, and in a particularly complex case – two months. In certain cases, however, the time of waiting for the decision is prolonged even up to several months. The last terms of issuance of the decision on conditions of development result from the specificity of particular cases. The procedure of determination of the conditions of development involve the participation as parties of owners and users of plots neighbouring with the investment area. Sometimes the parties to the proceedings file complaints against decisions issued in the course of such a procedure. This prolongs the term of issuance of the decision until the moment of their review. The investor can also appeal against decisions, if they are not satisfied with the specified

43 conditions of development. The appeal is filed in the commune office, and reviewed by the local government appeals board. The decision will be conclusive, if no one appeals against it within 14 days from its obtaining. Decisions on conditions of development issued based on the act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and development are issued without time limits in validity. Art. 65 of the act (2003) specifies premises, however, resulting in the expiry of the decision on conditions of development. The first one is coming into effect of a local plan with provisions different than those stipulated in the decision. Another premise is obtaining a permit for construction by another applicant. It is important that passing the local plan, even with regulations other than determined in the decision on conditions of development, cannot constitute the cause of determination of expiry of the administrative decision, if before its coming into effect, the investor obtains the final building permit decision. The cost of obtaining the decision on conditions of development depends on the undertaking planned by the investor, subject to the application for issuing the decision on conditions of development. Residential construction is exempt from payments, but the application for issuing the building permit among others for an industrial or service building is subject to stamp duty. The complexity of the planning stage depends on where particular land is located, and whether it is covered with the local spatial development plan. The issue considered as a priority is the location of the land. If land constituting arable land is located within the administrative area of a city, the proceedings regarding the change of its purpose are less complicated than in the case of land located outside of the area. On 1 January 2009, an amendment of the ad=ct on the protection of arable land and forests came into force based on the act on the amendment of the act on the protection of arable land and forests (ACT, 2008). The amendment cancelled the necessity to obtain the consent of the minister of agriculture or provincial marshal for a change in the purpose of land. Therefore, a change in the purpose of arable land in an urban area only requires a change in its planning situation. If particular land is covered by the local spatial development plan, the condition of change in the purpose of land is a change or passing of a new plan. Should particular land not be covered by the binding local spatial development plan, the change in the purpose of land occurs based on the issued decision on conditions of land development and management or through the passing of the local plan. The change of the purpose of land located outside the administrative area of cities is a more complex issue, depending on the soil bonitation class. The change of purpose of arable land of classes I‐III currently requires obtaining the consent of the minister in charge of development of rural areas. Before the amendment to the act, the consent of the relevant minister was necessary for the aforementioned land with a compact area exceeding 0.5 ha. The application for the permit for the change of purpose of arable land is filed by head of commune / mayor / city president after consulting the opinion of the provincial marshal. After obtaining the permit, if the land is subject to the binding local spatial development plan, it is amended or another plan is passed. If the land is not covered by the local plan, the commune council is obliged to pass it. In this case, the change of purpose of land based on the decision on conditions of development is not possible. The decision on the preparation of the local plan is taken by the commune council based on its own initiative or request of head of commune / mayor / city president. The investor can file an application for the consent of the commune authorities for the amendment or passing of the plan and land development in the commune office. The application is reviewed by head of commune / mayor / city president, and in the case of a positive decision, the commune council passes a resolution on the approval or refusal of the amendment / passing a new plan. The cost of preparation of the local plan is covered by the commune. Pursuant to art. 14 par. 3 of the act on planning and spatial development (ACT, 2003), the local plan resulting in the change of purpose of arable land and forests to non‐agricultural and non‐forest purposes is prepared for the entire area designated in the study. For land of the remaining classes (IV‐VI) located outside the administrative areas of cities, the procedure of change of land purpose is analogical to that concerning land in urban areas. 44

3.1.2. Preparatory stage Another stage of the investment process is stage II – preparatory stage. It involved three sub‐stages:  division of land property,  introduction of technical infrastructure,  exclusion of land from agricultural production. Division of land property After the change of purpose of land under agricultural use to another function, the next stage is the cadastral division of land property into plots with a smaller area adjusted to the new functions (e.g. residential, service, or commercial development). The physical distinguishing of a plot ensures that as a result of a future legal action the plot can constitute independent land property in the future. The cadastral division of land property can be performed based on the decision of head of commune, mayor, or city president approving the division of land property stipulated in the geodesic documentation enclosed with the decision. The division can also occur based on the geodesic documentation prepared based on the application of the owner or perpetual user of land property (BOJAR, 2012). This division of agricultural property does not require an administrative decision based on conditions stipulated in the act (1997). It can therefore be performed before the change of purpose of land to non‐agricultural purposes. It should be remembered, however, that plots resulting from such a division cannot be developed, and their area cannot be smaller than 0.3000 ha. Moreover, after such a division, the investor will have to apply for the change of purpose for each of the designated plots. Therefore, such a solution is not practiced. The rules and conditions of performing divisions of land property requiring an administrative decision approving the division is specified in the act of 21 August 1997 on land property management (ACT, 1997) – section III, chapter 1. Pursuant to art. 97 par. 1 of the act (1997), the division of land property is performed based on the application and at the cost of the person having the related legal interest. One of the necessary conditions permitting cadastral division of land property is access to a public road. Depending the possibility of division of land property on ensuring access to a public road results from the fact that such access determines the issuance of the decision on conditions of land development and management in the case of lack of the local spatial development plan – art. 61 par. 1 point 2 of the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003) and condition of admissibility of construction investments – art. 5 par. 1 point 9 and art. 34 par. 3 point 3 B of the act Construction Law as of 7 July 1994 (ACT, 1994). This means that without access to a public road, independent development of plots changing the owner after the division would be impossible, even if the plots meet other requirements specified in the local plan or in the decision on conditions of land development and management. Pursuant to art. 93 par. 3 of the act on land property management (ACT, 1997), the division of land property is not admissible, if the resulting plots would have no access to a public road; access to a public road is also considered as designation of an access road and establishment of relevant easements on such a road for the designated plots, or establishment of other road easements for such plots, if it is impossible to designate an access road from land property subject to division. Easement is not established on the access road in the case of sale of the designated plots accompanying the sale of interest in the ownership of the plot constituting the access road. In practice, ensuring access to a public road particularly involves the plots being adjacent to the road strip of a public road. This offers the possibility of access from the designated plots to the road. Pursuant to art. 93 par. 3 of the act (1997), access to a public road is also considered as direct access of a plot to a public road. This means that in the scope of division of land property you can designate a plot for an access road, directly connected with the public road. All the remaining plots resulting from the division of land property have to be adjacent to the designated access road, and their access to a public road will be provided through establishing right‐of‐way

45 easement on the access road for each of the designated plots, or sale of interest in ownership or perpetual usufruct of an access road plot to a person selling a plot adjacent to the access road. Instead of designating a plot for an access road, easement can also be established for plots not adjacent to a public road on plots adjacent to it. An indirect way of ensuring access to a public road through interest in an access road or road easement is related to the sale of the designated plot to another person. Access is ensured with the sale of newly designated plots, i.e. when they become separate properties. Until the moment when the owner or perpetual usufractor of all of the designated plots is the same person, right‐of‐way easement cannot be established – the person has access to a public road through one of their plots, and until the moment of sale, all of the plots constitute one land property. When the planned plots have no access to a public road, the preliminary draft of the division submitted together with the application for the division of land property should include a presentation in the graphic or descriptive form of the proposal of the way of ensuring access to a public road from the planned plots pursuant to § 3 par. 2 point 6 of the regulation of the Council of Ministers on the way and course of performing divisions of land property (REGULATION, 2004). Notice that indirect access to a public road does not have to exist at the moment of performing cadastral division, but only at the moment of performing legal division of land property, i.e. sale of designated plots pursuant to art. 99 of the act on property management (ACT, 1997). At the stage of proceedings regarding the cadastral division of property, it is only necessary to specify the possibility of ensuring access to a public road. The manner of ensuring access to a public road specified in the preliminary draft of land property division is not binding in the case of sale of designated plots. At the moment of their sale, the current owner or perpetual usufructor can take a decision on a way of ensuring access to a public road other than described in the preliminary draft of land property division. Pursuant to the act of 21 August 1997 on property management (ACT, 1997), the division of land property depends on whether a given property is covered with the local spatial development plan or not. Figure No. 33 presents criteria to be met in order to perform division of land property, depending on its planning situation.

Division of land property

Local plan No local plan

Ensured access to a public road Ensured access to a public road

1. Accordance of division with local 1. In accordance with the conditions plan specified in the decision on conditions of land development and management 2. No variance with provisions other than act on property management

Fig. 33. Criteria to be met in order to perform division of land property, depending on its planning situation. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek study Should a given land property be covered with the local spatial development plan, the division of the property requires ensuring access to a public road for each of the designated plots,

46 and maintaining accordance of the planned division with the provisions of the local spatial management plan. Pursuant to art. 93 par. 2 of the act of 21 August 1997 on property management (ACT, 1997 ), the accordance with the provisions of the plan concerns both the purpose of land and possibilities of development of the designated land parcels, including among others their minimum area. This means that before approving the division, head of commune or city president needs to analyse its objective and the planned manner of use of the newly established properties. The situation is different when a given property is covered by the local spatial development plan. Ensuring access to a public road is still necessary, but also pursuant to art. 94 par. 1 of the act (1997), the division of property can be performed if: 1. it is not at variance with separate provisions, or 2. it is in accordance with the conditions specified in the decision on conditions of land development and management. Notice that pursuant to the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003), the decision on conditions of land development and management does not discuss the issue of division of land property. Pursuant to art. 61 par. 6 and 7 of the ACT (2003), the minister in charge of construction and spatial and residential management will specify, based on a regulation, the manner of determination of requirements concerning new land development and management in the case of lack of the local plan. The regulation mentioned in par. 6 should specify requirements concerning the determination of: 1) construction alignment; 2) size of the area of development in relation to the area of the plot; 3) width of the front elevation; 4) height of the upper edge of the front elevation, its cornice or attic; 5) roof geometry (inclination, height of the ridge, and slope layout). The aforementioned regulation is the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure on the manner of determination of requirements regarding new land development and management in the case of lack of the local spatial development plan (REGULATION, 2003). The regulation (2003) does not include any additional requirements in comparison to the act. This means that the legislation does not unambiguously regulate the procedures of land property division, if it is not covered by the local spatial development plan. Therefore, the practice applied by the office in change of a given property becomes important. One of the possible ways to divide land property is to apply for the decision on conditions of land development and management. The decision stipulates that the investment is to involve the division of land property into smaller building plots with the possibility of development, e.g. construction of a detached house on each of them. The investment plan, both planned plots and houses, must be introduced to the basic map constituting the appendix to the application for the issuance of the decision on conditions of land development and management. Should the decision be issued, the investor will not only change the purpose of the land, but also pursuant to the decision they will be able to divide the property. Unfortunately, this way of division is not optimal, if the investor plans to sell the designated plots. For the purchaser of a building plot, the most important issue is the possibility of its future development. If they purchase a building plot designated based on the rule described above, they will have to apply for the decision on condition of development again specifically for the purchased plot. Although after the approval of the division of land property the decision on conditions of development remains legally binding – pursuant to art. 65 par. 1 of the act on spatial planning and development (ACT, 2003), the division of land property does not constitute the basis for the determination of the expiry of the decision on the conditions of development. This results from the fact that the transfer of the aforementioned decision to another person is performed if they accept all the conditions included in such a decision pursuant to art. 63 par. 5 of the act (2003). This means that the purchaser of one designated building plot, accepting the provisions of the decision on conditions of development based on which the division was performed, would accept a decision making it impossible to build several houses on several plots. It is not possible to transfer the decision only 47 in part, for a selected plot. Applying for a new decision prolongs the entire investment process, increases its uncertainty (obtaining the desired decision is not guaranteed), and therefore decreased the value of the plot for potential purchasers. Due to this, if the investor plans future sale of the designated plots, they apply another way of division, involving applying for the decision for particular parts of the land property. In practice, if the investor wants to divide the land into 10 building plots, they have to submit 10 applications, each covering only a part of the divided land property. Analogically, the investment plan, both the planned plot and house, should be introduced to the basic map constituting the appendix to each of the applications for the issuance of the decision on conditions of development. After such division of land property, purchasers of particular plots do not have to apply for a new decision on conditions of development. It is sufficient to transfer to each of the purchasers the already existing decision concerning the purchased plot. Pursuant to art. 63 par. 5 of the aforementioned act, the decision can be transferred to other persons. This requires submitting an application for the transfer of the decision with enclosed declarations of the parties (in the case of proceedings concerning the transfer of the decision, the parties include its original owner and its new owner) in which the original owner waives their rights to the decision, and the new owner accepts all the rights and obligations in the scope of the transferred decision. Pursuant to art. 94 par. 2 of the act of 21 August 1997 on property management (ACT 1997), if the application for land property division was submitted after the expiry of 6 months from the date of passing the resolution on the preparation of the local plan by the commune or disclosure of the local plan to the public, the proceedings concerning land property division are obligatorily suspended until the moment of passing of the local plan, however not longer than for six months from the date of submission of the application for land property division. If in the period of suspension of the proceedings concerning the division of land property the local plan is passed, further consideration of the application employs the procedure stipulated for the division of land property located in areas not covered by the local plan. If the plan is passed during that time, the proceedings are continued based on rules stipulated for areas covered by such a plan. Pursuant to par. 3 of the aforementioned act, if the local plan has not been passed for the areas subject to the obligation of preparation of such a plan based on separate provisions (e.g. in mining areas), proceedings concerning the division of land property are suspended until the moment of passing of such a plan. The law does not stipulate any restrictions regarding the duration of the suspension of the proceedings in this case. The law also stipulates situations in which the admissibility of the division of land property is independent of the determinations of the local plan, and in the case of lack of the plan, independent of the decision on conditions of land development and management. Pursuant to art. 95 of the act of 1997, such cases include the following circumstances: 1) removal of shared ownership of developed property with at least two buildings, constructed based on the building consent, if the division involves the designation for particular co‐ owners specified in the collective application, of buildings together with plots necessary for the accurate use of the buildings; 2) designation of a building plot, if the building was constructed on the plot by an owner‐like possessor; 3) designation of a part of land property the ownership or perpetual usufruct of which was legally purchased; 4) execution of claims of a part of land property, resulting from the provisions of the act or from separate acts; 5) implementation of provisions concerning ownership changes or liquidation of state‐owned or self‐government‐owned enterprises; 6) designation of a part of land property covered by the decision on the determination of the location of a public road; 7) designation of a part of lad property covered with the decision on the determination of the location of a railway line;

8) designation of a part of land property covered by the decision on the permission for the implementation of the investment in the scope of a public airport pursuant to the provisions of the act of 12 February 2009 on special rules of preparation and implementation of investments in the scope of public airports; 9) designation of a part of lad property covered with the decision on the permission for the implementation of an investment as defined in the provisions of the act of 8 July 2010 on special rules of preparation for the implementation of the investment in the scope of anti‐ flood structures. 10) designation of a building plot necessary for the use of a residential building; 11) designation of plots in closed areas. In such cases, the division of land property is performed ex officio. The procedure of division of land property is a complex undertaking. The division process itself involves the participation of: the applicant, i.e. owner, co‐owner, perpetual usufructuary, or perpetual co‐usufructuaries, authorised surveyor, head of commune/mayor/city president, and district governor, with participation of the district centre of geodesic and cartographic documentation and the division running the land register. At the beginning of the process of division of land property, it is important to determine the possibilities and conditions of the division. This is determined by the provisions of the local spatial development plans. Should a given property be covered by the local spatial development plan, the decision on conditions of land development and management based on which the division will be performed should be obtained. The next stage involves the preparation of the application for the division of land property, and its submission to head of commune/mayor/city president for the purpose of first obtaining the opinion on the accordance of the division with the provisions of the local plan or separate provisions, or decision on conditions of land development and management. Pursuant to art. 97 par. 1a of the act of 21 August 1997 on property management (ACT, 1997), the following is enclosed with the application:  documents confirming the legal title to a given property,  excerpt from the land register and copy of the cadastral map covering the divided property,  decision on conditions of land development and management in the case of lack of the local plan,  preliminary plan of the division. Pursuant to the regulation of the Council of Ministers on the manner and course of performing division of land property (REGULATION, 2004), the preliminary plan of property division is prepared on a copy of the basic map, and in the case of its lack on a copy of the cadastral map supplemented with elements of land development necessary for the division plan. The planned course of boundaries of the designated plots is introduces to the map in red colour. The preliminary plan of property division could be prepared by the owner of the property, but this activity is usually ordered to an authorised surveyor. Before preparing the preliminary plan, the surveyor reports the geodesic work to the national cartographic resource base, and performs the analysis of usefulness of materials obtained from the national cartographic resource base for the performance of measurements in terms of their accuracy, validity, and completeness (BOJAR, 2012). After the positive opinion on the preliminary plan by head of commune/mayor/city president, the division proceedings are usually suspended by the aforementioned authority until the moment of submitting documents specified in art. 97 par. 1 a point 5‐8 of the act (1997), specified further in the chapter. The further part of the division procedure is performed with the participation of an authorised surveyor who performs geodesic works related to the property division plan, including:  preparation of a report from the acceptance of boundaries of the divided property together with the results of measurements of all border points,

 performance of calculations and preparation of lists of coordinates of border points and surface areas of plots,  preparation of the division plan on a map developed for this purpose,  performance of a drawing of introduction of new border points,  preparation of a list of changes in land property (list of changes in cadastral data) (BOJAR 2012). Next, the surveyor submits materials resulting from geodetic and cartographic works in the form of a valuation report to the national cartographic resource base (district centre of geodesic and cartographic documentation). After the acceptance of the aforementioned documentation to the resource base, the surveyor submits documents specifies in art. 97 par. 1a point 5‐8 of the act (1997) to head of commune/mayor/city president for the purpose of enclosing them with the application for division of land property. The documents include: report from the acceptance of boundaries of land property, list of changes in land property, synchronisation list, if the designation of plots in the land register is different than in the land and mortgage register, and map with the division plan. Head of commune/mayor/city president then issues a decision approving the division of land property, and includes a remark on the confirmation of land property division on the map with land property division plan. On request of the party ordering the division, the surveyor prepares a report from acceptance of the land property division plan and border points based on the final decision approving the division of land property, and then submits geodesic documents developed in the course of designation and acceptance of new border points to the national cartographic resource base (BOJAR, 2012). The district governor with the participation of the relevant division of the district governor’s office introduces changes in the land and mortgage register based on the documents previously submitted to the national cartographic resource base, enclosed with the final decision approving the division of land property, and notifies the relevant authorities on the performed changes in cadastral data, including the division of land and mortgage register of the relevant regional court. It should be emphasised in the discussion of the issue of land property division that land property division often results in an increase in the value of the property. Due to this, a betterment levy can be charged. The issue of the levy is regulated by art. 98a of the act on property management (ACT, 1997) as follows: If as a result of land property division performed based on the application of the owner or perpetual usufructuary who made annual payments for the entire term of use of such a right the value of such land property increases, head of commune, mayor, of city president may determine a related betterment levy based on a decision. The percentage rate of the betterment levy is specified by the commune council based on a resolution to the amount not higher than 30% of the difference in the value of the land property. The determination of the betterment levy can occur within 3 years from the date on which the decision confirming the land property division became final, or the ruling on the division became final. The value of land property before and after the division is determined in accordance with prices as of the date of issuance of the decision on imposing the betterment levy. The state of land property before the division is adopted as of the date of issuance of the decision approving the division of land property, and the state of land property after the division is adopted as of the date on which the decision approving the division of land property became final, or the ruling on the division became final, whereas component parts of the land property are not considered. The value before and after the division is determined by an independent valuer. Development of technical infrastructure The commencement of any construction undertaking, even a simple one such as the construction of a detached house, requires the development of technical infrastructure. Enterprises are responsible for the supply of electricity or gas, but introducing part of the infrastructure remains the task of the commune. Pursuant to art. 7 par. 1 of the act on territorial authorities as of 8 March 1990 (ACT, 1990), Meeting collective needs of the community belongs to 50 the tasks of the commune. The act mentions among others: ensuring commune roads, water supply, and wastewater disposal infrastructure. At this stage, a betterment levy due to an interest in the costs of development of technical infrastructure can be accrued. By applying the levy, the commune forces the owner to participate in the costs of development of technical infrastructure on their land property, incurred by the unit of the territorial authority. Pursuant to art. 144 par. 1 of the act of 21 August 1997 on property management (ACT, 1997), Owners of land property participate in the costs of development of technical infrastructure by payment of the betterment levy to the communes. Pursuant to art. 145 of the aforementioned act, head of commune, mayor, or city president can, based on a decision, impose a betterment levy each time after creating conditions for connecting land property to particular facilities of technical infrastructure, or after creating conditions for use of the constructed road. The issuance of the decision on the determination of the betterment levy can occur within up to 3 years from the date of creating conditions for connection of land property to particular facilities of technical infrastructure, or from the date of creating conditions for use of the constructed road, if on the date of creating of such conditions the resolution of the commune council was binding (…). The determination of the levy is based on the percent rate specified in the resolution of the commune council binding on the date of creating conditions for connection of land property to particular facilities of technical infrastructure, or on the date of creating conditions for use of the constructed road. The amount of the betterment levy is not higher than 50% of the difference between the value of land property before the development of technical infrastructure and the value of land property after its development. The amount of the percent rate of the betterment levy is determined by the commune council based on a resolution (art. 146 par. 2 of the aforementioned act). The value of land property according to the state before the development of technical infrastructure and after its development is determined according to prices as of the date of issuance of the opinion on the determination of the betterment levy (art. 146 par. 3 of the aforementioned act). Pursuant to art. 148 par. 4 of the act (1997), in the case of determination of the betterment levy, the difference between the value of land property after the development of technical infrastructure and its value before such development is reduced by the value of expenditures incurred by the owner (or perpetual usufructuary of land property) for the development of particular facilities of technical infrastructure. The betterment levy due to the participation in the costs of development of technical infrastructure is not accrued for land property located in areas designated in local plans for agricultural and forest purposes, and in the case of lack of the local plan – for land property used for agricultural and forest purposes pursuant to art. 143 par. 1 of the act (2007). More elements of the technical infrastructure result in an increase in the attractiveness of land – it becomes more desirable for potential investors and therefore its value increases. Exclusion of land from agricultural production The change of the purpose of land due to passing the local spatial development plan or issuance of the decision on conditions of land development and management may turn out insufficient for the implementation of an investment not related to agricultural production on the land constituting arable land. In certain cases, it may be necessary to obtain a permission for the exclusion of land from agricultural production. The procedure of exclusion of land from agricultural production is specified in detail in the act of 3 February 1995 on the protection of arable land and forests (ACT, 1995). Pursuant to art. 4 point 11 of the aforementioned act, the exclusion of land from agricultural production is defined as the commencement of use other than agricultural use. Until 4 September 2014, the legal situation in the scope of obligation to obtain the permission for the exclusion of land from agricultural production was in accordance with Fig. 34 below.

Arable land in the Arable land outside the administrative administrative area of a city area of a city

No requirement of exclusion of Arable land of class I‐III Arable land of class I‐VI land from agricultural on mineral soils on organic soils production

Arable land of class IV‐VI on mineral soils does not require the exclusion

Fig. 34. The obligation to obtain the permission for the exclusion of land from agricultural production in accordance with the legal state binding until 4 September 2015. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek study based on the act of 3 February 1995 on the protection of agricultural land and forests (ACT 1995). The current legal state binding in the scope from 1 January 2009 changed as a result of coming into force on 5 September 2014 of the act of 11 July 2014 on the amendment of the act – Environmental protection law and certain other acts (ACT, 2014) cancelling art. 5b of the act of 3 February 1995 on the protection of arable land and forests. The amendment to the act results in the fact that also arable land in the administrative areas of cities requires obtaining the permission for the exclusion of land from agricultural production based on the same rules as arable land outside the administrative areas of cities. Currently, pursuant to art. 11 par. 1 of the act (1995), the exclusion from production of arable land developed from soils of mineral and organic origin, categorised as classes I, II, III, IIIa, and IIIb, and arable land of classes IV, IVa, IVb, V, and VI developed from soils of organic origin, as well as land specified in art. 2 par. 1 point 2‐10, (……) – can occur after the issuance of decisions permitting such an exclusion. The decision permitting the exclusion specifies the obligations of the applicant (art. 11 par. 1a) related to the exclusion, including a one‐off fee due to permanent exclusion of land from agricultural production, and annual fees due to the use of excluded land for non‐agricultural or non‐forest purposes. The procedure of exclusion of land from agricultural production is expensive. The amount of the fees depends on the excluded area, type of land, bonitation class, and value of land property. The higher the class, the higher the fees. The table of rates of the fees is included in art. 12 of the act on the protection of arable land and forests (ACT, 1995). Pursuant to art. 12 par. 6 of the act (1995), the fee is reduced by the value of the land determined according to market prices applied at a given place in land turnover as of the date of actual exclusion of the land from production. In extreme cases, the fee for the exclusion of 1 ha of land of the highest bonitation class may cost even several hundred thousand PLN. The fee is payable within 60 days from the date on which the decision on exclusion became final pursuant to art. 12 par. 13 of the act (1995). The annual fee of 10 percent of the one‐off fee, not reduced by the value of land, is incurred for each year of use of land for non‐agricultural purposes, in the case of permanent exclusion – for 10 years, and in the case of temporary exclusion – throughout the its duration, however not longer than for 20 years, as stipulated in art. 12 par. 1 of the act (1995). Pursuant to art. 12 par. 14 of the aforementioned act, the fee for a given year is payable by 30 June of the same year (art. 12 par. 14). Exceptions from the aforementioned rules are introduced by art. 12a of the act (1995). It cancels the obligation to pay the one‐off and annual fees, if the exclusion is performed for the purposes of residential development – up to 0.05 ha in the case of a detached house, and up to 0.02 ha per each apartment in the case of an apartment building. In the case of sale of land excluded from agricultural production, the obligation of payment of annual fees is transferred to the purchaser. Therefore, it should be disclosed in the notarial deed at the moment of sale of the land property. Moreover, pursuant to art. 14 par. 1 of the act (1995), in the case of 52 exclusion of land from production, after consulting the opinion of head of commune, the opinion can include the obligation of removal and use for the purposes of improvement of the useful value of the land of the humic layer or peatlands from arable land of classes I‐IV, which will additionally increase the final cost of the exclusion. From the point of view of the investment process, it is important that the issuance of the decision permitting the exclusion from agricultural production occurs before obtaining the built=ding permit pursuant to art. 11 par. 3 of the act (1995). The permission for exclusion should be applied for at the district governor’s office in charge of the land property (usually at the department of agriculture forestry and environmental protection). The following documents should usually be submitted:  Application for the issuance of the decision permitting the exclusion of land from agricultural production;  Decisions on conditions of land development and management, or excerpt and sketch from the local spatial development plan;  Excerpt from the land register;  Plan of development of the plot with area balance (list of areas of land for exclusion, considering access roads and bonitation class of arable land);  Document confirming legal title to the land property (agreement on the sale of land property or excerpt from the land and mortgage register);  Declaration on the value of the land – valuation of the land for classes I, II,III, IIIa, and IIIb; Offices apply various practices. Therefore, the investor should contact the district governor’s office in charge of a given land property, issuing the decision. The term for the issuance of the decision permitting exclusion pursuant to the act of 14 June 1960 Administrative code (ACT, 1960) is a maximum of two months. This, however, is a recommended term. This means that in certain cases, the term may be prolonged. 3.2. Conditions and effects of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune The conversion of arable land into building plots is a response to the dynamic expansion of development outside the administrative areas of large cities, observed in recent years. According to the data of the National Census of Population published in 2011, the population of rural areas in Poland increased by 486 thousand, whereas the population of cities decreased by 204 thousand. According to the forecasts of the Central Statistical Office, the population in all cities of Poland except for Cracow and Warsaw will continuously decrease over the next 20 years. This will be accompanied by an increase in the population of suburban communes. In districts surrounding Warsaw, an increase in the population by approximately 250 thousand is forecasted. Such considerable forecasted migration of population to suburban areas is related to the residential preferences of Poles. In February 2012, Bank Millenium conducted a survey suggesting that the majority of Poles (77.6%) would like to live in a detached house. This is definitely easier to implement outside large agglomerations, where prices of building plots are lower. Moreover, infrastructure around large cities is improving every year. This reduces the commuting time for inhabitants of communes neighbouring with cities. Due to the above, a growing demand for building plots in the vicinity of large urban centres is expected in the upcoming years. A good example of a commune where the conversion of arable land into building plots is justified is the Dębe Wielkie Commune.

3.2.1. General description of the Dębe Wielkie Commune The Dębe Wielkie Commune is a rural commune located in the central part of the Mazowiceckie Province in the Miński District. It is located at national road No. 2 Świecko‐ Warszawa‐Terespol, also constituting international route E30 Paris‐Warsaw‐Moscow. The area of the commune also includes a section of international railway Berlin‐Warsaw‐Moscow. Three railway stops are located in the commune, namely Dębe Wielkie, Nowe Dębe Wielkie, and 53

Wrzosów. They provide transport to Warsaw approximately twice per hour. The commune is located at a distance of approximately 30 km from the centre of Warsaw (approximately 40 minutes by train and 30 minutes drive), and approximately 8 km from Mińsk Mazowiecki (approximately 10 minutes by train or car). In the perspective of the next several years, the transport system in the commune should further improve, as illustrated in Fig. 35. This will be supported by the commissioning by 2020 of a section of motorway A2 from the “Lubelska” junction – beginning of the ring road of Mińsk Mazowiecki running through Dębe Wielkie to the nearest “Konik” junction, located in the village of Konik Stary at a distance of only 6 km east along national road No. 2.. Motorway A2 will allow the inhabitants of Dębe Wielkie fast access to the constructed ring road of Warsaw, and provide good transport connection not only with the city centre, but also with peripheral boroughs.

Fig. 35. Ring road of Warsaw with the course of the designed motorway A2 east of the city borders. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek elaboration based on the map of the ring road of Warsaw and the metropolitan area of Warsaw. Due to the good transport connection with Warsaw, planned to be further improved in the future, the Dębe Wielkie Commune is one of the communes of the metropolitan area of Warsaw taking advantage of the dynamic construction development of around the metropolis. This will be evident in the description of changes in land use in the area of the commune. According to data from the land register as at 1 January 2014, the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune amounted to 7,775 ha. The land use structure in the Dębe Wielkie Commune shows evident predomination of arable land. According to the data from the land register as at 1 January 2014, it constituted 62.1% of the area of the commune. It was dominated by cultivated land – 71.3 %, followed by permanent meadows – 10.9 %, and permanent pastures – 8.3%, as well as developed arable land – 4.8% of the area of all arable land. Part of the land, however, is not used for agricultural purposes. Moreover, a decrease in the area of cultivates land has been observed over the last decade. In 2005, it constituted 69.5% of the area of the commune. This results from the process of forestation of land, and its development. The second largest in terms of area category of land constitutes forests, tree stands, and shrubs. Their contribution from 2005 to 2014 increased from 24.1% to 30.5%, particularly as a result of the mentioned forestation of arable land. An increase in the area also occurred in the category of developed and urbanised land. This is related to the 54 process of conversion of arable land into building plots, discussed in this chapter. Their contribution from 2005 to 2014 increase from 4.5% to 6.8%. According to the state as at 1 January 2014, roads have a considerable contribution in this category of land – 45.1%, as well as residential areas – 30.5%.

3.2.2. Conditions of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune The planning conditions in the Dębe Wielkie Commune are favourable for dynamic construction development. The directions of the spatial policy in the aforementioned commune are determined by the study of conditions and directions of spatial development of the Dębe Wielkie Commune, adopted based on resolution No. XLIII/211/2009 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 29 December 2009. The document recognises the occurring changes in land use: due to the low profitability of agricultural production, and high level of fragmentation of farms, as well as availability of non‐agricultural labour market, only slightly more than 20% of farms deal with rearing animals. The remaining 80% of farms do not meet their definition. Agricultural production is practically abandoned in them, the farm buildings remain empty or are adapted for purposes not related to agricultural production, and approximately 40% of arable land remains fallow. Moreover, in their applications regarding the study, the inhabitants reported high demand for the change of the purpose of arable land for various kinds of investments. Due to this, the study favours investments in the area of the commune, particularly construction of detached houses, introducing it over the largest possible area. The aforementioned study was amended to an inconsiderable extent by resolution No. XLIX/249/2010 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 27 May 2010, and then by resolution No. SR.XLN.0007.333.2014 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 27 March 2014. Pursuant to the resolution of 2014, slight changes were introduced to the study, resulting from new needs of owners regarding the way of management of their land, and related to among others the implementation of the public objective with national importance specified in the plan of spatial development of the Mazowieckie Province, for the areas of the Dębe Wielkie Commune remaining in the vicinity of the overhead line 400kV “Miłosna‐Siedlce‐Ujrzanów”. Therefore, the proposed amendments do not change the spatial policy of the commune. The Dębe Wielkie Commune includes 24 village council offices, but only one village, namely Dębe Wielkie, has a binding local spatial development plan – resolution No. X/38/03 of 29 August 2003 on the local plan of spatial development of Dębe Wielkie. The plan was then amended with resolution No. XIV/58/2007 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 26 November 2007 on the amendment of a part of the local plan of spatial development of the communal village Dębe Wielkie for the purposes of a water treatment plant, and then with resolution No. XII/89/2008 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 30 May 2008 on the amendment of a part of the local plan of spatial development of the communal village Dębe Wielkie. It should be mentioned that the aforementioned plan will be subject to amendments, because on 16 September 2010, the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune passed resolution No. LII/272/2010 on the commencement of preparation of the local plan of spatial development of Dębe Wielkie in the Dębe Commune. This amendment should adjust the content of the local plan to the binding study of conditions and directions of the spatial development of the commune. In addition to the local plan, two other plans are binding for the village Dębe Wielkie , covering fragments of particular villages, namely:  local plan of spatial development for plots located in the north‐western part of Kąty Goździejewskie, Dębe Wielkie Commune, passed based on resolution No. SR.XXX.0007.220.2013 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 26 March 2013.  local plan of spatial development for the purposes of overhead line 400 kV “Miłosna‐ Siedlce‐Ujrzanów” for a part of the Kąty Goździejewskie, Walercin, and Gorzanka village, and Dębe Wielkie Commune, passed based on resolution No. SR.XIV.0007.341.2014 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 15 May 2014.

Works on further two local plans are currently under preparation. They are related to passing on 16 September 2010 by the Commune Council of resolution No. LII/273/2010 on the commencement of preparation of the local plan of spatial development covering the village of Chrośl, and resolution No. LII/274/2010 on the commencement of preparation of the local plan of spatial development of the village of Kobierne in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. Due to the low coverage of the commune by the local plans, investments are particularly performed based on decisions on conditions of development. Obtaining decisions on conditions of development, and then building permit for a detached house in the area of the Dębe Wielkie Commune on arable land is relatively easy, not only due to the favourable spatial policy of the commune, but also due to the high amount of arable land in the direct vicinity of single‐family residential development. The conversion of arable land into building plots is also supported by soil conditions in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. Pursuant to the binding study of conditions and directions of spatial development of the Dębe Wielkie Commune, soils of average and low quality are predominant (classes: IVa, IVb, V, VI, and VI Rz). Classes IIIa and IIIb occupy only 6.6% of arable land and 5.3% of green areas. In terms of typology, soils in the commune show very low diversity. Soils of mineral origin are predominant, i.e. peudo‐podsols, endoeutric cambisols, black earths, and fluvisols. Soils of organic origin, i.e. marshy and peaty soils, only occurring in valleys and depressions. Arable land is dominated by pseudo‐podsols, i.e. soils of mineral origin. This means, that if the investor wants to convert arable land into building plots, for the majority of land in the commune (cultivated land on mineral soils of class IV‐VI) they will avoid fees related to exclusion from agricultural production. Moreover, the change of purpose of land to non‐agricultural purposes will not depend on the consent of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for the change of purpose. Development is also favoured by land relief. According to the study of conditions and directions of spatial development, the relief in the commune is slightly undulating, with prevailing inclinations of 2‐5%, i.e. not constituting a barrier to development. The highest point is located at the boundary with the Mińsk Mazowiecki Commune (in the village of Choszczówka Stojecka – 151.6 m a.s.l.), and the lowest – in the Mienia River valley on the boundary with the Wiązowna Commune (near the village of Górki – 115.5 m a.s.l.). The greatest restriction of the construction development is the depth of occurrence of groundwaters which make the construction of cellars impossible in many places. The study of conditions and directions of spatial development distinguishes two zones of occurrence of groundwaters of the first aquifer. Zone I covers the area of valleys, depressions, and fragments of the plain located in the direct vicinity of valleys, where the depth of occurrence of groundwaters amounts to 0.5‐1.0 m. Zone II covers the area of the plateau, where the depth of occurrence of groundwaters amounts to 1.0‐2.0 m. Summing up the above, both planning and soil conditions favour the process of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. This is reflected in the activity of investors particularly constructing single‐family residential buildings, as discussed further in the chapter. 3.2.3. Effects of the process of conversion of arable land into building plots in the Dębe Wielkie Commune The effects of conversion of arable land into building plots include the possibility of their development used by the owners of the building plots and persons purchasing the plots from them. Therefore, the aforementioned process of conversion of land can be monitored based on changes in land use disclosed in the land register. For the purpose of illustrating the effects of the process of conversion of arable land into building plots, Fig. 36 presents residential areas in the Dębe Wielkie Commune in the years 2005‐ 2014 as at 1 January of a given year.

Fig. 36. Residential areas in the Dębe Wielkie Commune in the years 2005‐2014. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek study based on data from the land register – collective data. According to data from the land register as at 1 January 2005, residential areas in the Dębe Wielkie Commune occupied only 6 ha. In a large majority, the residential buildings constituted parts of homesteads – they were located on developed arable land with an area of 247 ha. This suggests the agriculture character of the commune. A sharp increase in residential areas in 2007 to 82 ha from 7 ha in 2006 is probably related to the construction of a high number of single‐family detached houses in the period of boom in the property market. The majority of the buildings were constructed on plots previously constituting arable land, as suggested by a decrease in the area of the land in 2007 by 81 ha in comparison to the preceding year. In the following years, residential areas successively increased until 2012, amounting to 104 ha according to the state as at 1 January. One year later, a rapid increase in the area of the land was recorded to 156 ha. This was probably related to the construction of a considerable number of single‐family residential buildings. The effects of the construction of residential buildings are not only changes in land use discussed above, but also an increase in the number of population. The number of population in the years 2005‐2014 is presented in Fig 37.

Fig. 37. Number of population in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek study based on data obtained from http://www.bip.debewielkie.pl 57

In the analysed period, the number of population increased from 8259 in 2005 to 9447 in 2014. This means an increase in the number of population by more than 14%. The increase is particularly caused by the positive balance of internal migrations for the Dębe Wielkie Commune. According to Fig 38 presenting the balance of internal migration in the years 2005‐2013, it amounted to 880 people in that period. In the analogical period, the number of population increased by 1031. This means that internal migrations accounted for 85% of the increase.

Fig. 38. Balance of internal migrations in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek elaboration based on data of the Central Statistical Office. This chapter also includes the analysis of the variability of the number of population in particular villages of the Dębe Wielkie Commune.

Fig. 39. Change in the number of population in villages of the Dębe Wielkie Commune with more than 100 inhabitants in the years 2005‐2014. Source: T. Budzyński, M. Wrzosek study based on data obtained from http://www.bip.debewielkie.pl According to the data presented in Fig 39 concerning change in the number of population in villages with more than 100 inhabitants in the years 2005‐2014, the highest percent increase was recorded for the villages of Aleksandrówka (29.5%), Kobierne (23.4%), Olesin (23.0%), and Dębe Wielkie (22.8%). The villages feature the best location ensuring the fastest transport to Warsaw, i.e. they are located in the western part of the commune, and include a section of the main transport route, namely national road No. 2 (Aleksandrówka), they are located in the central part of the commune, and include a section of national road No. 2 (Dębe Wielkie and 58

Kobierne), or are located in the western part of the commune, relatively near the main transport route (Olesin).Villages in the Dębe Wielkie Commune also include those in which the number of population decreased in the years 2005‐2014. These are among others Poręby (13.0%), Celinów (10.5%), and Walercin (9.3%), featuring unfavourable location due to the considerable distance from national road No. 2. 3.3. Conclusions The process of conversion of arable land into building plots is a complicated and time‐ consuming process, although profitable from the point of view of land owners. It involves activities of legal and technical character. The process particularly concerns currently rural areas subject to the process of urbanisation due to the vicinity of large cities. An example of a commune in the area of which gradual conversion of arable land into building plots occurs, followed by the construction of single‐family detached houses, is the Dębe Wielkie Commune. A dozen years ago, the commune was still of typically agricultural character. It is currently transforming into another “bedroom” of Warsaw. The conversion of arable land into building plots is favoured by not only the convenient location of the commune in relation to Warsaw – the largest labour market, but also by the planning and soil conditions. Although the commune only includes one village, namely Dębe Wielkie, which has a fully determined planning situation due to passing of the local plan, also in the remaining area in the majority of cases obtaining the decision on conditions of development and then building permit for a single‐family detached house is not problematic. This is determined not only by the favourable spatial policy of the commune, but also by high abundance of arable land directly neighbouring with single‐family housing development. The soil conditions also favour the conversion of arable land into building plots due to the predominant occurrence of mineral soils of average and low quality – bonitation classes IV‐VI. The performed analyses show that the process of conversion of arable land into building plots and the related construction of residential buildings and their inhabitancy has already been taking place in the Dębe Wielkie Commune for a decade. The intensity of the process shows spatial variability. It is more intensive in areas featuring convenient location permitting fast transport to Warsaw in comparison to other villages in the Dębe Wielkie Commune. The process hardly occurs in villages located at a considerable distance from the road running to Warsaw.

4. NEW MATERIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE SURFACES OF AGRICULTURAL ROADS IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT1 The agricultural road network in Poland has been developed for centuries resulting from processes of property divisions. Although its density is high, the network is generally characterised by the low functionality and it is not adapted to modern means of transport, machinery and agricultural tools. It is the weakest part of the road network in Poland, although it creates the most important connections for the effective development of rural areas, which cover 93,1% of the total area of the country. Due to the lack of a properly operating drainage system, many existing hard surface roads require immediate modernisation and overhauls. While the access roads, which serve for direct services of parcels and field, are unsurfaced in the vast majority and require pavement hardening. In natural conditions, they are rarely passable throughout the year. Utilisation of these roads are mostly impossible in spring (Fig. 40).

Fig. 40. Examples of damaged surfaces of agricultural roads (Cegłów commune, Mińsk district, Mazovia

1 The project implemented basing on Wioleta Krupowicz doctor's thesis "Methodology of development of the road network in land consolidation works within rural areas with consideration of environmental and landscape aspects".

voivodship). Source: photographs taken by W. Krupowicz (28.04.2014) Questionnaire surveys performed by the Author (KRUPOWICZ, 2014) among inhabitants of rural areas in Poland, who utilise agricultural roads every day, point to the general dissatisfaction with existing technical conditions and maintenance of roads. According to their opinions, the lack or the low quality of roads, the lack of the water supply and gas networks are the most important problem, which must be faced by Polish villages. All other issues seem to be of less importance. In conditions when the poor technical quality of agricultural roads makes it difficult or ‐ in some cases ‐ impossible to effectively use means of transport, which are owned by particular farms, it is necessary to undertake road modernisation and reconstruction works, considering soil and water conditions and using appropriate material and technological solutions. This is possible within post‐land consolidation operations, being an integral part of the land consolidation process. Although the basic approach remains the same, the solutions of local road construction applied in particular countries are different, depending on the natural conditions, designing standards, local building practices and the practical availability of local resources. Nevertheless, some good practices exist, applied in road construction, which follow the idea of sustainable development of rural areas and the requirements and best European and world standards. They include, among others: asphalt surfaces with addition of rubber from wasted tyres, surfaces constructed with the use of recycled materials, surfaces constructed of local materials, ecological surfaces. The objective of the monograph chapter is to analyse the application of new materials and technologies in the construction of agricultural road surfaces in the aspect of the specific environmental‐landscape conditions, with emphasis on the “greening roads” – a concept commonly applied in the scope of consolidation works in European countries. The chapter presents a comparative analysis of new technological solutions commonly applied in Poland and abroad, as well as the assessment of the possibilities of application of the best road solutions in rural areas in Polish conditions. 4.1. Sustainable development of rural areas The modern, European approach to the development of agriculture and rural areas is based on sustainable development, which assumes the improvement of living conditions of inhabitants and performing business activities in rural areas, with maintenance of specific resources of those areas, which include: the values of the natural environment, the landscape of rural areas, traditions and the cultural heritage (ROSZKOWSKA‐MĄDRA, 2009). This idea was created in the seventies of the 20th century, as a result of issues related to the pressure of progress and modernity, considered as the industrial development and the progress in mechanization. Since then, the importance of this concept has grown in the theory and policy of the development of economy and civilisation. Sustainable development has been defined as the development able to satisfy contemporary needs in a way which will not limit the possibilities to satisfy demands of the future generations. The fundamental message of this idea is to focus particular attention to the necessity of combination of economic, social and ecological aspects of the development with the demands of existing and future generations. Such approach to issues related to the development of the environment of human life results in changes of considerations about rural areas. The necessity of the complex approach to villages and to the agriculture is also stressed by WOŚ and ZEGAR. Following the Authors' opinion (2002) the policy of sustainable development of rural areas should concern all activities performed in those areas, moving from mono‐ functionality, which limits the role of rural areas to places of production of food and resources for the industry. To achieve this purpose, comprehensive activities are required, such as: development of human resources, improvement of water management, permanent and sustainable development of agriculture, protection of soils, water and the air against agricultural pollution, protection of landscape and biodiversity, as well as protection against erosion of soils, power supply for rural areas, increase of the participation of local societies in making decisions 61 concerning utilisation of resources and implementation of efficient and environmental‐friendly technologies in many industrial sectors, including road construction. 4.2. Classification of roads in Poland The legal act, which defines the term of a road is the Act of March 21,1985 on public roads (uniform text Off. J. of 2013 item 260 with amendments). Following Art. 4 item 2 of the act on public roads, the road is the construction with road engineering objects and installations, being the technical‐and‐useful whole, which is destined for maintained traffic and which is located in the roadway. Fig. 41 presents a scheme of a road in its cross section. The area between the delimiting lines is the road reserve. The width of the road reserve within delimiting lines should assure the possibility to place elements of the road and related installations.

Excavation

Embankmen

Travel lane

Shoulder Carriageway Shoulder line line g g Side drain Roadwa y Road reserve

Delimitin Delimitin

Fig. 41. The cross‐section of a road. Source: W. Krupowicz study based on MAJEWSKI (1998) The basic part of the road is the roadway, which includes the carriageway and shoulders. The carriageway consists of travel lanes and enables the traffic of traffic units. Shoulders play the role of parking lane, the static buttress for the road and they enable to place traffic safety installations. Due to the property rights of the road reserve, the act on public roads specifies public and internal roads. The network of public roads in Poland is divided into the following, functional categories:  national roads,  voivodship roads,  district roads,  commune roads. The national roads are the property of the State Treasury. The voivodship, district and commune roads are the property of local governments, at appropriate administrative levels. This classification of roads is particularly important for legal procedures concerning construction, maintenance and protection of road investments. It specifies the administrative body, which participates in those investments (the road administrators) and the required legal acts. The central body of the governmental administration of roads is the General Directorate for 62

National Roads and Motorways. The management boards of appropriate local government units are the administrators of voivodship, district and commune roads. More details concerning the road accessibility, as well as the technical and useful requirements, are described in the Ordinance of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Economy of March 1999 on technical conditions of public roads and their locations (Of. J. No. 43, item 430 with amendments). The following technical classes of roads are distinguished:  motorways – A,  express ways – S,  main roads of accelerated traffic – GP,  main roads – G,  service roads – Z,  local roads – L,  access roads – D. Although both classifications (Table 5) are regulated by separate legal acts, the categories and classes of roads are highly correlated. This means that particular categories of roads correspond to particular classes of roads, in terms of technical and useful conditions. Table 5. Functional, technical‐and‐operational and organisational division of roads in Poland

Classes of roads – Administrators of Categories of roads ‐ technical and useful roads ‐ organisational functional division division division General Director for classes A, S, GP and, G National roads National Roads and (exceptionally) Motorways classes G, Z and GP Voivodship Managing Voivodship roads (exceptionally) Board classes G, Z and L District Managing District roads (exceptionally) Board classes L, D and Z Commune roads Mayor (city president) (exceptionally) Key: A – motorways, S – express ways, GP – main roads of accelerated traffic, G – main roads, Z – service roads, L – local roads, D – access roads. Source: Act of March 21,1985 on public roads and the Ordinance of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Economy of March 2,1999 on technical conditions of public roads and their locations. Following Art. 8 item 1 of the act on public roads, the internal roads are roads, which are not assigned to any category of public roads, although they are the commonly used roads, roads of the common access and not located within roadways of those roads. In particular, they are the roads in housing districts, access roads to agricultural and forest areas, access roads to places of business activities, squares in front of railway stations, bus stations and harbours and bus terminals. In the case of the agricultural transport commune (local and access) roads of the lowest technical parameters and internal roads are mainly used. Following Art. 7 item 1 of the act on public roads, commune roads include local roads, which have not been classified into any category, being the auxiliary road network, used for local purposes, excluding the internal roads. They are the property of commune local governments; therefore commons are responsible for the maintenance and protection of these roads. The roads are assigned to the category of commune roads following the resolution of the commune council and the opinion of the appropriate district managing board (Art. 7 item 2), provided that technical and legal aspects prevail in this case. If any of these two elements is missing, the road is assigned to the category of the internal roads.

Publications related to the rules of development of the road network in rural areas (e.g.: HARASIMOWICZ, 2002; HOPFER et al., 1980; NOWOCIEŃ 1999) and in the practice, an informal, functional division of agricultural roads has been assumed (legal regulations are missing in this field) (Fig. 42):  main roads ‐ which collect transport from field and service roads; they are usually connected with public, commune and housing district roads;  service roads ‐ they create a road network, which ensures connections of roads used for direct field services with main and housing district roads;  field (technological) roads ‐ they serve for direct services of parcels and field, resulting from the agricultural production technology; the size of loads depends on the size of serviced areas.

Fig. 42. A scheme of the system of agricultural roads – an example. Source: W. Krupowicz work based on NOWOCIEŃ (2014) 4.3. Structure of agricultural roads in Poland The road structure which general scheme is presented in Fig. 43 consists of the following layers: a) the wearing course ‐ the surface layer of the road construction, under the direct influence of the traffic and atmospheric conditions; b) the binder course ‐ the layer which ensures better distribution of tensions from tyres and their transmission to the roadbase; c) the roadbase – one or two layers which play the basic bearing function of the road construction and transmission of loads from the upper layers to the sub‐base; d) the sub‐base ‐ the layer which creates the platform, which enables to correctly build in the roadbase; in the surface exploitation it supports the road construction upper layers in distribution of tensions from tyres and protection against heaves caused by frost; e) frost resistant course ‐ the layer which main task is to protect the surface against heaves caused by frost and to increase the bearing capacity of bottom layers of the road construction.

Fig. 43. A scheme of the road structure. Source: W. Krupowicz work based on the Catalogue of typical constructions of flexible and semi‐rigid surfaces (2012) The road structure is placed on the surface background. According to existing demands, the background may be strengthened by constructing the improved background layer on its upper surface. The improved background surface plays an important role in operations performed by the road surface, but formally it is considered as earth works and it is not included as the component of the road structure. It should be also considered that all layers presented in Fig. 43 must occur in a specified project. The number and the types of layers, which occur in a given road construction depends on the traffic category, soil‐and‐water conditions and materials used for construction of the surface layers. Usually the two‐layer system occurs in agricultural roads in the case of heave‐free bases (such as gravels, sands or sandy gravels); or the three‐layer system in soils vulnerable to heaving (clay or loams) which occur in the base (GOŁĘBIEWSKA, 1999). It is also important that particular layers should be constructed of such materials, which ensure that assumed loads are carried by the surface construction in particular soil‐and‐water and climatic conditions, under the assumptions of correct designing and construction of the surface, as well as in conditions of the proper maintenance during the road exploitation. Depending on the assumed criterion, the road surfaces are classified: 1. by deformability; 2. by patterns of materials. Considering the deformability three construction solutions are applied: a) flexible surfaces – surfaces of plastically deforming construction under the load (surfaces of cobblestone, crushed stone, bituminous surfaces with flexible bases); b) semi‐rigid surfaces – bituminous surfaces with bases of poor concrete or aggregates or stabilised soils; c) rigid surfaces – surfaces of the elastic‐deformable constructions under the loads (concrete surfaces). Depending on the types of materials, the road surfaces are divided into: a) hard surfaces ‐ surfaces which are resistant to the traffic and atmospheric conditions:  hard improved surfaces – dust‐free and plain surfaces, adapted to fast vehicle traffic (made of paving stones, clinker, stone‐concrete plates, concrete surfaces, bituminous surfaces),

 hard, unimproved surfaces – surfaces which are not adapted to fast vehicle traffic due to dustiness and high irregularities (surfaces constructed of pavement stones, crushed stone and gravels). b) dirt road surfaces – surfaces of local soils, fixed as a result of special operations and preparation of soil, using mixtures of clay, gravel etc. Reviewing the data presented in Table 6 it may be noticed that the municipal roads create the longest road network (local and access roads). Comparing to the national roads and motorways, the municipal roads are characterised by much worse technical conditions.

Table 6. The lengths of public roads in Poland in 2012

Estimated lengths Categories of roads including roads of hard surfaces total [km] [km] [%] National roads 19182.1 19 180.9 100.0 Voivodship roads 28422.6 28 361.7 99.8 District roads 125779.2 114 589.4 91.1 Commune roads: 238651.2 118 587.1 49.7 ‐ in cities 43 798.1 33 177.6 75.8 ‐ in rural areas 193 594.7 84 529.9 43.7 Source: W. Krupowicz study based on data from the Local Data Bank ‐ the Central Statistical Office of Poland (stat.gov.pl/bdl/). The highest percentage of roads within the rural areas are the dirt surface roads– 56.3% (Fig. 44).

Fig. 44. The structure of roads in rural areas in Poland in 2012 [km]. Source: W. Krupowicz work based on data from the Local Data Bank ‐ The Central Statistical Office of Poland (stat.gov.pl/bdl/). The roads of unimproved, hard surfaces create 8,6% of roads within the rural areas (Fig. 44). The following types of these roads are distinguished:  roads with slag surfaces Their construction and maintenance is relatively inexpensive. They may be constructed on sands, without the dewatering layer and on cohesive soils, under the assumption that appropriate dewatering conditions are ensured. Aggregates of good properties are produced of steel slag. However, only tested slag should be applied after required period of storing. Slag obtained directly from production may become disintegrated.  roads with surfaces of pavement stones

The wearing course of this surface is constructed of pavement stones. Erratic, field stones, i.e. unprocessed stones or processed stones and road pavement stones are mostly used for construction of such surfaces. At present, such surfaces are seldom constructed, but they remain irreplaceable in the case of high slopes of roads.  roads with gravel surfaces The wearing course of this surface is constructed of gravel mix, without the use of binder. The natural aggregate used for the road construction should meet the requirements of the European standard, which has been also approved in Poland, PN‐EN 13043:2004 “Aggregates for bituminous mixtures and surface fixing of pavements, applied for roads, airports and other surfaces destined for the traffic”. The gravel surface may be constructed as one‐ or two‐layer surface and it may be placed on: • the natural soil base, in the case of permeable soil ‐ in two layers, • the soil base improved with lime, ashes of brown coal or concrete; in the case of non‐ permeable soils ‐ as one‐layer surfaces, • the dewatering layer; in the case of non‐permeable soils ‐ as two‐layer surfaces.  roads of crushed stone surfaces It is one or more layers of crushed stones and arch stones, placed on the natural or improved base, wedged and adapted to directly carry the traffic. Crushed stones (size of grains 31.5 ‐ 63 mm) and arch stones (size of grains 4 – 31.5 mm) are classified as broken aggregates, produced as a result of intentional breaking of solid rocks (magma, deposit and metamorphic rocks) in the technological process. Due to the increase internal fraction between grains, and, therefore the increased ability to carry loads, the broken aggregate is considered as much better comparing to the natural base (sand, gravel). Surfaces of crushed stones may be used as independent surfaces or they can become the base for improved surfaces. The rules concerning works related to the construction of surfaces of crushed stones are described in the Polish standard PN‐S‐96023:1984 „Road constructions. The sub‐base and the surface of crushed stones”. Roads of hard and improved surfaces equal to 35.1% of roads in rural areas. Asphalt (bituminous) roads are the most common solutions; the wearing course of these roads is constructed of the mineral‐and‐asphalt mix. Materials, designing conditions, requirements and conditions of production of mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures are described in Technical Requirements WT‐2 „Asphalt surfaces on the national roads”, which are compliant with the European standards assumed for implementation in Poland (PN‐EN 13108 standard series, concerning mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures). The list of typical constructions of hard surfaces, applied in Poland for construction of roads in rural areas is presented in Table 7. In case of designing road surfaces placed on tenuous and heave soils, such as loess, it is worth to refer to variants of construction and technological solutions proposed by NOWOCIEŃ (2014), as a result of many years of experimental and implementation works concerning the technology of hardening agricultural roads (Table 8).

Table 7. Typical constructions of upper layers of road surfaces of agricultural roads in Poland Surface Thickness of layers Type Material construction [cm]

A1 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete;

20 sub‐base of mixture not bonded with the aggregate C90/3

Σ 29

A2 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete;

22 sub‐base of mixture not bonded with the aggregate C50/3

Σ 31

A3 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete;

sub‐base of mixture not bonded with the aggregate CNR 25

Σ 34

B 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix;

10 sub‐base of asphaltic concrete

Σ 14

C 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete;

18 sub‐base of the mixture bonded by hydraulic binder

Σ 27

D 4 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete;

18 sub‐base of soil stabilised by hydraulic binder

Σ 27

E 3 wearing course of mineral‐and‐asphalt mix; 5 base course of asphaltic concrete; sub‐base of mixture produced in the cold recycling 15 technology Σ 23

Source: W. Krupowicz study based on the Catalogue of typical construction of flexible and semi‐rigid surfaces (2012).

Table 8. Recommended constructions of surfaces of agricultural roads in loess areas, according to NOWOCIEŃ (2014) One‐lane road Two‐lane road Surface Item Material Bearing capacity of the soils background construction G2 G3 G4 G2 G3 G4 a) wearing course of MMA; ‐ ‐ ‐ 4 4 4 sub‐base of stabilised soil, Rm = 2,5 ‐ ‐ ‐ 18 20 25 MPa; subgrade

b) bituminous cover or carpet; 2 2 2 2 2 2 sub‐base of stabilised soil, Rm = 5,0 12 12 12 12 12 12 MPa; sub‐base of the roadbase of ‐ ‐ ‐ 14 16 18 stabilised soil, Rm = 2,5 MPa; subgrade

c) wearing course of MMA; ‐ ‐ ‐ 4 4 4 roadbase of aggregate stabilised by ‐ ‐ ‐ 14 16 16 granulated slag;

improved subgrade, Rm = 1,5 MPa; ‐ ‐ ‐ 10 10 14 subgrade

d) clay‐and‐gravel mix, clay‐and‐ 20 25 30 ‐ ‐ ‐ sandy mixture or slag; subgrade

e) wearing course of MMA; ‐ ‐ ‐ 4 4 4 roadbase of mechanically stabilised 18 18 18 18 22 25 aggregate; sand; 8 8 8 8 8 15 subgrade

f) small‐grain sandy gravel; 4 4 4 4 4 4 roadbase of blast furnace slag; 12 12 12 18 22 25 sand; 8 8 8 8 8 15 subgrade

g) small‐grain sandy gravel; 2 2 2 4 4 4 roadbase of unsorted stones or 12 12 12 18 22 30 blast furnace slag; improved subgrade, Rm = 1,5 MPa; 10 10 10 10 10 10 subgrade

h) wearing course of MMA; 4 4 4 4 4 4 roadbase of stabilised loess, Rm = 14 15 22 18 20 25 5,0 MPa; subgrade

Source: W. Krupowicz study based on NOWOCIEŃ (2014). 69

Key: Rm – durability. G2, G3, G4 ‐ bearing capacity groups of the soil background, depending on the soil vulnerability to heaving and water conditions: G2 – tenuous soils (dusty sands, clay wastes) for good and average water conditions, G3 – low vulnerability to heaving (sandy clays, sandy silts) for good water conditions or tenuous soils (dusty sands, clay wastes) for poor water conditions, G4 –high vulnerability to heaving (clays, dusts, silts, varve clays), independently on water conditions. It should be noticed that the road surface is the most expensive component, which undergoes the highly intensive process of wasting and, which therefore requires successive financial inputs for repairs, modernisation and maintenance. Within non‐built up areas it is possible to resign from construction of the surface course in order to reduce the road construction costs. However, hardened surfaces without the surface courses are characterised by the ability of excessive dustiness in overdrying conditions. In the case of excessive humidity local deformations occur in the surface plane, what negatively influences the technical conditions and the appearance of roads [JÓZEFACIUK et al., 2002]. Such requirements, and the rapid development of modern means of transport, machinery and tools, together with the present, European approach to changes of the rural areas, based on sustainable development, influence the use of new material and technological solutions of construction of the agricultural road surfaces, according to the following rules:  soil stabilisation should be applied as widely as possible, with the use of local aggregates, from local mines, in the upper and bottom courses of the roadbase, for light traffic conditions;  for lower layers of the road surface construction, waste or local materials should be used, according to existing opportunities;  the objective should be to utilise modern constructions of pavements of the agricultural roads; materials of particular layers should be improved or stabilised, in order to reduce the participation of transport and supplies of massive materials from other regions of the country;  in the process of pavement hardening, water permeability should increase towards the bottom layers; this protects against storing rainwater in the road surface, and, therefore, against damages of the surface. Due to the increasing restrictions of the environmental protection standards, it is very important to eliminate adverse factors in the process of road construction and to use alternative technologies, based on utilisation of the existing materials. The possible solution is the technology of recycling of asphalt pavements, commonly applied in the world; the asphaltic waste is obtained. 4.4. Technologies of road surfaces using recycled materials Recycling becomes the part of the production process in many industrial sectors, including road construction. Following Art. 3 item 1 point 23 of the Act of December 14,2010 on waste materials (Of. J. of 2013, item 21 with amendments) recycling is understood as recovery, resulting in the reprocessing of waste materials into products, materials or substances, which are used for primary or other purposes; this includes reprocessing of organic materials (organic recycling) but it does not include the energy recovery and reprocessing into materials, which are to be used as fuels or in order to fill excavations. The advantages of utilisation of industrial waste materials and by‐products of technological processes should not be considered in economic categories only (by reducing costs of transport of materials), but they should also considered in terms of the natural environment protection (by reduction of deposits of waste materials, reduction of exploitation of natural, rock raw materials). The advanced technologies and the complex construction of a car tyre result in the high difficulty to use this waste material without excessive and negative impacts to the natural environment. Among many methods of utilisation of wasted tyres, the use of rubber for 70 modification of road asphalts should be considered as the most effective way of the ecological use of these harmful waste materials (WAY, 2012). Rubber from the recycling of tyres may be the full‐ value and cheaper substitute of other polymers, used for modernisation of asphalt. After introduction to asphalt it increases its viscosity, elasticity, it results in the increased resistance of layers to ageing and it increases the asphalt durability (resistance to climatic conditions), improves its anti‐slip properties, increases the surface resistance to low‐temperature cracks, to rutting, it decreases the surface noises and costs of exploitation (PIŁAT et al., 2013). Adding rubber to the surface construction, consisting of thin layers in the case of agricultural roads, will result in improvements of its fatigue life. Another example of utilisation of recycled materials is the use of asphaltic waste, obtained from milling the old and worn surface. The phenomenon which commonly occurs in rural areas, is the progressive degradation of many agricultural roads. It results from poor adaptation of the road surface construction to the increased loads and the traffic intensity. Surface repairs result in lower costs, but they often require the repeated repairs. The road overhauls, performed in conventional ways, are labour consuming and expensive; they do not follow the growing devastation. An important issue is related to the fact that ‐ together with the development of the construction of roads, resources of the natural raw materials are decreasing (asphalt surfaces of roads are constructed of mineral‐ and‐asphalt mixtures, composed in 90% of the natural aggregates). Locations of aggregate mines in the south Poland creates more economic and logistic difficulties resulting from the demands to deliver materials for construction of roads to distant regions of Poland. Utilisation of materials from recycling of asphalt surfaces is the reasonable solution of this problem. The asphaltic waste, milled on the road, is considered as an alternative material, which usefulness is equivalent to the usefulness of natural materials. When segregated and crushed, it becomes the granular material, which is considered as the full‐value material to be built‐in the road construction. The fast development of technology of production of mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures results in wide application of mixtures with the addition of the asphaltic waste on new and repaired roads. The required properties, methods of testing and evaluation of the asphaltic waste, as the component of asphalt mixtures, are normalised by the European standard PN‐EN 13108‐8:2008 “Mineral and asphalt mixtures. requirements. Part 8: Asphaltic waste", which is approved to be applied in Poland. The material from asphalt surfaces may be re‐utilised with the use of the cold, warm or hot recycling methods. The process of recycling of the old asphalt surface may be performed on the road, by means of recyclers or in the production plant of mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures. The important role, which reduces the possibility to use the asphaltic waste, is played by the content of coal tar. In many European countries, including Poland and also in the USA road tar, derived from distillation of black coal was used for road construction as early as in the eighties of the 20th century. Basing on numerous experiments, pointing to carcinogenic effects of road tar, its utilisation was ended in the nineties. However, existing road surfaces may be placed on old layers, which contain road tar. The presence of tar in the asphaltic waste makes it impossible to apply the hot technology. However, the cold technology may be applied, what means the production of mineral‐and‐asphalt mixture with the asphaltic emulsion or the recycling of the tar surface, performed on the site, with the asphaltic emulsion or foamed asphalt. As it results from many years of experiments performed in Germany, asphalt from the asphaltic emulsion creates a permanent integument of tar in the new surface, what eliminates the hazards for the health and the natural environment (SYBILSKI, 2011). The most appropriate and reasonable ways of using asphaltic waste is to mix it, maintaining specified relations, with the new mineral aggregate and new asphalt and to produce the new mineral‐and‐asphalt mixture applying the hot technology (SYBILSKI, 2011). When prices of natural aggregates are increasing, this is the required and common practice of re‐using asphalt surfaces. The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Japan and the USA are the leading countries in this field; they maintain the active governmental policy, which supports production companies (by regulations of prices), as well as the environmental policy which limits the 71 accessibility to waste dumps for recyclable materials. Following the statistical data of the European Asphalt Pavement Association, Table 9 presents the level of recycling of asphalt surfaces in selected European countries in the period 2010‐2013. The highest ratio of derived asphaltic waste to production of mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures were noticed in Italy and the Netherlands within the analysed period. Besides Germany, Spain, Sweden and Denmark, the Netherlands are the most advanced in the use of asphaltic waste for production of asphalt‐and‐ mineral mixtures. Table. 9. The level of recycling of asphalt surfaces in selected European countries in the period 2010‐2013

Ratio between Utilisation of derived asphaltic Production of Obtained asphaltic asphalt waste for waste and mineral‐and‐ waste from repaired production of production of asphalt mix surfaces [million mineral‐and‐ mineral‐and‐ [million tons] tons] asphalt mixture asphalt mixture [%] [%] 2010 2011 2012 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013 2010 2011 2012 2013

Denmark 3.2 4.0 3.6 3.7 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.8 11 15 16 21 56 80 77 83 France 38.8 39.2 35.3 35.4 7.1 7.1 6.5 6.9 18 18 18 19 40 45 62 64 Spain 34.4 29.3 19.5 13.2 1.6 1.4 0.4 0.2 5 5 2 2 56 73 66 85 Netherlands 9.5 9.6 9.2 9.7 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.5 42 42 43 46 75 83 80 76 Germany 45.0 50.0 41.0 41.0 14.0 14.0 11.5 11.5 31 28 28 28 82 84 87 90 Poland 18.0 26.5 21.1 18.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 n/a 1 0.4 0.5 n/a 4 4 4 n/a Sweden 7.9 8.1 7.7 7.6 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.9 14 14 13 12 70 70 75 80 Great Britain 21.5 22.4 18.5 19.2 4.0 4.5 4.5 4.0‐5.0 19 20 24 21‐26 n/a n/a n/a n/a Italy 29.0 28.0 23.2 22.3 11.0 11.0 10.0 10.0 38 39 43 45 20 20 20 20

Key: n/a – data not available. Source: W. Krupowicz study based on data from the European Asphalt Pavement Association (www.eapa.org). Quoting the report of the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD, 1997) the Netherlands and Denmark are the most advanced countries in terms of legal regulations, technical guidelines, financial instruments and the integrated policy concerning the utilisation of alternative materials for sustainable development of road construction. The level of utilisation of recycled materials in road construction in the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as in Germany, France, Sweden and in the USA is widely described in the report prepared by the delegation of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, 2000). Following this report, the pro‐ecological policy of the Dutch government considers three aspects:  waste materials ‐ prevention against damages, recycling, burning and storing;  protection of soils ‐ based on the rule of permissions for marginal pollution of soils as a result of alternative materials ‐ to 1% of pollution in the upper layer of the soil base within a 100 year period;  mineral raw materials – concerns the protection of natural materials, stimulation of the use of waste and alternative materials to the highest possible degree, ensuring the accessibility of building materials. In the field of the use of recycled materials for sustainable development of road construction, the Dutch government supports such demands, as:  clear and explicit standards of recycled materials, developed by governmental research agencies or working groups of industrial associations; 72

 consideration of recycled materials by their manufacturers as "products", which may compete with natural materials, by the use of certified quality assurance programmes;  the clear policy of planning and utilisation, which allows the producers and building companies to prepare for new market conditions;  governmental initiatives, such as taxes for storing waste materials, possible for re‐using or from natural aggregates, which act as stimulators of recycling. In Germany, producers' responsibility for the entire cycle of utilisation of products, including their use after wearing, has been legally binding since 1996. This cycle ends with recycling (secondary use) of products or their storing as waste materials. All remainders, generated in the utilisation cycle must be also managed in the close utilisation cycle. Only such products (substances) which may not be recovered or recycled using methods, which are not hazardous for the human health and the natural environment, may be transferred to waste dumps. Since 1999 producers are also obliged to present waste management plans for the entire cycle of utilisation. In the case of recycling of road construction materials, the law established in 1998 assumes recycling of 90% of materials from that sector. Therefore, it becomes much more difficult for the producers to get permits for storing waste materials, including, first of all, asphaltic waste. Another country, which has been considered in the FHWA report (2000) is France. Utilisation of secondary (alternative) materials for road construction is possible in two variants in this country:  the road administrator may specify technical recommendations (specification) of road construction and allow to apply recycled materials,  the construction company may present an offer, which includes utilisation of recycled materials instead of conventional (natural) materials, even when such possibilities are not assumed in the terms of reference of the contract. In France the development of recycling of asphalt surfaces may be also noticed. However, the degree of the possible utilisation of asphalt waste for the surface sub‐base (e.g. 10% in the Paris region) does not satisfy contractors. In many countries fiscal solutions have become an efficient tool, leading to the increase of the utilisation of secondary (alternative) materials and recycling of road surfaces (SYBILSKI, 2011). The Great Britain is a good example; in 1996 the tax for storing waste materials were introduced there; it resulted in the accelerated development of technology of waste processing and treatment. Similar results were achieved in Denmark after introduction of the landfill tax at the level of approx. 250 PLN (3 PLN per one tone of natural materials) and in Sweden ‐ approx. 107 PLN per one tone. In Poland, the secondary utilisation of asphaltic waste for construction of new roads has been low, comparing to other European countries (what is confirmed by data presented in Table 9). In Poland, similarly to other countries in the past, at the beginning stage of popularisation of the secondary utilisation of asphaltic waste (granular materials) in mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures the general reluctance of road administrators, designers and some contractors may be observed. The possible purposes may include: incorrect or incomplete legal regulations, insufficient knowledge, additional costs related to development of technologies for alternative materials processing, the needs to construct processing installations etc. Therefore, the most common way of utilisation of asphaltic waste in Poland is strengthening of berms by spilling without densification or spilling and densification of surface layers. This technology does not ensure, however, that the tight and bonded layer is created, even if it is densified using a roadroller. As early as after the first winter season, crumbles, losses, irregularities, cracks and water bodies may appear. It should not be expected that asphalt contained in asphaltic waste used in the cold technology will become the binder, i.e. that it will "glue" the aggregate grains. The asphalt content in asphaltic waste is too low and equals to approx. 5% only. Asphaltic waste is derived from worn surfaces, which might have been used for several decades. After such a long time of ageing asphalt becomes to hard at the surrounding temperature to play its role correctly, as it could act in the mineral‐and‐asphalt mixture produced in the hot technology. (SYBILSKI, 2011). 73

Asphaltic waste is not a waste material; it is a valuable secondary material, which (in 100%, without any additives) may create agricultural road surfaces. Giving up the idea to utilise it for modernisation of Polish agricultural roads means the lost chance to accelerate performed works and to increase the efficiency of utilisation of funds. Besides, limitations in excavating the natural aggregate for the benefits of the utilisation of asphaltic waste would decrease negative environmental impacts of exploitation of this raw material. It has been estimated that utilisation of asphaltic waste instead of new materials (asphalt and aggregates) would allow for saving 10‐15% of the investment costs (SYBILSKI, 2011). Considering the limited funds for the rural areas development in Poland, the possibility to utilise processed recycled materials, such as asphaltic waste, for the needs of arranging agricultural roads is required not only due to economical reasons; environmental impacts should be also considered. As it turns out from European experiences, it is possible by introduction of new specifications and designing guidelines concerning road surfaces, which would diametrically change the status of asphaltic waste into the full value material in new mineral‐and‐asphalt mixtures. 4.5. Ecological surfaces The specific feature of construction, reconstruction or modernisation of agricultural roads is their particular influence on the rural landscape. Interference of such works is well visible in terrain forms and vegetation cover; such works incorrectly performed result in damages and losses which elimination is highly difficult within a short period. Following the idea and rules of sustainable development, every negative change introduced in the natural environment should be counterbalanced by a series of pro‐ecological initiatives. One of possible solutions is utilisation of ecological constructions of roads of the agricultural transport ‐ a concept which follows the contemporary European approach to the development of rural areas. The ecological surface should be characterised, first of all, by the environmentally friendly surface, low power inputs and low emission of pollutants. Such a surface should be safe and effective and, at the same time, it should become a spatial feature, well fitted in the landscape. It should meet the existing demands for transport and it should not limit the possibilities to meet such demands in the future. An example of such a surface is the grass surface, which minimises the risk of erosion on agricultural roads, which cross the areas of diversified terrain relief, varying climatic conditions and soils vulnerable to eluviation. Soil erosion is the dominating factor which damages agricultural roads in rural areas all over the world. Results of field tests performed by the Chinese researchers (CAO et al., 2006) in the period 1996‐2001 in loess areas of Shaanxi province proved that the intensity of soil erosion in higher by 3.09 times on dirt roads than on roads covered with grass mixtures. It was also estimated that the costs of construction and maintenance of grassed roads are extremely lower than in the case of dirt roads (more than 50%). This also proves that grassed roads may fill the technological gap between hardened and non‐hardened surfaces in upland, characterised by soils vulnerable to eluviation and by the low traffic intensity (rural areas, natural reservations, parks), and, therefore, they may minimise the soil erosion, landscape degradation and other environmental damages. In the European countries, particularly in Germany, surfaces of pro‐ecological properties include, among others, concrete surfaces or surfaces of fine grain concrete products, i.e. pavement stones, grid paving units grassed inside. The following advantages of utilisation of such surfaces may be listed (SZYDŁO, MICKIEWICZ, 2005):  the high bearing capacity and the ability to transfer loads,  long durability,  resistance to permanent deformations (ruts are not generated and surface water outflows from the road surface),  light colours (contribute to the increased traffic safety, particularly at dawn and in rainfalls; they are also well fitted in the rural landscape), 74

 increased safety (as a result of sufficient roughness and better road conditions, allowing for fast outflow of waters from under tyres),  accessibility of domestic raw materials (cement, aggregates),  low maintenance costs. Examples of utilisation of pro‐ecological solutions for arranging agricultural roads in Germany, in Bavaria, are presented in figures below.

Fig. 45. The agricultural road with traffic lanes of concrete paving units and the central grassed lane. Source: Hessische Verwaltung für Bodenmanagement und Geoinformation in Wiesbaden (The Office for Planning and Geoinformation in Wiesbaden).

Fig. 46. The agricultural road with travel lanes of pavement (concrete) stones and the central lane of concrete grid pavement units, grassed inside. Source: the photograph taken by A. Kupidura.

Fig. 47. The section of an agricultural road with traffic lanes of (concrete) pavement stones. Source: Amt für Ländliche Entwicklung Unterfranken in Würzburg (The Office for Development of Rural Areas, Lower Franconia in Würzburg). Due to the high costs of construction, this technology is not applied in Poland as widely as in Belgium and Germany, where the participation of local concrete roads in the road network equals to 60% and 20%, respectively. In Poland asphalt surfaces are utilised for arranging agricultural roads; they are more regular, more safe and cheaper, but their fatigue life is shorter in the case of incorrect exploitation and design. Particular attention should also be paid to bicycle paths and pavements, which are the elements of the transportation system in rural areas. For such locations, the "biologically active" surfaces are particularly preferred ‐ they are water permeable, made of non‐bonded aggregates and mineral surfaces stabilised with binding means of vegetable origin. This technology concerns the construction of upper layers of surfaces. Carefully selected aggregates of the fraction continuous graining 0/11 or 0/16 mm. The mineral mixtures include: special sands, mineral fillers, crushed or non‐crushed gravels. The mixtures do not contain artificial aggregates or recycled aggregates. The binder of vegetable origin, produced in the USA, is utilised for binding the aggregate (RADZISZEWSKI et al., 2014).

4.6. Comparative analysis of the surfaces of agricultural roads commonly applied in Poland and the world The paper presents a broad selection of material and technological solutions for the construction of surfaces of agricultural roads. Each of them is distinguished by a number of considerable advantages, although they also have certain drawbacks. The selection of the surface of an agricultural road is a decision taken for a long term. It should consider all important factors: technological, economic, environmental, and landscape. For this purpose, a comparative analysis was performed concerning three types of agricultural roads commonly applied in Poland and the world (Table 10). The analysis was based on the most important, according to the Author, criteria determining the selection of the appropriate surface.

Table. 10. Assessment of selected surfaces of agricultural roads in terms of technological, economic, and environment‐landscape factors

Asphalt Cellular Concrete Properties surfaces concrete slabs surfaces Durability +++ Resistance to permanent +/‐ + + deformation Availability of materials for + + + production Ease of performing repairs and + + ‐ renovations Investment costs + ‐ ‐ Recyclability +‐+/‐ Operating costs +/‐ + + Technology of constructing + + ‐ the surface Maintenance in winter + +/‐ +/‐ Ease of draining +/‐ + +/‐ Landscape aspects +/‐ + +/‐ Environmentally friendly +++ Ecological costs of production of ‐ (emission of ‐ (emission of binding material (binders, + greenhouse greenhouse adhesives) gases) gases) Driving comfort + +/‐ + Noise + ‐ +/‐ Key: + positive effect ‐ negative effect Source: paper by W. Krupowicz. The conducted analysis suggests that concrete slab roads with turf are the most environmentally‐friendly and compose best with the agricultural landscape. Asphalt roads obtained the highest score in technological and economic terms. The analysis does not consider the social factor. Designed agricultural roads should meet the transportation needs of the local community. Therefore, its expectations in the scope of properties of road surfaces are of high importance. 4.7. Conclusions In the process of arranging agricultural transport roads the appropriate selection of road materials and technologies should be considered in order to develop rural areas and to ensure their environmental‐and‐landscape safety. The types of surfaces, which should be considered, include among others:  asphalt surfaces with additions of rubber derived from worn car tyres,  surfaces constructed with the use of recycled materials,  surfaces constructed of local materials,  ecological surfaces. Before any road investment is started, the possible ways aiming at the reduction of the costs of construction and minimisation of impacts on the natural environment should be analysed. In Poland, the increased standards of protection of particular components of the environment are applied in the process of construction and exploitation of roads. This is expressed, among others, in implementation of the environmental impact assessment system and more restrictive approach to the natural protection, which results from the binding legal 77 regulations. The extension of these regulations are considerably wide, although in many cases it is too general to perform ‐ without additional interpretation and methodological documentation ‐ required analyses and forecasts and to apply required installations and methods of environmental protection against nuisances originating from the roads and the traffic. Using the European and world experiences, independently on changes in legal regulations, continuous development of guidelines and technical instructions related to local roads is required; they could amend the regulations with the elements of the best solutions for designers, advisors, road administrators and the environmental protection. This will allow to achieve the higher effectiveness of the use of funds and the best approach to the issues of sustainable development of rural areas, including utilisation of appropriate technologies, materials and solutions, which protect the natural environment.

REFERENCES

 Periodicals: ADAMIAK, Cz., 2013. Rozwój drugich domów na obszarach cennych przyrodniczo na przykładzie regionu Borów Tucholskich. Studia i Materiały CEPL w Rogowie. R 15. Zeszyt 37/4, p.24‐ 30 BAŃSKI, J. 1998. Gospodarka ziemią w Polsce w okresie restrukturyzacji, Prace Geograficzne nr 117, Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. Stanisława Leszczyńskiego, Warszawa. BAŃSKI, J. 1999. Obszary problemowe w rolnictwie Polski, Prace Geograficzne nr 172, Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. Stanisława Leszczyńskiego, Wydawnictwo Continuo, Wrocław. BAŃSKI, J. 2007. Przyrodnicze uwarunkowania gospodarki rolnej w Polsce, [w:] Przyrodnicze uwarunkowania rozwoju obszarów wiejskich pod red. S. Grykienia i W Hasińskiego, Studia Obszarów Wiejskich, tom 12, Warszawa. CAO, C.S., CHEN, L., GAO, W., CHEN, Y., YAN, M. 2006. Impact of planting grass on terrene roads to avoid soil erosion. Landscape and Urban Planning, 78: 205‐216. JÓZEFACIUK, Cz., JÓZEFACIUK, A., Nowocień, E., Wawer, R. 2002. Przeciwerozyjne zagospodarowanie zlewni wyżynnej potoku Grodarz z uwzględnieniem ograniczania występowania powodzi (Anti‐erosion management of the upland catchment area of Grodarz stream with consideration of limitation of floods). Monographs and dissertations, No. 4, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute, Pulawy, 69 pp. KLUBA, M., JEZIERSKA THÖLE, A. 2012. Zmiany użytkowania ziemi rolnej na obszarach wiejskich województwa kujawsko‐pomorskiego po akcesji do Unii Europejskiej, Roczniki Naukowe Stowarzyszenia Rolnictwa i Agraobiznesu, t.XIV, z.3, Warszawa‐Poznań‐Białystok, s.172‐ 177. KRUPOWICZ, W. 2014. Analiza efektów scalenia gruntów w ocenie społeczności lokalnej (Analysis of the effects of land consolidation as perceived by the local community). Infrastructure and Ecology of Rural Areas, II/2: 493–506. KULIKOWSKI, R. 2007. Wpływ uwarunkowań przyrodniczych na zróżnicowanie przestrzenne rolnictwa w Polsce, [w:] Przyrodnicze uwarunkowania rozwoju obszarów wiejskich pod red. S. Grykienia i W Hasińskiego, Studia Obszarów Wiejskich, tom 12, Warszawa. NOWOCIEŃ, E. 1999. Podstawy geometrycznego projektowania wybranych elementów dróg rolniczych na obszarach wyżynnych (Principles of agricultural road geometric design in upland regions). Research Books of the Academy of Agriculture in Krakow, Research Session, 68: 325‐332. PIŁAT, J., RADZISZEWSKI, P., SARNOWSKI, M. 2013. Zastosowanie lepiszczy gumowo‐asfaltowych do nawierzchni drogowych (Utilisation of rubber‐and‐asphalt binders for road surfaces), ‘”Inżynier Budownictwa”, 3: 94‐99. RADZISZEWSKI, P., KOWALSKI, K., SARNOWSKI, M., POKORSKI, P. 2014. Przyjazne dla środowiska naturalnego rozwiązania materiałowo‐technologiczne nawierzchni drogowych (Environmentally friendly material and technological solutions of road pavements). Civil Engineering and Architecture, 13(1): 305‐316. ROSZKOWSKA‐MĄDRA, B. 2009. Koncepcje rozwoju europejskiego rolnictwa i obszarów wiejskich (The concepts of agricultural and rural development in the European Union). National Economy, 10: 83‐102. RUDNICKI, R. 2013. Spatial differences in the number of applications for payments under the UE Common Agricultural Policy submitted by agricultural holdings in Poland over the years 2002‐2010, [w:] A. Kołodziejczak (red.), Development of rural areas in European Regions, Quaestiones Geographica, 32 (4), Poznań, s.15‐31. 79

STANNY M., 2011. Analiza poziomu komponentów rozwoju zrównoważonego i ocena stopnia ich zrównoważenia na obszarach wiejskich (w:) Ekonomia przestrzenna i regionalne analizy ekonomiczne, (ed.) Jadwiga Suchecka, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis, Folia Oeconomica 253, p. 99‐114. STANNY, M., CZARNECKI, A., 2010. The Level and Determinants of Sustainable Rural Development in the Region of Green Lungs of Poland [in:] Linking Competitiveness With Equity And Sustainability: New Ideas For The Socio‐Economic Development Of Rural Areas. (seria: Rural areas and development – vol. 7), University of Debrecen, European Rural Development Network, Warsaw, p. 197‐212. SYBILSKI, D. 2011. O potrzebie stosowania destruktu asfaltowego w Polsce (On the demands to utilise asphaltic waste in Poland), „Drogownictwo”, 1: 3‐7.

 Books: BAŃSKI, J. 2007. Geografia rolnictwa Polski, PWE, Warszawa CYMERMAN, R., BAJEROWSKI, T., KRYSZK, H. 2006. Prognoza skutków finansowych uchwalenia miejscowego planu zagospodarowania przestrzennego (Forecast of financial effects of passing of the local plan of spatial development) Wyd. Educaterra, Olsztyn 2006. (in Polish). CYMERMAN, R., MARCINKOWSKA, I., 2010. Techniczne i przestrzenne aspekty rekultywacji gruntów. Uniwersytet Warmińsko – Mazurski w Olsztynie. CYMERMAN, R. 2011. Podstawy rolnictwa, leśnictwa i gospodarki wodnej, Wydawnictwo UWM, Olsztyn. CYMERMAN, R. 2012. Ekonomiczne i prawne aspekty odralniania i odlesiania gruntów” (Economic and legal aspects of de‐agriculturisation and deforestation of land) Wyd. Educaterra, Olsztyn 2012. (in Polish). FALKOWSKI, J., KOSTROWICKI, J., 2001. Geografia rolnictwa świata, PWN, Warszawa. GŁĘBOCKI, B. 2005. Produkcja zwierzęca – rozwój i przestrzenne jej rozmieszczenie, [w:] B. Głebocki (red.), Struktura przestrzenna rolnictwa Polski u progu XXI wieku, Bogucki Wyd. Naukowe, Poznań, s.185‐271. GŁĘBOCKI, B. 2014. Rolnicze użytkowanie ziemi, [w:] B.Głębocki (red.), Zróżnicowanie przestrzenne rolnictwa Spis Rolny 2010, Zakład Wydawnictw Statystycznych, Warszawa, s.152‐177. GOŁĘBIEWSKA, A. 1999. Drogi rolnicze (Agricultural roads). Development Foundation of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences ‐ SGGW , Warsaw, 84 pp. GWIAŹDZIŃSKA, M. 2004. Przemiany społeczno‐gospodarcze obszarów wiejskich województwa warmińsko‐mazurskiego, Rozprawy i Materiały Ośrodka Badań Naukowych im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego w Olsztynie nr 221, Olsztyn, Poland. GWIAŹDZIŃSKA‐GORAJ, M., GORAJ, S., JEZIERSKA‐THÖLE, A., 2015. Zmiany struktury funkcjonalnej gmin wiejskich w północnej części Polski w latach 1988 i 2012, Studia Obszarów Wiejskich – w druku HALAMSKA, M. 2013. Wiejska Polska na początku XXI wieku. Rozważania o gospodarce i społeczeństwie., Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa. HARASIMOWICZ, S. 2002. Ocena i organizacja terytorium gospodarstwa rolnego (Evaluation and organisation of the farm territory). Publishing House of the Academy of Agriculture in Krakow, 239 pp. HOPFER, A., KOBYŁECKI, A., ŻEBROWSKI, W. 1980. Kształtowanie sieci dróg na terenach wiejskich (Arranging the road network in rural areas). National Agricultural and Forestry Publishing House, Warsaw, 205 pp. KACPRZAK, E. 2014. Zmiany w strukturze przestrzennej upraw polowych, [w:] B.Głębocki (red.), Zróżnicowanie przestrzenne rolnictwa Spis Rolny 2010, Zakład Wydawnictw Statystycznych, Warszawa, s. 200‐253.

KLUBA, M. 2014. Mechanizacja i nawożenie, [w:] B.Głębocki (red.), Zróżnicowanie przestrzenne rolnictwa Spis Rolny 2010, Zakład Wydawnictw Statystycznych, Warszawa, s.114‐151. LULEWICZ, A., WOLFRAM, K., 2007. Koncepcja Zielone Płuca Europy. [w] Założenia Koncepcji – Zielone Płuca Europy. Fundacja Zielone Płuca Polski, Białystok. MAJEWSKI, J. 1998. Vademecum budowy i utrzymania dróg gminnych (Construction and maintenance of municipal roads ‐ the guide book). Studies and Materials, No. 48, Road and Bridge Research Institute, Warsaw, 104 pp. ROSNER, A. 2010. Przestrzenne zróżnicowanie poziomu rozwoju społeczno‐gospodarczego obszarów wiejskich, [w:] Przestrzenne, społeczno‐ekonomiczne zróżnicowanie obszarów wiejskich w Polsce, Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa. RUDNICKI, R. 1997. Geograficzno‐ekonomiczne czynniki kształtujące produkcję rolnictwa indywidualnego na przykładzie makroregionu dolnej Wisły, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu, Toruń, 167 s. RUDNICKI, R. 2001. Zmiany układu przestrzennego struktury agrarnej Polski Północnej w latach 1988‐1998 (Uwarunkowania – dynamika‐ kierunki), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. RUDNICKI, R. 2014. Analiza absorpcji środków WPR i ich wpływu na zmiany strukturalne w rolnictwie polskim, [w:] B. Głębocki (red.), Zróżnicowanie przestrzenne rolnictwa, GUS, Warszawa, s. 441‐463. RUDNICKI, R., KLUBA, M., 2014. Użytkowanie ziemi i produkcja rolnictwa w województwie kujawsko‐pomorskim w latach 2002‐2010. Studium statystyczno‐przestrzenne, Wydawnictwo naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń. STANNY, M. 2013. Przestrzenne zróżnicowanie rozwoju obszarów wiejskich w Polsce, Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warszawa. SZYDŁO, A., MICKIEWICZ, P. 2005. Nawierzchnie betonowe na drogach gminnych. Poradnik (Concrete surfaces of municipal roads. The guide book). Polish Cement, Krakow, 40 pp. WOLFRAM, K., 2010. Historyczny i współczesny wymiar Zielonych Płuc Polski. [w] Ziemia w swoje stulecie. red. Gordon A., Matusiak‐Gordon E.; Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno‐ Krajoznawcze. Warszawa: Zarząd Główny PTTK, 2010. WOLFRAM, K. (ed.), 2009. Zielone Płuca Polski. Walory przyrodnicze i krajobrazowe. Fundacja Zielone Płuca Polski. Białystok. WOŚ, A., ZEGAR, J.S. 2002. Rolnictwo społecznie zrównoważone (Socially sustainable agriculture). Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics ‐ National Research Institute, Warsaw, 110 pp. ZEGAR, J.S. 2003. Kierowanie zrównoważonym rozwojem społeczno‐ekonomicznym (ekorozwojem). Monografie i Opracowania, SGH, Warszawa.

 Symposia: NOWOCIEŃ, E., 2014. Drogi rolnicze na obiektach scalanych – zasady projektowania i technologie utwardzania nawierzchni (Agricultural roads in land consolidated areas ‐ rules of designing and technologies of surface hardening). Conference materials – “Land consolidation as an opportunity for changes in agricultural production area in the Lublin Province”, 27.10.2014, Lublin. WAY, G.B. 2012. Asphalt‐Rubber 45 Years of Progress. Proceedings of the Asphalt Rubber 2012 Conference, Munich, Germany.

 Legal acts: ACT, 1960: Act of 14 June 1960 Code of Administrative Procedure (Journal of Laws of 2000 No. 98 item 1071 – consolidated text with further amendments). ACT, 1985: Act of March 21,1985 on public roads (uniform text Off. J. of 2013 item 260 with amendments). 81

ACT, 1991: Forest Act of 28 September 1991. Consolidated text Journal of Laws of 2014, item 1153. ACT, 1994: Act of 7 July 1994 Construction Law (Journal of Laws of 2010 No. 43 item 1623 – consolidated text with further amendments). ACT, 1995: Act of 3 February 1995 on the protection of arable land and forests (Journal of Laws 2013, item 1205 – consolidated text with further amendments). ACT, 1997: Act of 21 August 1997 on property management (Journal of Laws 2014, item 518 – consolidated text with further amendments). ACT, 2003: Act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and development (Journal of Laws 2015, item 199 – consolidated text with further amendments). ACT, 2004: Environment Protection Law of 16 April 2004 . Consolidated text Journal of Laws of 2013, item 627. ACT, 2008: Act of 19 December 2008 on the amendment of the act on the protection of arable land and forests (Journal of Laws 2008 No. 237 item 1657). ACT, 2010: Act of December 14,2010 on waste materials (Of. J. of 2013, item 21 with amendments).

ORDINANCE, 1999: The Ordinance of the Minister of Transport and Maritime Economy of March 2, 1999 on conditions which should be met public roads and their locations (Of. J. No. 43, item 430 with amendments). ORDINANCE, 2001: The Ordinance of the Minister of Regional Development and Construction of 29 March 2001 on the Land and Building Register. Journal of Laws of 2001, No. 38, item 454, as amended.

 Guidelines: Catalogue of typical constructions of vulnerable and semi‐rigid surfaces, Gdansk University of Technology, Department of Road Engineering, on behalf of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, Gdansk, 2012.  Reports: OECD ‐ Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development, 1997. Recycling Strategies for Road Works. A Report by the OECD on International Policy and Practice. Paris. FHWA ‐ Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 2000. Recycled Materials in European Highway Environments: Uses, Technologies, and Policies. Washington, D.C. National Agricultural Census 2010. Report on Results, 2011. Główny Urząd Statystyczny [Central Statistical Office], Warszawa. p. 92 [In Polish].

 Internet sources: The Local Data Bank, The Central Statistical Office of Poland, stat.gov.pl/bdl/ European Asphalt Pavement Association, www.eapa.org Central Statistical Office: stat.gov.pl http://www.mazowieckie.com.pl http://www.debewielkie.pl Map of the ring road of Warsaw: http://www.drogi.waw.pl/index.php?p=trasa&nr=46 Warsaw Metropolitan Area: (http://siskom.waw.pl/planistyka/aglomeracja/studium_pzpomw_mapa.PNG) http://www.bip.debewielkie.pl

 Other sources: Data from the land register – collective data included in the land and mortgage register for the period 2005‐2014 82

Study of conditions and directions of spatial development of the Dębe Wielkie Commune, Resolution No. XLIII/211/2009 of 29 December 2009. Local plan of spatial development of Dębe Wielkie. Resolution No. X/38/03 of the Council of the Dębe Wielkie Commune of 29 August 2003 on the local plan of general spatial development of Dębe Wielkie Waloryzacja rolniczej przestrzeni produkcyjnej Polski, 2000, IUNiG, Puławy. Strategia rozwoju obszaru funkcjonalnego Zielone Płuca Polski. Zapis tezowy. 1999, Narodowa Fundacja Ochrony Środowiska, Warszawa Green lungs of Poland in 2012r., 2014. Główny Urząd Statystyczny w Białymstoku Green lungs of Poland in 2009r., 2011. Główny Urząd Statystyczny w Białymstoku Green lungs of Poland in 2006r., 2008. Główny Urząd Statystyczny w Białymstoku Stankiewicz D., 1993 a. Zielone Płuca Polski. Informacja nr 153, Kancelaria Sejmu Biuro Studiów i Ekspertyz Stankiewicz D., 1993 b. Zielone Płuca Europy – wspólna inicjatywa państw dorzecza Morza Bałtyckiego. Informacja nr 131, Kancelaria Sejmu Biuro Studiów i Ekspertyz Ramowy program rozwoju obszaru funkcjonalnego Zielone Płuca Polski na lata 2007‐2015. 2007. Rada Programowa Porozumienia Zielone Płuca Polski, Białystok – Bydgoszcz/Toruń‐ Gdańsk – Olsztyn

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1. Northern Poland by counties ...... 6 Fig. 2. The number of employed in agriculture in units AWU per 100 ha of arable land in 2010 at the northern Poland ...... 9 Fig. 3. The number of economic entities per 10 000 population in rural areas of northern Polish ...... 9 Fig. 4. Land quality indicators in northern Poland ...... 10 Fig. 5. The area of agricultural land in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year ...... 11 Fig. 6. Dynamic of change in the area of agricultural land in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100) ...... 12 Fig. 7. The area of arable land in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year...... 13 Fig. 8. Dynamic of change in the area of arable land in the agriculture land in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100)...... 14 Fig. 9. The area of major cereals and cereal mixtures in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year...... 16 Fig. 10. Dynamic of change in the area of major cereals and cereal mixtures in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100) ...... 16 Fig. 11. The area of permanent grasslands in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year...... 17 Fig. 12. Dynamic of change in the area of permanent grasslands in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100) ...... 17 Fig. 13. The cattle populations in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year ...... 18 Fig. 14. Dynamic of change cattle populations in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100) ...... 19 Fig. 15. The pork production in the rural areas in northern Polish in 2002 year ...... 20 Fig. 16. Dynamic of change pork production in northern Polish in 2002‐2010 (2002=100) ...... 20 Fig. 17. Coverage of the Green Lungs of Europe ...... 23 Fig. 18. Area of the Green Lungs of Poland ...... 25 Fig. 19. Green Lungs of Poland – land use 2012 ...... 26 Fig. 20. Forest land area in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha] ...... 26 Fig. 21. Forest area per 1 inhabitant in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha] ...... 27 Fig. 22. Agricultural land designated for non‐agricultural purposes and forest land designated for non‐forest purposes in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha] ...... 27 Fig. 23. Forms of protection of unique environmental value areas within the borders of the Green Lungs of Poland ...... 28 Fig. 24. Non‐forest land afforestation in 2006, 2009, 2012 [in ha] ...... 29 Fig. 25. Percentage of forests in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2013 ...... 31 Fig. 26. Dynamics of forest area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004– 2013 ...... 32 Fig. 27. Percentage of agricultural land in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2014 ...... 33 Fig. 28. Dynamics of agricultural land area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004–2013 ...... 34 Fig. 29. Dynamics of built‐up and urbanised land area changes in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2012–2013 ...... 35 Fig. 30. Percentage of protected lands in the total area of particular municipalities in the Green Lungs of Poland area in 2014 ...... 36 Fig. 31. Dynamics of area changes of the lands under legal forms of environmental protection in the Green Lungs of Poland area in the years 2004–2013 ...... 37 Fig. 32. Spatial distribution of Natura 2000 areas in the Green Lungs of Poland area ...... 38 Fig. 33. Criteria to be met in order to perform division of land property, depending on its planning situation ...... 46

Fig. 34. The obligation to obtain the permission for the exclusion of land from agricultural production in accordance with the legal state binding until 4 September 2015 ...... 52 Fig. 35. Ring road of Warsaw with the course of the designed motorway A2 east of the city borders ...... 54 Fig. 36. Residential areas in the Dębe Wielkie Commune in the years 2005‐2014 ...... 57 Fig. 37. Number of population in the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 57 Fig. 38. Balance of internal migrations in the Dębe Wielkie Commune ...... 58 Fig. 39. Change in the number of population in villages of the Dębe Wielkie Commune with more than 100 inhabitants in the years 2005‐2014 ...... 58 Fig. 40. Examples of damaged surfaces of agricultural roads (Cegłów commune, Mińsk district, Mazovia voivodship) ...... 60 Fig. 41. The cross‐section of a road...... 62 Fig. 42. A scheme of the system of agricultural roads – an example...... 64 Fig. 43. A scheme of the road structure ...... 65 Fig. 44. The structure of roads in rural areas in Poland in 2012 [km] ...... 66 Fig. 45. The agricultural road with traffic lanes of concrete paving units and the central grassed lane ...... 75 Fig. 46. The agricultural road with travel lanes of pavement (concrete) stones and the central lane of concrete grid pavement units, grassed inside ...... 75 Fig. 47. The section of an agricultural road with traffic lanes of (concrete) pavement stones ...... 76

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Population in rural areas of northern Poland in economic groups ...... 7 Table 2. Agricultural land in the years 2002 and 2010 in the northern Polish ...... 12 Table 3. Agricultural land in the northern Polish ...... 13 Table 4. Area and administrative structure as of 31 December 2012 ...... 24 Table 5. Functional, technical‐and‐operational and organisational division of roads in Poland ...... 63 Table 6. The lengths of public roads in Poland in 2012 ...... 66 Table 7. Typical constructions of upper layers of road surfaces of agricultural roads in Poland ...... 68 Table 8. Recommended constructions of surfaces of agricultural roads in loess areas, according to NOWOCIEŃ (2014) ...... 69 Table 9. The level of recycling of asphalt surfaces in selected European countries in the period 2010‐2013 ...... 72 Table 10. Assessment of selected surfaces of agricultural roads in terms of technological, economic, and environment‐landscape factors ...... 77

NOTES ON THE AUTHORS

Tomasz Budzyński, Ph. D. Eng. Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography Department of Cadastre and Property Management e-mail: [email protected]

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: the cadastral value of property, statistical analysis of the property market, maps of property value, maps of average transaction prices of land, and conversion of arable land into building plots.

Sebastian Goraj, Ph. D. Eng. University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland The Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Geoinformation Analysis and Cadastre e-mail: [email protected]

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: the development of rural areas and their transformation in the land use, cadastre and the use of GIS for statistical analyses.

Marta Gwiaździńska‐Goraj, Ph. D. University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland The Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Planning and Spatial Engineering e-mail: [email protected]

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: the development of rural areas and their transformation in the demographic and socio‐economic conditions and the use of GIS for statistical analyses.

Wioleta Krupowicz, M. Sc. Eng. Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography Department of Spatial Planning and Environmental Sciences e-mail: [email protected]

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: real estate validation, the use of GIS for the real estate market analyses, development of rural areas, road engineering.

Agnieszka Szczepańska, Ph. D. Eng. University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Planning and Spatial Engineering e‐mail: [email protected]

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: use structure and changes in land use patterns; social and spatial changes in rural areas with high urban influence; the environmental factors that determine the prices of real estate; a valuation of property – rules and indicators.

Monika Wasilewicz‐Pszczółkowska, M. Sc. Eng. University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Planning and Spatial Engineering

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: research of multisensory landsape; spatial‐temporal models of determinants of changes in land use patterns; sustainable development – definitions, rules, indicators; the applicability of GIS tools for spatial analysis; spatial modelling.

Michał Wrzosek, M. Sc. Eng. DTZ Polska Sp. z o.o., Warsaw, Poland Valuation Advisory Graduate Valuer

Brief description of scientific interest: The scientific interest of the co‐author of the monograph focuses on issues concerning: analysis of the profitability of investments in the real estate market, inter alia conversion of arable land into building plots