The timing of land development – a preliminary qualitative analysis for the GZM metropolis in Poland

We often observe substantial delays in the development of land. The literature lists a number of reasons: from risk and uncertainty to problems with the specific plot to land banking and speculation by investors. In an earlier, quantitative analysis for the GZM metropolis in Poland (Reyman, Maier, 2022), we applied survival analysis to the development process and found strong influence of institutional factors. This research extends and complements the earlier study with qualitative interviews with developers and city officials, two important actors in this process. We believe that clashing perspectives of those two actors will provide us with meaningful insights into institutional and behavioural factors that influence the time of land development in GZM. After four trial qualitative in-depth interviews with city officials, we re-think questions and intend to talk to a total of five city officials and five investors. We will select interview partners from different cities (big, small, rural counties), and different investors’ types (big – small, local – country/Europe level). In this presentation, we will report the results of the trial interviews. Some first preliminary observations are that city officials show a strong pro-investor attitude; do not see land speculation as a problem in their area; face competition from neighbouring cities for investors; observe some ownership problems caused by inheritance negligence or inhabitants’ emigration.