Magdalena Załęczna

Public Participation in Land Use Planning and the Building of a Civil Society

Abstract Poland is going through the process of building social capital. The process requires citizens’ involvement in local matters. The country has created institutional instruments to foster a sense of collective responsibility for local matters, such as public consultations and debates, access to public information, referenda, and participatory budgeting. The practical use of these instruments and the slow process of building a civil society, however, pose a problem. Land use planning has a multifaceted character and is the arena for many local conflicts frequently fuelled by discrepancies between private and public interests. The participation of local communities provides an opportunity to work out socially acceptable solutions and helps identify likely sources of conflicts, as well as preventing the isolation of local authorities. It is also a necessary building block in creating a civil society. The author’s search for the causes of citizens’ reluctance to actively participate in land use planning processes is set in the context of social capital and the laborious process of building a civil society. The conclusions of the study offer a critical perspective on the current solutions regulating the residents’ involvement in land use planning. The study is based on a review of literature and the author’s own research.

Changing activity in the construction sector in selected states 2003-2012

Abstract Construction companies are important economic actors in every country. Their activity translates into employment levels, tax revenues, and the provision of new spaces that require further expenditure on equipment, thus stimulating consumer spending. The activity of construction companies depends on the demand for space, the state of the economy and the financial market. Undoubtedly economic disturbances in the form of a recession have a significant impact on construction activity. The authors were interested in whether the boom and recession in the selected countries were similarly reflected in the activity of construction companies. In particular, they were interested in residential construction activity, although it was not possible to select companies that would only deal with residential construction. The authors selected four post-socialist countries and two countries which are called winners of the integration process due to their enormous economic growth. The authors outline the residential construction and construction sector results and activity in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and Ireland, and draw a wider picture for analyses of construction companies’ financial results for the years 2003-2012. This period was chosen because it covered periods of both boom and bust. All enterprises were part of the sector denoted in the Amadeus database as primary code: Eurostat NACE Rev. 2 with codes: 41 - Construction of buildings: 4110 - Development of building projects, 4120 - Construction of residential and non-residential buildings. Due to the specificity of the construction sector the authors divided the surveyed enterprises into two groups – all companies; and only large and very large companies. It was not possible to separate data specifically with respect to residential construction companies.

Closed-End Real Estate Funds in Comparison with other Investment Opportunities in Poland

Abstract The first closed-end real estate investment funds in Poland began to appear in 2004, along with the development of the capital market and the real estate market. The funds invested both in the housing market and in the commercial market. In general, they encouraged potential investors to purchase investment fund units by pointing to positive results obtained by similar funds in other countries, as well as the dynamic growth of prices in domestic real estate markets. However, the analysis of the performance of closed-end real estate funds in Poland shows that they have failed to earn satisfactory rates of return. The aim of the study was to compare their performance with the profitability of other investment instruments in the 2004 to 2014 period. In addition, the authors aimed to establish why closed-end real estate funds had failed to succeed in Poland, by analyzing, among other things, their institutional context. The study was based on a comparison of the characteristics and performance of particular funds, and also analyzed the profitability of selected alternative investments.

Components of Path Dependence of the Agricultural Property Market in Poland

Abstract Agricultural real property has economic and social significance. An inseparable aspect of it is a historically and culturally shaped structure of ownership. The possibility of converting production of food into more profitable activity fans conflicts between the business-minded holders of farmland and the legislature seeking to protect the agricultural use of land, which have economic, but also social and political dimensions. Laws evolve in time and space, ranging from strict restrictions on transactions in land and few possibilities of changing its use to complete freedom of land use and disposal, with many intermediate solutions. This study is an outcome of author’s interest in the broad context of changes occurring in this market. The article identifies the market’s characteristics and its institutions, events, processes and mechanisms that provide insight into the present level of its institutional development. In the author’s opinion, tracing back the development of the Polish agricultural property market is useful for identifying opportunities that were missed and threats arising from ‘path dependence’. The author studies the course of development of institutions, events and historic processes using desk research, analyses the findings of the available studies, and enhances the research process with creative thinking.

Polish real property funds’ investment results – an attempt of evaluation

Real estate investment means not only direct purchase of rights to real property but also investing in securities issued by real property investment funds. There are various legal and organizational forms of these actors, Real Estate Investment Trust – US type is dominant but there are often national forms what enriches instruments of real property markets. Investment results indicate that direct and indirect types of investment are not identical, although they have roots in the same real property markets. The differences have been repeatedly investigated in relation to different markets and time periods. This research problem inspired the authors to trace the results of Polish real property investment funds and direct real estate investments. The analysis showed a very big difference – investors of real property funds suffered significant losses and results of direct real property investment were positive. The aim of the authors was to examine the difference between these results and search for their causes. They used method of economic analysis and examined the text of legal regulation.

The Polish real estate market as an area for developers

The Polish real estate market have coped with an economic slowdown quite well. However, some sectors and localisations developed in different pace. The authors would like to describe some factors influencing the conditions of the real estate market and its current level of development. Having this background the authors would like to analyse financial results of developers dividing them into different categories. The authors would like to find what kind of developers have found the best solutions and strategies in changing economic environment.

Analysis of the Financial Situation of Medium-Sized and Large Enterprises of the Construction Sector in Selected Central European Coutries

Abstract The economy is subject to periodic changes in activity, which is apparent in the financial situation of households and enterprises. However, the recent economic crisis has been particularly severe. After the great increase in economic activity, which in many countries was connected with the boom in the real estate market, it experienced a sudden turn for the worse, including the broadly understood construction sector. This contributed to a slowdown of the growth rate, or even a permanent economic downturn. The authors have undertaken an analysis of the situation in the construction sector and the condition of residential real estate markets in selected Central European countries, and next, on the basis of a database on the financial situation of selected construction companies constructing buildings in those countries, searched for an answer to the question of how much the construction sector and the analyzed enterprises changed their activity in the recent years. For the purpose of the analysis, a database of over 340 entities from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary was created. The work is of a comparative nature, which allows the scale of the processes studied in the individual countries to be identified.

The Atracttiveness of Real Estate Investment in Polish Conditions

Abstract Traditionally, it is believed that real estate can be an important component of an investment portfolio as it reduces risk due to the diversification potential coming from its low/negative correlation with stocks and bonds. However, contemporary development in the form of the invention and introduction of more sophisticated financial instruments is blurring the boundaries between the existing asset classes. The appearance of these new forms of investments is the result of competition for global capital inflows. Investors concentrate on those forms of investments that are attractive in terms of the variety of offered instruments and the results achieved by them. The aim of the article is to evaluate the variety of instruments enabling investments on the Polish property market and their competitiveness in relation to classical forms of investment.