Investment on hold

"The lack of spatial development plans is becoming a barrier for investors, including those who build flats," said the president of Reas Konsulting, Kazimierz Kirejczyk. He pointed to the fact that prices of plots of land are spiraling and developers, not knowing how much they will have to pay for another plot, build as much as they can on one allotment. "If we had plans, one could build more wisely, and not so intensively - the reserves of land are substantial," said Kirejczyk.

At the moment, only 14 percent of Warsaw is covered by spatial development plans. Depressingly, in this respect Warsaw is leading many other cities in Poland, such as Kraków, where only 2.5 percent of the city is covered by spatial development plans, Katowice (five percent), or Poznań (seven percent).

Districts which are at least half-covered by such plans, such as Wilanów, do undergo a construction boom. However new projects, especially in Warsaw's city center, are being developed without an end in sight, as investors wait for spatial development plans to be decided upon. According to Warsaw's Deputy Chief Architect, Tomasz Zemła, they may be waiting for much longer. "At the moment there are 113 enacted plans. Perhaps in two years time we will manage to accept a further 100," he said.

Even the vicinity around the Palace of Science and Culture - one of Warsaw's most popular areas among investors, also lacks a spatial development plan. AIG Lincoln Polska has declared readiness to prepare a scheme of public-private partnership with Warsaw authorities in order to start the investment, however, "in order for the investment to be successful the city authorities, as well as the Polish railway, need to get involved," said the president of AIG/Lincoln Polska, Mirosław Szydelski. Last week the Council of Warsaw failed to accept the spatial development plan for the city's center, the implementation of which has been expected for several months.

The problem of spatial development plans dates back to a bill from March 2003 about spatial planning and managing. The bill annulled the spatial development plans that were enacted by cities and gminas before 1995.

In January 2004, the old plans were set aside and since then plans for only about 25 percent of the country's area have been accepted. "Previously we had too much planning - now, there is too much freedom that is harmful for the city," concludes Kirejczyk.