The Hidden Potential of Informal Urban Greenspace: An Example of Two Former Landfills in Post-Socialist Cities (Central Poland)

Andrzej Długoński,Diana Dushkova

doi:10.3390/su13073691

Abstract

The present study described analyses of two similar informal recreational green areas (former constructional waste disposal landfills) in two large cities (Warsaw city and Łódź city). On the basis of local society’s opinions, the land use conditions related to current accessibility, management, safety, cleanliness, variety and diversity of facility and vegetation, neighbourhood and connections with the urban green infrastructure of the given sites were studied. Overall feedback posted by the site users indicated that, despite temporary land use, both sites are good leisure areas that provide cultural ecosystem services to the citizens. However, their undefined development makes them to varying degrees neglected and risky spaces, especially for the local community. The reflection of the results of the present study may help the local authorities to manage the spaces of former landfills in accordance with the needs of the local society as well as define new functions of informal urban green space in the sustainable spatial policy in post-socialist cities in Poland and Eastern Europe.

Highlights

Dumps and former landfills have become an integral part of the landscape and often accompany leisure areas, even in those used for short-term leisure [6,9,10,11,12,13,14]
Górka Rogowska is situated in the northern part of Łódź in Bałuty district, which, like Ursynów, is the part of the city with the largest population (Figure 4). Both sites emerged in the 1970s as landfills for dumping construction materials from newly built neighbourhoods made using the large panel system (LPS) technique
The observations made in the present study indicate that users of Górka Kazurka and Górka Rogowska are comfortable engaging in physical activity on a site that was formerly a landfill

Summary

Introduction

In the literature on the subject of landscapes, degraded areas are termed as “abandoned landscapes”, “derelict landscapes”, “lost spaces”, “non-places”, “anti-spaces”, “brownfields” (industrial wasteland), “informal urban green space”, “previously used land”, etc.The common feature of such landscapes is that they are formed in the course of human activities because of rapid urbanisation, which leads to environmental degradation [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].Pits, dumps and former landfills have become an integral part of the landscape and often accompany leisure areas, even in those used for short-term leisure [6,9,10,11,12,13,14]. The fact that we choose our nearest vicinity as the location for short-term leisure has already been described in the literature, and such locations are dubbed as our “second homes” [15,16]. This phenomenon can be observed when examining the activities undertaken by residents of Poland’s large cities, for whom, in terms of recreation, suburban areas are a generally accessible and inclusive alternative to sports clubs, especially in lockdown regimes [17,18]. It is precisely the above criteria of accessibility and inclusiveness that are met by two sites: Górka Kazurka in Warsaw and

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion