Warsaw Research Articles

Preface

The 8th International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment (ICSAE-S), Conference photographs gallery, List of committees and this titles are available in this pdf.24-25 August, 2021Surakarta, IndonesiaThis conference held by Research and Development Center for Biotechnology and Biodiversity (P3BB) Universitas Sebelas Maret in collaboration with: Indonesia Diaspora Network - United Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia Faculty of Art and Design, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia Faculty of Politic and Social Science, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia Faculty of Economic and Business, Universitas Sebelas Mare, Indonesia Indonesian Agronomist Association (PERAGI)It gives me great pleasure to extend you all a high appreciation for your participation in joining the 8th International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment (ICSAE) on August 24-25, 2021. This conference is held online in Surakarta Indonesia due to current Covid-19 pandemic circumstances and proudly organized by Centre for Biotechnology and Biodiversity Research and Development, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS), and the Faculty of Agriculture UNS. This conference is also supported by the Indonesian Diaspora Network United (IDNU). Furthermore, to improve key performance indicators, this conference is supported by the Faculty of Arts and Design, Faculty of Social and Political Science, and Faculty of Economic and Business in UNS.The 8th ICSAE conference belongs to the ICSAE conference series. The previous conferences were held in Surakarta Indonesia (2013) as the 1st, Konya Turkey (2015) as the 2nd ICSAE, Warsaw Poland (2016) as the 3rd ICSAE, Surakarta Indonesia (2017) as the 4th ICSAE, Hammamet Tunisia (2018) as the 5th ICSAE, Konya Turkey (2019) as the 6th ICSAE, and Surakarta Indonesia (2020) as the 7th ICSAE. We are sure that the 8th ICSAE will be the flagship conference for researchers, students, and professionals in the areas related to agriculture and environment.Sustainable is the keyword in agricultural and environmental management to assure global food security and maintain the high quality of human life. According to that, this conference is held to identify ideas, practices, and policies that constitute our concept of sustainable agriculture and the environment. We aim to provide a platform for researchers, academics, and practicing professionals worldwide to present their research and professional development activities in agriculture, environment, food, and other relevant subjects. Stakeholders' exchange of knowledge and experiences is needed due to the rapid Sustainable is the keyword in agricultural and environmental management to assure global food security and maintain the high quality of human life. According to that, this conference is held to identify ideas, practices, and policies that constitute our concept of sustainable agriculture and the environment. We aim to provide a platform for researchers, academics, and practicing professionals worldwide to present their research and professional development activities in agriculture, environment, food, and other relevant subjects. Stakeholders' exchange of knowledge and experiences is needed due to the rapidList of Conference photographs gallery, List of committees are available in this pdf.

Has the introduction of the possibility to build a single-family house on the basis of notification really improved the development process? The analysis based on the example of the Capital City of Warsaw (Poland)

On 28 June 2015 an amendment of the Polish Building Code that abolished a requirement to get a building permission to construct or reconstruct a free standing one-family house, which impact area is limited to the plot on that it is planned, came into force. Since then an erection of such houses has been possible on a basis of notification instead. The goal of this amendment was to simplify the development process in the case of one-family houses. This article is a contribution to the verification of this assumption. Therefore data on notifications that were submitted to respective capital city of Warsaw districts’ offices have been analysed. Detailed research has been limited to the districts of Bielany and Białołęka.

Awareness of Air Pollution and Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees: The Case Study of Warsaw City

One of the consequences of the constant urban development in numerous countries is a growing concentration of air pollution, which adversely affects both the environment and people’s health. One of the ways of changing this negative trend is to maintain green areas and trees within cities, as they serve many ecosystem functions, including biological absorption of particles and other types of air pollution. This article provides the findings of a study carried out among the residents of Warsaw, the capital of Poland, in order to assess social awareness of air pollution and the importance of trees. The study of the residents’ awareness was supplemented with the assessment of the parameters of the trees’ capacity for pollution absorption in selected locations performed with the help of the i-Tree Eco tool, which allowed the authors to compare the residents’ impressions on the role of trees in the process of absorption of pollution with their actual potential. The analyses showed that the majority of city residents are concerned with the problem of air in the city, but at the same time failing to notice its negative impact on their health. The majority of respondents were not aware of the role the trees play in the process of pollution absorption, suggesting that there is a real need for raising social awareness of functions served by trees and green areas in urban spaces. The comparison of the city residents’ opinions on the importance of trees in the process of pollution absorption with objective data obtained with the help of i-Tree Eco tool shows that the majority of people’s impressions of pollution absorption by trees in urban areas is correct.

Analysis of Accessibility of Public Transport in Warsaw in the Opinion of Users

Public transport in Warsaw is currently showing a dynamic development. The capital of Poland, as the largest city in the country, is constantly increasing spending on transport and implementing large investment projects, such as the expansion of the subway, which gives residents more opportunities for efficient movement within the agglomeration. Despite the implementation of these investments, there are still some sensitive places in Warsaw where access to public transport may be difficult. Given these conditions, a study of public transportation accessibility is warranted and socially needed. This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among Warsaw residents. The study included a group of 986 respondents, most people between the ages of 18 and 44. The analysis conducted looked at perceived accessibility of public transportation and satisfaction with public transportation services. As a result of the study, we could identify the main factors that influence passenger satisfaction, as well as examine transport accessibility in the social city of Warsaw. Conclusions from the study may be helpful for the city government to improve the functioning of public transport.

Exploring the spatial potential of neglected or unmanaged blue spaces in the city of Warsaw, Poland

Urban Blue Spaces are often treated as a part of Urban Green Infrastructure (UGS). However, the recognition of blue infrastructure as a linked but at the same time separate part of the UGS network is important, since water itself has many values while also posing a range of risks. In this study we identified 427 blue spaces within the administrative border of the city of Warsaw, Poland. We characterised these cases from the perspective of users: their connection, interaction and potential use of the water bodies. Based on a cluster analysis (using PCA and k-mean methods) we distinguished three main clusters of water bodies and from this we created a typology of Warsaw urban water, especially focusing on the importance and potential of abandoned, forgotten and unmanaged (invisible) urban blue spaces. We conclude that the recognition of types and patterns of blue areas in the city provides a good basis for city and local level design decisions for maximising the potential for human-water interactions. This knowledge enhances the potential of the integrated UGS which should be re-named as Urban Blue-Green Infrastructure in order to recognise the particular role of water.

The COVID-19 Pandemic, Airbnb and Housing Market Dynamics in Warsaw

In this study, we analyse the impact of COVID-19 on house rents and prices in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Hedonic indexes indicate a slight increase in prices (ca. 1.2%) and a substantial drop in long-term rents (ca. -7.7%) between March 2020 and December 2020. The largest decline in rents occurred in centrally located neighbourhoods, which was largely due to the inflow of new housing supply from the short-term rental market (the Airbnb Warsaw market shrank by almost 30% in December 2020 y/y). Using hedonic methods, we show the effect of the shrinking Airbnb market on the drop in long-term rents. The study indicates the elasticity of rents with respect to Airbnb supply, with a 1% change in Airbnb listings leading to a 0.031% change in rents.

The Use of GIS Technology to Optimize COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution: A Case Study of the City of Warsaw, Poland.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge, and the key to tackling it is vaccinating a specified percentage of the population to acquire herd immunity. The observed problems with the efficiency of the vaccination campaigns in numerous countries around the world, as well as the approach used at the initial stage of the National Immunization Program in Poland, prompted us to analyse the possibility of using GIS technology to optimize the distribution of vaccines to vaccination sites so as to minimize the period needed to vaccinate individual population groups. The research work was carried out on the example of Warsaw, the capital of Poland and the city with the largest population in the country. The analyses were carried out for the 60–70 and 50–60 age groups, in various approaches and for vaccines of different companies (Moderna, BioNTech, AstraZeneca), used to vaccinate people in Poland. The proposed approach to optimize vaccine distribution uses Thiessen’s tessellation to obtain information on the number of people in a given population group living in the area of each vaccination site, and then to estimate the time needed to vaccinate that group. Compared to the originally used vaccination scenario with limited availability of vaccines, the proposed approach allows practitioners to design fast and efficient distribution scenarios. With the developed methodology, we demonstrated ways to achieve uniform vaccination coverage throughout the city. We anticipate that the proposed approach can be easily automated and broadly applied to various urban settings.

Microwave and Radar Week (MRW 2020): Selected Papers

The 9th Microwave and Radar Week (MRW 2020) was held in Warsaw the capital of Poland, on 5–7 October 2020 [...]

Lived Experience of Transportation Network Company Driver About the Causes of High-risk Driving Behaviors: A Thematic Analysis

Background: Nowadays, industrialization, using cars and consequently traffic jams are part of human life which grows every day. Along with the expansion of communication and transportation speed, the number and severity of traffic accidents increases. According to the World Health Organization, traffic accidents are now recognized as the ninth cause of death worldwide. In Iran, traffic accidents after cardiovascular diseases are the second leading cause of death. Materials and Methods: This qualitative study was designed and implemented to determine driver’s views and opinions in two cities of Warsaw, Poland, and Tabriz, Iran, about driver’s high-risk behaviors. This study was conducted using in-depth interviews with 27 drivers. The study results were divided into four main questions about driving behaviors, reasons for driving abnormal behaviors, the prevalence and causes of abnormal behaviors, and suggested measures to correct these behaviors. Results: The study results were divided into six main themes of driving norms, individual factors, social factors, external factors, driving skills, and driving laws. Our findings indicate that drivers are more likely to rely on individual skills in driving in unacceptable conditions. In other words, they ignore the rules and regulations. But, when driving in high standards conditions and good facilities, drivers accept the rules and prioritize them. Conclusion: Internal control should be considered a helpful complement to external control, and that external control provides the highest efficiency when it comes with internal control. To internalize norms and observe driving laws and regulations, the authors suggest removing obstacles such as distrust among drivers regarding the effectiveness of driving laws, unawareness of breaking the laws, lack of job satisfaction, low level of participation, and structural barriers. Also, roads and vehicle safety must be improved along with a better track of the drivers’ behavior.

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

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.

Self-reported food safety knowledge and practices of early-school-aged children – a result of analysis in towns near the Warsaw city

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of selected group of Polish children in early school age in terms of issues such as: (1) the principles of food preparation, storage and eating meals; (2) personal hygiene; and (3) basic information about microorganisms.Design/methodology/approachThe auditorium survey method was used. The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions related to the children's knowledge of personal hygiene, the principles of food preparation and storage and the physiology of microorganisms and 13 questions related to the children's personal and food hygiene practice. In total, 169 questionnaires were collected. The study group of children had incomplete knowledge and often reported inappropriate food hygiene practices.FindingsThe subjects of food preparation and storage and knowledge of microbes were particular problem areas. By contrast, aspects related to handwashing, the appropriate practices while coughing or sneezing and washing fruit before consumption were positively evaluated. The children demonstrated the most knowledge in the field of personal hygiene. However, a very low percentage of correct answers was noted for the question about handwashing at school. None of the 13 questions related to this practice received more than 90% correct answers. The boys and girls demonstrated a comparable level of knowledge and practice in the area of food safety. It was showed that the place of school influenced answers to a greater extent compared to gender.Originality/valueThe results of the study play an important role in the prevention of food poisoning and are useful for the teachers, staff of training institutions and parents. They can also inspire institutions in countries with a high incidence of food poisoning to search for the causes in the inappropriate hygienic practices of young children.

The Drive towards Optimization of Road Lighting Energy Consumption Based on Mesopic Vision—A Suburban Street Case Study

This paper presents the research of optimization of road lighting energy consumption by utilizing the fact of human twilight and night vision (mesopic vision) dependency on luminance level and lamp’s light spectral composition. The research was conducted for a suburban street illuminated by smart LED road luminaires with a luminous flux control system with which different luminance levels can be achieved on the road. This road is an access road leading to a town located on the outskirts of Warsaw which is the capital of Poland and a large metropolitan area. Therefore, the traffic here is quite heavy on this road in the morning and in the evening and it is very light at other times of the day. In accordance with EN 13201 standard, lighting control can be applied to illuminate this road. This paper compares energy consumption for different lighting scenarios of the road in question. In the first scenario, the road luminance is compliant with M4, M5, and M6 lighting class requirements depending on the time of the day. In the second scenario, for each M lighting class, the values of luminance levels provided by EN 13201 standard have been reduced to the values resulting from their conversion to the corresponding mesopic luminance values. The conducted research has shown that a 15% saving per year in electricity consumption on the road is possible with such a conversion. Therefore, energy efficiency of a lighting installation can be improved by matching the lighting levels provided by the standard to the mesopic vision.

Urban geomorphology of the Vistula River valley in Warsaw

ABSTRACT Using ALS LIDAR DEM and OpenStreetMap data we visualise in ArcGIS the geomorphic features of a large, lowland river which flows through the area impacted by urbanisation of a big city – the capital of Poland. We present on one map the main geomorphological surfaces and their exact boundaries: valley edge, terrace front and floodplain juxtaposed with buildings and the main transportation corridors. We identify convex aeolian and fluvial landforms: dunes, levees, sandy lobes including crevasse splays, ridges between swales, sandy bars, islands; and concave erosional landforms: floodplain channels, crevasse channels, oxbow lakes, palaeo-meanders, tributary channels, and chute channels. We draw implications for flood management, geo-archaeology geo-heritage conservation. We search for traces of extreme flood events in the Holocene, also on the higher terraces which the river developed by its deposition in the Pleistocene.

Certification Labels in Shaping Perception of Food Quality—Insights from Polish and Belgian Urban Consumers

Food quality is considered to be one of the most important determinants of food choice. Given the variety of food products and the overflow of information in the market, certification labels are intended to encourage consumers to select healthier and more sustainable product options. This study focuses on how urban consumers from Poland and Belgium perceive food quality and whether certification labels shape their views on it. Research material was collected using quantitative (Paper and Pencil Interviews (PAPI)) and qualitative (focus groups (FGs)) methods. The survey was conducted among people visiting sustainable food fairs, on a sample of 701 adults in the cities of Warsaw, Brussels and Ghent. This study confirms that consumers are interested in food quality when choosing food, but their perception varies depending on the place of residence and other socio-demographic characteristics (age, income, education, household structure). Certificates were important for consumers if their message clearly signals exceptional quality and is consistent with awareness of sustainability challenges. Consumers from Belgium (a country with a long-established market economy) reveal deeper knowledge and a more favourable approach to certification labels than Poles. The role of labelling in shaping consumers’ perceptions of food quality depends on their awareness, experience and understanding of sustainability issues. This, in turn, is determined by the cultural environment of consumers, which in the case of our study was the country of residence.

Multi-criteria analysis of urban policy for sustainable development decision-making: A case study for Warsaw city, Poland

In order to track how cities develop and grow, multidimensional systems of urban development indicators taking into account the balance between economic, social, and environmental aspects are the best solution found so far. However, there is no unique measurement system that would be widely accepted and applied within various urban areas to verify whether a given city is developing in a sustainable way. The aim of this paper is to apply the TOPSIS algorithm on the basis of selected urban indicators, in order to evaluate the progress of a single city towards the concept of sustainable development observed over a longer period of time. A capital city of Poland, Warsaw, faces several challenges associated with development policy evaluation, thus confirming the need for this research. We meticulously selected 48 indicators from the economic, social and environmental areas as an input for TOPSIS algorithm, which allowed us to calculate a new proposed aggregated index for evaluating urban policy on the example of Warsaw. Research has shown usefulness of applied TOPSIS algorithm in assessing the long-run development of an urban area towards the concept of a sustainable city. The results of our analysis indicated that over a period of ten years, during 2008-2017, the urban policy decision-making has been balancing the socio-economic and environmental aspects and the city of Warsaw has been developed in a sustainable manner.

Ownership transformation in East-Central Europe in the pre EU-accession period. Inter-firm ties and control functions: The case of Poland.

The Article focuses on the first period of political and socio-economic transformation in Poland (1989-2004) and describes the change in capital ownership links during the transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy. It constitutes an important research issue in the context of understanding the economic transformation in East-Central Europe, in particular the mechanisms of flow of foreign capital into certain areas in space. The processes have brought about a new organization of linkages between these realms, especially between large metropolitan areas. The spatial pattern of capital ownership links of large enterprises in Poland (1242 firms) is analyzed against the hierarchical structure of the national urban system. It is shown that in the process of inflow of foreign investments, the city of Warsaw has assumed a nodal position in the network of transnational and inward capital linkages, Spatial inter-firm ownership relations, as documented in the study are discussed and generalized in the form of a two-layer core-periphery model. The empirical results demonstrate how the foreign investments have contributed to the metropolization phenomena by fostering the position of the capital city as well as of other large urban centres.

Historia zabudowań zajezdni przy ulicy Łazienkowskiej 8 w latach 1920–1975

The History of the Depot Buildings at 8 Łazienkowska Street (Warsaw) in the Years 1920–1975 As a result of World War I, the Polish lands were severely destroyed, and the population was poor. The widespread poverty, supply problems, and high prices led to the establishment of the Warsaw Municipal Supply Facilities (Miejskie Zakłady Zaopatrzenia Warszawy/MZZW). The task of the MZZW fleet was to ensure the supply of food and essential goods to the poorest social groups. Thus, the municipality bypassed intermediaries and their high margins. The articles were distributed through a network of municipal stores. The article describes the history of the buildings at 8 Łazienkowska Street, erected over a hundred years ago, now no longer extant. It was one of the first facilities built by the Capital City of Warsaw shortly after regaining independence. The described complex of buildings was designed from scratch, as the first such facility in Warsaw, meant only for trucks and not for horse traction vehicles. The second owner of the described development was the Municipal Tram and Bus Company, which took over the depot along with the rolling stock. The change of ownership was caused by the seemingly unrelated crash of the New York Stock Exchange. Before the war, Warsaw buses were parked there, the fleet of which was growing rapidly. The defensive war in September 1939 and the occupation removed buses from the streets of Warsaw. After the war, the depot – destroyed in 45% during the Warsaw Uprising – was rebuilt, becoming a symbol of the new socialist Poland. Following the example of the cities of Soviet Russia, with the help of their specialists and trolleybuses, the same service was launched in Warsaw. The depot became the first public transport base to be rebuilt after the war. A trolleybus network plan for the city of Lublin was created within its walls. Before the buildings were demolished, it was once again briefly a bus depot, and, in the end, it played a somewhat important role in the construction of the Łazienkowska Route, becoming the construction base No. 5 for the aforementioned investment.

Activity of the Regional Polish United Workers’ Party Apparatus in 1970–1989

Abstract The article aims to verify whether, in the 1980s, there was a significant decrease in the involvement of the regional communist party structures in charge of economic affairs in Poland. The analysis is made on the case of the Warsaw Committee (KW) of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP). Archival documents gathered in the State Archive in Warsaw were used to perform the analysis. The protocols of the meetings of the Executive and Secretariat 1970–1989 were collected, described and analysed. Moreover, the analysis was supplemented by the Statistical Yearbooks of Warsaw (GUS, 1957–1974), the Statistical Yearbooks of the Capital City of Warsaw (GUS, 1976–1981) and the Journal of Laws of the People's Republic of Poland 1970–1989. A statistical analysis of economic activity of the KW of the PUWP in the context of macroeconomic variables and economic activity of central authorities was performed. The correlation coefficient between macroeconomic performance and Party activity indicates the convergence of both trends in the 1970s and the lack of correlation in the 1980s. The decline in engagement after 1978 was unprecedented. In this period, there was a discrepancy between the activities of the central government and the Party apparatus, which remained in place until the end of the system. Institutional mechanisms in the Principal–Agent relation weakened significantly in 1980s.

Protection of tenants of Warsaw real properties in the light of amendment of the Actof 17 September 2020 on amending the Act about specific rules for removing legal effects of reprivatisation decisions concerning the Warsaw real properties, issued in violation of law, the Act on Commercialisation and Some Powers of Employees, as well as the Property Management Act (Journal of

On 17 September 2020, there was adopted the amendment to the Act of 9 March 2017 about specific rules for removing legal effects of reprivatisation decisions concerning the Warsaw real properties issued in violation of law3, and the Property Management Act that entered into force as of 20 October 2020. It has fundamentally changed a complicated legal situation of tenants of the Warsaw real properties4 –in many aspects, mainly at two levels. Firstly, it gives greater indemnification guarantee with regard to damage and injuries resulting from the reprivatisation of Warsaw real properties repugnant to the law through the introduction of statutory universal succession of the Treasury in lieu of the capital city of Warsaw as an addressee of liability for damages. Secondly, it significantly extends the catalogue of prerequisites for a refusal to grant decree applications, e.g. through preclusion of reprivatisation of real property, if it is inhabited by a tenant within the meaning of Article 2 section 1 item 1 of the Act of 21 June 2001 on the protection of tenants’ rights, municipal housing reserves and on the amendment to the Civil Code5. Moreover, the Act introduces a series of significant changes organising previous provisions of the Commission Act in order to increase its effectiveness, maximise the assurance of protection of rights of real property residents, and minimise reprivatisation-related ailments.

Carabid Beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Response to Soil Properties of Urban Wastelands in Warsaw, Poland

Urban wasteland is of special interest to city planners. However, to integrate such areas into city space management with consideration of nature conservation aspects, a sound assessment of their ecological potential is necessary. The aim of this paper was to analyze whether carabid beetle assemblages of the wastelands are affected by soil parameters, particularly trace element contamination. Therefore, we studied the carabid fauna in relation to selected soil parameters on 56 sampling plots situated in 24 wastelands located in the city of Warsaw (Poland). The results have confirmed our assumptions that the number of species, as well as the number of individual carabid beetles, are negatively affected by an increasing amount of pollutants in the soil. Particularly, the trace elements Pb, Cu, and Cd showed a significantly negative impact. The results are of value when it comes to the use of urban wastelands in the context of sustainable city development. Future use of urban wastelands will be faced with trade-offs between the use for public interests (e.g., housing space) and ecological interests. Phytoremediation and entomoremediation may be included in decontamination measures. The results of studies, such as the one conducted by us, may help to select the respective wastelands for certain purposes.