The paper aims to determine the role and formula of investments in renewable energy sources in Poland’s concepts of local spatial policies. It analyses 12,777 planning documents of local spatial ...policy (these are resolutions adopted by municipalities—in Poland there are two types of these instruments: studies of spatial development conditions and directions and local spatial development plans) in Poland enacted in 2005–2020. On this basis, local concepts were classified and related to the geographical and functional characteristics of municipalities. Poland is an interesting case study in this respect, providing a good reference point for broader international considerations. It was found that only 58.4% of Polish municipalities include renewable energy sources in their spatial policy concept. These are definitely more often urbanised municipalities. The degree of approach to renewable energy sources is also determined by the location of the municipality in the given province. The authors diagnose serious weaknesses in the Polish spatial planning system, consisting in the lack of skilful implementation of renewable energy sources into it. This is one of the reasons for the weaker development of renewable energy sources in the country. The authors consider as an innovative element of the research the analysis of the content of all spatial policy instruments in a given country, from the perspective of renewable energy sources, including proposing a way to verify these instruments.
Within the special issue, this paper aims to contribute to the debate on VIP urbanism in specific relation to phenomena of alpha territorialisation. Accordingly, it tries to apply this international ...figure to long-term analyses of the Milan case study, which can be considered an original intersection between the articulation of urbanisation and socio-spatial polarisation processes in the Italian national context and the dynamics of global cities, integrating international trends with site-specific characteristics. On this background and in relation to a comparison with the London case study, the article retraces the recent evolution of spatial processes, policy and planning in the Milan urban core: on the one hand, by recognising different local strategies, phases and possible meanings of phenomena of alpha territorialisation; on the other hand, by identifying open challenges for further research, policy making and planning. Two issues seem worth to be underlined and further explored: both the characteristics and spatial effects of super-rich in Milan, and the opportunities for value-capture mechanisms to work.
Abstract
After more than thirty years of post-war relative regional convergence, since the 1980s geographical inequalities in economic prosperity and social conditions have widened again in most ...capitalist countries. In this paper we argue that this resumption of spatial inequality is in part explained by the significant changes observed in the role of the state and in public intervention in the shift from the post-war ‘Keynesian’ regime of state regulation to the ‘Neoliberal’ regime that has held sway over the past four decades. We argue that most public policies enacted in this latter period have actually exacerbated socioeconomic – and spatial – polarization, favouring a few metropolitan areas and regions at the expense of a substantial number of what are now commonly referred to as ‘left behind places’. We contend that we are now at a new juncture in the evolution of capitalism: in the space of little more than decade the global system has been destabilized by a major financial crisis (2008) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), both with enduring socio-economic aftershocks, while the climate emergency is reaching existential proportions. In this Editorial Introduction we call for a bold ‘rethinking’ of public action - and especially spatial policy - to face these recurring crises, and we outline some pointers for more effective and inclusive policies.
For low-income individuals, carsharing services that provide short-term, on-demand access to a fleet of shared vehicles may be a viable, low-cost alternative to personal vehicle ownership, yet the ...demographics of carsharing users often reflect higher income groups. Our objectives in this research study are: 1) quantify the benefits of carsharing for low-income users; 2) evaluate the effectiveness of policies targeting spatial access (e.g., parking policies, designation of service areas); and 3) review other social equity initiatives taken by carsharing operators (e.g., low-income discounts, educational training) and impacts on user demographics. We use two one-way, free-floating carsharing services as case studies: a survey of GIG (Get In and Go) Car Share users in Oakland, CA from 2018 (n = 218), and a survey of car2go users (now called ShareNow) in five North American cities from 2015 (n = 9497). We analyze these surveys using descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and geographic information systems (GIS) mapping.
We find significantly more low-income respondents in Oakland do not have a personal vehicle (70%) compared to high-income respondents (44%). Meanwhile, 62% of our sample was Caucasian, and 41% earned an annual household income of more than $100,000, similar to results of the car2go survey from 2015, indicating that the demographics of one-way carsharing users have not changed much over time.
We find that policies expanding carsharing service areas into equity priority zones can potentially attract new members. Washington, D.C. and Oakland included equity service area requirements in carsharing permits and had a higher percent of users residing in equity priority zones (21% and 33%, respectively), compared to Calgary and Vancouver that did not (12% and 4%, respectively). However, the demographics of carsharing users still do not reflect the demographics of equity zones. Policies to increase spatial access of carsharing are insufficient on their own to improve social equity in carsharing. Based on findings from previous carsharing equity pilots, policy initiatives such as discounted memberships for low-income users and hands-on educational outreach are needed to advance social equity.
•Carsharing provides low-income users with additional mobility, particularly individuals without a personal vehicle.•Demographics of one-way carsharing users in North America has not changed significantly from 2015 to 2018.•Cities with equity service area requirements for carsharing have higher percentage of users in equity priority zones.•Users in equity zones are not significantly more diverse; spatial access policies alone are insufficient to increase equity.•Policy initiatives such as discounted memberships and hands-on educational outreach are needed to advance social equity.
Marine functional zoning (MFZ) serves as an extremely important marine spatial policy in China. This research elaborates on the historical evolution of the MFZ in China since the beginning of reform ...and opening-up policy when the marine spatial planning was firstly highly valued in China. Over time, the MFZ in China has evolved through four stages: the formation of the MFZ prototype (1978–1986), MFZ's official initiation (1987–1997), MFZ's legalization (1998–2003), MFZ's maturity and the optimization period (2004-up to now). The evolution process as well as its characteristics is analyzed and summarized accordingly. The results show that the spatial scope of the MFZ is expanding, the hierarchical system of MFZ is more standardized; the classification system of MFZ is more rationalized; and the objectives of MFZ are gradually quantified. However, problems and challenges, including lagging and inflexible plans, deficiency in public participation, insufficient marine environment protection, and vague zoning ownership, still exist and deserve attention during the evolution of MFZ. At the end, a development tendency analysis of the MFZ is conducted, which reveals that the formulation of MFZ will change from “top down” to “bottom up”; the vertical planning scope of MFZ will extend to deep sea and seabed; the classification of MFZ will transform from functional orientation to constraint orientation.
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•Apply the method SNA.•Describe the dynamic evolution.•Guidance for management agencies.
Habitat loss is a key driver of species extinction, demanding effective policies to regulate land clearing and mitigate this threat. This study examines the impact of policy changes on the ...availability of vegetation for clearing in Queensland, Australia, focusing on three policy variants from 2012, 2015, and 2019. Our analysis highlights significant shifts in remnant vegetation availability. In 2015, the introduction of permissions for clearing native vegetation for agricultural and pastoral production resulted in an additional 84 million ha of remnant vegetation becoming available for clearing. Furthermore, changes made in 2015 decreased riparian buffer zones, further expanding the extent of remnant vegetation on which clearing for specific purposes is permissible. Between 2015 and 2019, we identified five policy changes with substantial implications for vegetation management, including revoking permission for establishing broad acre cropping or grazing properties and removing thinning as a relevant clearing purpose. While the 2019 guidelines provide increased protection for remnant vegetation, it's crucial to note that all policy changes took place within a relatively brief period. Sudden policy changes can disrupt existing land management practices and strategies, potentially leading to confusion and challenges in adapting to new regulations and requirements. Our findings underscore the need to consider the ecological effects of rapid policy changes, as underestimating their overall impact on vegetation can have far-reaching implications for species preservation and ecosystem health.
•This research highlights that changes in land clearing policies and guidelines substantially impact the potential extent of land clearing.•Comprehensive spatial impact assessments are critical evaluations of policy changes related to land management.•Dynamic land management policies introduces large changes in areas regulated for land clearing purposes.
Because of the ever-growing scarcity of land, decisions on land use are increasingly contested. Public authorities and policy makers rely on the legitimacy of their powers to make these decisions. ...This contribution empirically tests three legitimacy claims commonly used by public officials. We compare the political claim of representation of the public interest with the participative claim of co-decision and the judicial claim of neutrality and general legal norms applied equally to all. Our representative survey experiment (N = 1501) tests these claims in the context of land use decisions in the Netherlands. It appears that the participative and the judicial claim produce substantially more public legitimacy than the political claim of representing the public interest. Both co-decision and judicialization of decision-making can thus be effective ways to secure legitimacy of land use decisions.
•Land use decisions can be made using politics, citizen participation or court rule.•Political decisions lead to relatively low legitimacy.•Participation and court rule boost legitimacy.•Land use decisions’ legitimacy can be tested in a survey experiment.
The scarcity of space as a resource and dynamic social changes call for rational management of the available land. However, many countries today struggle with inefficient space management. One of the ...relevant issues is the surplus of land zoned as buildable. The paper investigates whether one of such countries, Poland, has developed an effective tool to resolve the issue. The paper analyses literature, government reports and opinions, and discourses of spatial planners and identifies primary drivers of changes in buildable land zoning policies introduced to the Polish spatial planning law in 2015. It focuses on one factor particularly, the overestimation of the demand for buildable land. An analysis of masterplans drafted according to the new regulations revealed that the new policy that seemingly offered alternative and effective tools for controlling buildable land overzoning turned out to be ambiguous and ineffective. Consequently, the regulations failed to eliminate the abuses they were designed to control. The example of the Polish planning regulations shows that ambiguous laws fail to produce the expected results and need to be specified more precisely, particularly regarding nomenclature, even if the intention behind them is good.
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•The scarcity of space call for rational management of the available land•The overzoning of buildable areas motivated the legislator in Poland to rationalise the process of designating buildable land•The new regulations have certain ambiguities leading to some irregularities they were supposed to prevent
The progressing urbanization of space along with a desire for maintaining the existing cemetery resources aggravates the problem of guaranteeing a supply of new burial sites. The problem is ...particularly noticeable in large urban centers, irrespective of their geographic location. The paper focuses on the largest Polish cities and analyses the modes of cemetery management for the purpose of securing future burial places for their residents. By compiling existing data and sourcing information via direct contacts with representatives of municipal offices and managers of municipal cemeteries, a number of significant facts were collected, diagnosing the modes of cemetery management and hitherto burial practices. Clear differences were identified in the transparency of the pursued municipal policies with respect to cemeteries and styles of management, yet every city retains a continuous supply of burial sites. Furthermore, common regularities are perceptible on the national level, such as: priority of extension of existing cemeteries and investments increasing their burial density (e.g. construction of columbaria), planning new cemeteries at city outskirts with good accessibility with respect to the residential areas, no plans to liquidate the existing cemeteries, irrespective of their status of preservation.
•Polish cities maintain liquid supply of burial sites.•There are major differences in the transparency of city policies towards cemeteries.•Rising cremation rate improves spatial compression of cemeteries.•Some cities offer preferential access to municipal cemeteries for their residents.
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