URBAN AND SUBURBAN LAND FRAGMENTATION IN NORTHEASTERN POLAND
URBAN AND SUBURBAN LAND FRAGMENTATION IN NORTHEASTERN POLAND

Summary/Abstract: The authors prove that relic land fragmentation can be a valuable component of urban and suburban landscape as a remnant of its history and a testimony to the past economic and social phenomena, as shown in the case study of the City of Białystok and the Town of Łapy, located in northeastern Poland. Such relics deserve to be considered in spatial planning, inducing both problems and new opportunities. Accordingly, the relevant discussion focuses on two examples of places where land fragmentation reached unprecedented proportions, especially in the 1920s. The most extreme historic examples are described, such as a farm divided into 1,221 plots in Łapy (52°59´28˝N, 22°53´07˝E), mentioned in 1926. Based on the most recent cadastral maps (2020), the contemporary remnants of extreme land fragmentation in Białystok and its land district (approx. 52°51´00.8˝-53°23´02.4˝N; 22°28´09.1˝-23°56´45.4˝E) are assessed. Distribution of landscapes with prevailing plots narrower than 30 m and with plots narrower than 15 m is mapped. The results of the study are discussed against the background of broader historical and geographic context, in order to evaluate such “fossil landscapes” as a valuable cultural component. Recommendations are also formulated on the protection of relics of land fragmentation. In particular, the structure of their baulks should be locally restored to make highly fragmented arable lands discernible. The results of the study can contribute to discussions on the protection of fragmented land in other countries, especially in Eastern Europe, where the land fragmentation (‘checkerboard’) came into existence and perpetuated as a result of both settlement patterns and subsequent economic and social processes. However, compared to other urban areas, including those in neighboring countries, land fragmentation in Białystok is of a scale unknown elsewhere and deserves special attention from a conservation and heritage perspective.

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