Piotr Werner

Warsaw: Spatial Growth with Limited Control

In this chapter the case of the Warsaw Metropolitan Area (WMA) is presented as an example of how systemic political and economic change resulting from decentralization and democratization influence urban development processes. The shift from the system of central planning and rigid control to a decentralised system promoting local autonomy and to market-based rules of development, as well as a re-birth of local democracy and the empowerment of local government has created strong incentives for economic development over the last 20 or so years. However, dynamic development processes also often assume a spontaneous character which may lead to conflicts, impede development processes and make efficient use of the development potential of a region impossible.

Neighbourhood coefficients of cellular automata for research on land use changes with map algebra

Abstract The dependency of land use and the neighbouring land cover patches is related to the existing neighbourhood or the predominant land use types in a given region, which stimulates further land changes of the lot being observed. Land use changes can be considered a complex and (to an extent) random process. The complexity of interactions means that the conventional deductive models are constrained, particularly in the case of the spatio-temporal phenomena, and implies the application of cellular automata to spatial research. Cellular automata are similar to the map algebra models in GIS. The concept of using neighbourhood coefficients in the analysis of land use changes is based on the combination of map algebra with two-dimensional cellular automata. The aims of this research included formulating the theoretical structure of neighbourhood coefficients, analysing their operationalization and testing their practical application. The verification of research and procedures included maps and statistics of simulations of land use changes in Poland.

Impacts of ICT on the Spatial Differentiation of Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards in Poland

Abstract The development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has significant economic and social impacts at both the global and regional level. Some of these implications have been perceived as positive and unexpected. While both the positive and negative social and economic impacts have been highlighted in the literature, opinions on these impacts remain ambiguous. Those aspects considered to be advantageous include faster communication, ease of use, development in the range of services and revenues, and an increase in individuals’ free time allowance. ICT penetrates all branches of the economy as a set of general purpose technologies. New information and communication technologies ease everyday life, serve as tools to help people in extreme situations, e.g. accidents, illnesses or natural disasters, and are also the pillars of contemporary entertainment media. The usefulness of ICT has been stressed and loudly disseminated to a large extent by the media. On the other hand, these new technologies sensitize society in quite new ways to the well-known natural hazards that people have encountered in the past.

Land Use Change and Externalities in Poland’s Metropolitan Areas

Interdependence between spatial interactions and land use change generates various external effects. These, economic, social, cultural and environmental externalities may in turn have an impact on land use dynamics. The perception of such phenomena is related to the level of their acceptance which can be measured in psychological categories of comfort and discomfort. In this paper an attempt is made to compare the dynamics of land use with changes in the intensity of spatial interactions, using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) – especially map algebra (MA), cellular automata (CA), and the population potential model. According to the main hypothesis, interrelations between the observed land use change and the intensity of spatial interactions assume alternative forms, these giving rise to specific kinds of externalities.

Population Potential as a Modulator of Land use Changes in Poland’S Metropolitan Areas

Abstract Land use is defined as a spatial distribution of individual forms of land cover patches, utilised or not utilised by humans within the framework of mutual and spatial relationships. It refers to the functional character of a given terrain, and is also identified with a socio-economic description of the land surface. Changes in land use can be interpreted as a complex and, to some extent, a random process. These assumptions serve as a point of departure in an attempt to evaluate spatial and temporal differences in land use changes in the metropolitan areas of Poland, using the entropy formula. The analysis focuses on population development as a factor that impacts upon land use change. The approach proposed here allows us to study land use dynamics in detail, with the help of cartographic visualisation.

Core and Periphery of Information Society: Significance of Geospatial Technologies

Abstract The paper attempts to identify important factors significant for global information society development and to determine the significance of geospatial (geo-information) technologies. The starting point is international measures of the development level of information & communication technologies (ICT) and information society (IS). The relevance of the particular factors was defined using the general segmentation of the milieu, taking into account social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical factors and also estimating the global spatial dimension of ICT and IS development. The diagnosis serves as the context of considerations concerning the contribution of geographers and cartographers to IS.

Generation of Sequences of Air Temperature and Precipitation for Estimation of the Hydrological Cycle in Changing Climatic Conditions in Poland

Downscaling experiments are undertaken using kriging and distance-decay function interpolation to produce high resolution maps of temperature and precipitation in Poland from the GFDL and GISS macroscale scenarios. Measurements of precipitation and temperature at 58 stations are used to test the applications and to calculate the effects of the scenarios on areal averages. Average annual precipitation in Poland would rise from 639 mm to 749 mm under the GISS scenario and to 655 in the GFDL scenario. The spatial median mean air temperature would rise from 7.7°C to 10.5°C and 11.9°C respectively.