IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4659-d1659240.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Legal Loopholes and Investment Pressure in the Development of Individual Recreational Buildings in Protected Landscapes

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Hełdak

    (Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Klaudia Ogórka

    (Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Beata Raszka

    (Institute of Spatial Management, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wrocław, Poland)

Abstract

This study investigates the legal and planning risks related to the implementation of individual recreational buildings in environmentally valuable areas, with particular emphasis on the municipality of Bukowina Tatrzańska in southern Poland. This research highlights the consequences of a legal loophole that allows construction in protected landscapes based solely on a notification procedure, often excluding municipal authorities from the decision-making process. This analysis combines field inventory, planning document review, and interviews with local officials to assess the scale and nature of development in areas lacking valid local development plans. The findings reveal increasing investor pressure and the misuse of individual recreational buildings for commercial purposes, leading to spatial and landscape degradation. Despite formal compliance with certain legal provisions, construction often takes place in areas of high natural and scenic value, undermining spatial order. This study recommends strengthening local planning instruments, revising construction laws, and enhancing investment control to ensure sustainable land use and landscape protection.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Hełdak & Klaudia Ogórka & Beata Raszka, 2025. "Legal Loopholes and Investment Pressure in the Development of Individual Recreational Buildings in Protected Landscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4659-:d:1659240
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4659/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4659/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Przemysław Śleszyński & Maciej Nowak & Paweł Sudra & Magdalena Załęczna & Małgorzata Blaszke, 2021. "Economic Consequences of Adopting Local Spatial Development Plans for the Spatial Management System: The Case of Poland," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Renata Różycka-Czas & Barbara Czesak & Katarzyna Cegielska, 2019. "Towards Evaluation of Environmental Spatial Order of Natural Valuable Landscapes in Suburban Areas: Evidence from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Simona R. Grădinaru & Cristian Ioan Iojă & Ileana Pătru-Stupariu & Anna M. Hersperger, 2017. "Are Spatial Planning Objectives Reflected in the Evolution of Urban Landscape Patterns? A Framework for the Evaluation of Spatial Planning Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Valentina Burksiene & Jaroslav Dvorak, 2020. "Performance Management In Protected Areas: Localizing Governance Of The Curonian Spit National Park, Lithuania," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 5, pages 105-124.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor & Walid Hamma & Huu Duy Nguyen & Giovanni Randazzo & Anselme Muzirafuti & Mari-Isabella Stan & Van Truong Tran & Roxana Aştefănoaiei & Quang-Thanh Bui & Dragoş-Florian Vintilă, 2020. "Degradation of Coastlines under the Pressure of Urbanization and Tourism: Evidence on the Change of Land Systems from Europe, Asia and Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-43, August.
    2. Sanja Gašparović & Ana Sopina & Anton Zeneral, 2022. "Impacts of Zagreb’s Urban Development on Dynamic Changes in Stream Landscapes from Mid-Twentieth Century," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-25, May.
    3. Halyna Mishenina & Jaroslav Dvorak, 2022. "Public–Private Partnership as a Form of Ensuring Sustainable Development of the Forest Management Sphere," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-25, November.
    4. Meng Wang & Aleksandra Krstikj & Huan Liu, 2022. "Planning Compact City in Rapidly Growing Cities—An Estimation of the Effects of New-Type Urbanization Planning in Hangzhou City," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Hani Amir Aouissi & Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor & Mostefa Ababsa & Maria Boştenaru-Dan & Mahmoud Tourki & Zihad Bouslama, 2021. "Influence of Land Use on Avian Diversity in North African Urban Environments," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    6. Urszula Forczek-Brataniec, 2021. "Assessment of Visual Values as a Tool Supporting the Design Decisions of the Cultural Park Protection Plan. The Case of Kazimierz and Stradom in Kraków," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Mariana Nae & Liliana Dumitrache & Bogdan Suditu & Elena Matei, 2019. "Housing Activism Initiatives and Land-Use Conflicts: Pathways for Participatory Planning and Urban Sustainable Development in Bucharest City, Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-26, November.
    8. Bacău, Simona & Grădinaru, Simona R. & Hersperger, Anna M., 2020. "Spatial plans as relational data: Using social network analysis to assess consistency among Bucharest’s planning instruments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    9. Edyta Šaszkiewicz & Aleksandra Nowakowska & Jagoda Adamus, 2022. "How Valuable is Architectural Heritage? Evaluating a Monument’s Perceived Value With the Use of Spatial Order Concept," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, December.
    10. Reyman, Katarzyna & Maier, Gunther, 2023. "Property rights regime and the timing of land development in a post-transition country (Poland)," SRE-Discussion Papers 01/2023, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    11. Hossu, Constantina Alina & Ioja, Ioan Cristian & Nita, Mihai R. & Hartel, Tibor & Badiu, Denisa L. & Hersperger, Anna M., 2017. "Need for a cross-sector approach in protected area management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 586-597.
    12. Yao Sun & Yunhe Ding & Miaoyi Lei & Liang Mao, 2024. "Restoration Evaluation of National Forest Park in Greater Khingan Mountains Region, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.
    13. Junghwan Choi & Sangseop Lim, 2024. "Establishing a Marine Protected Area in the Waters Surrounding Dokdo: Necessity and Legality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Miguel Amado & Evelina Rodrigues & Francesca Poggi & Manuel Duarte Pinheiro & António Ribeiro Amado & Helder José, 2020. "Using Different Levels of Information in Planning Green Infrastructure in Luanda, Angola," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-26, April.
    15. Gielen Demetrio Muñoz & Ossowicz Tomasz & Zaborowski Tomasz Piotr, 2022. "Failure and opportunities of public value capture and developer obligations in Polish urban development," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 26(1), pages 15-30, January.
    16. Wende, Wolfgang & Walz, Ulrich & Stein, Christian, 2020. "Evaluating municipal landscape plans and their influence on selected aspects of landscape development – An empirical study from Germany," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    17. Różycka-Czas Renata & Czesak Barbara & Staszel Andrzej, 2021. "Which Polish Cities Sprawl the Most," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Paulina Legutko-Kobus & Maciej Nowak & Alexandru-Ionut Petrisor & Dan Bărbulescu & Cerasella Craciun & Atena-Ioana Gârjoabă, 2023. "Protection of Environmental and Natural Values of Urban Areas against Investment Pressure: A Case Study of Romania and Poland," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-33, January.
    19. Jianwei Li & Guo'ao Li & Jingang Li & Aoran Liu, 2022. "Integrating conformance and performance for the evaluation of urban planning implementation from a goal-oriented perspective," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(2), pages 737-753, February.
    20. Yiping Xiao & Yan Song & Xiaodong Wu, 2018. "How Far Has China’s Urbanization Gone?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-17, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4659-:d:1659240. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.