The study discusses the problem of land grabbing and state interventionism in agricultural land transactions in Poland, and presents the effects of active policy implemented by the state on limiting the flow of agricultural land. The research covers the period from the time of country’s accession to the European Union, starting from 2004. Poland introduced restrictions on the purchase of agricultural land for fear of mass land grabbing, and has currently tightened the restrictions on agricultural land purchase by foreigners and by non-owners of a family farm. The analyses concern the number of permits issued for foreigners to turn over agricultural land in Poland, the area of property eventually purchased by foreigners, the right of pre-emption exercised by the National Support Centre for Agriculture (NSCA), and the number of transactions concluded in an open market and in the form of a tender. Based on the collected data and their in-depth analyses, the following phenomena were interpreted: an extensive impact of interventionism exercised by the Polish state on restricting the sale of agricultural land to foreigners is observed, and interventionism of the Polish state affects the suspension of functional changes in rural areas and agricultural land transition to non-agricultural purposes. The research shows that the majority of property turnover by foreigners in Poland required permits issued by the Minister of the Interior Affairs and Administration. Moreover, priority is given to owners of family farms, which results in a reduction of the total number of transactions concerning agricultural land in Poland after introducing changes in legal transactions of agricultural land in 2016.

The study addresses the problem of functional transformations covering rural and urban-rural municipalities in Lower Silesia voivodship, according to the adopted functional typology of municipalities. The division of municipalities into functional types is a continuation of the research conducted in 1996, 2005, and 2010. The year 2016 was adopted as the base year for comparison, using the same criteria for their classification: the level of industrialization, the structure of the economy, and the level of tourist infrastructure development. The statistical analysis carried out within the framework of the study covered changes in the municipalities’ proportions of particular functional types between 1996, 2005, and 2016 and also the impact assessment of the quality of agricultural area and unemployment rate in relation to the determined municipality type. In order to obtain the research results, the statistical analysis using Cochran’s Q test was, among others, performed to determine changes in the proportions of municipalities and also one-way analysis of variance between groups was conducted to establish the indicated correlations. In the case of obtaining a statistically significant result, paired comparisons were carried out (between the types of municipalities) using Hommel’s procedure. The conducted analysis confirmed the adopted research theses, i.e., in the studied period from 1996 to 2016, the majority of the analyzed regions lost their agricultural function in favor of the industrial function.

The purpose of the study is to analyse the availability of financial resources for people with disabilities and to assess the needs satisfaction level of the disabled in order to eliminate architectural and technical barriers in Poland. The research conducted among the disabled affected by physical disability indicates that mobility barriers and obstacles remain among the most important problems encountered by people with disabilities. The research has shown that the problem of barriers increases with age. The elimination of architectural barriers requires, each time, higher financial expenditure, whereas the elimination of technical barriers improves the life quality of people with disabilities at low financial outlays. The average funding in Poland amounted to PLN 827.53 in 2016, including the funding of EUR 1453.60 for the elimination of architectural barriers and approx. EUR 582 for the removal of technical barriers. The financial resources allocated for this purpose do not cover the actual needs of the people with disabilities. The analysis revealed that the demand for investment in the elimination of barriers is increasing with age, whereas the expenditure of the Polish state is decreasing.

This article raises the issue of changes in the structure of use of agricultural land in Poland and the Czech Republic since the accession of both countries into the structures of the European Union. An important question raised in this article is the analysis of changes in the area structure of...

The article addresses the problem of selected technical infrastructure elements (e.g., water supply, sewage, gas networks) in municipalities territorially connected with Polish national parks. Therefore, the research refers to the specific areas: both naturally valuable and attractive in terms of tourism. The time range of the research covers the years 2003–2018. The studied networks were characterized based on the statistical analysis using linear ordering methods; synthetic measures of development were applied. It allowed the ranking construction of the examined municipalities in terms of the development level of water supply, sewage, and gas networks. The results show that the period 2003–2018 was characterized by a development of the analyzed networks in the vast majority of municipalities. Thus, the level of anthropopressure caused by the presence of local community and tourists in municipalities showed a decline. It is worth emphasizing that the infrastructure investments are carried out comprehensively. Favoring investments in the development of any of the abovementioned networks was not observed.

Since Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, a steady increase in transaction prices of agricultural property has been observed. Also in other countries, mainly in Eastern and Central Europe, there has been an ongoing increase in the prices of agricultural land. The situation on the agricultural land market is influenced not only by the market mechanisms, but also by the political decisions, including restrictions in the turnover of land properties. The purpose of the study is to analyze the agricultural land market in Poland and to determine the relationship of average land prices for housing, service and industrial purposes against the average prices of agricultural land in 2004-2019. In the course of the study, price changes on the discussed market were assessed, and forecasts and simulations concerning the prices of agricultural properties and land intended for selected investment purposes were prepared. It was established that the increase in agricultural property prices over the recent dozen or so years is inadequate to the increase in the average gross salary in Poland and the average income from work at individual farms. However, the increase in prices is almost parallel to the increase in average transaction prices of property intended for housing purposes.