"Spatial Externalities – a Contribution to Identifying a Network of Relationships. Insights from Poland and Romania "

Abstract

Regardless of the aim, all man-made actions within a given space and using the available resources have a positive or negative impact on the anthropogenic and natural environment, both individually and in relation to one another. To a certain extent, spatial planning regulations and policies aim to regulate the amplitude of this impact and diminish the prospective positive and negative externalities. A categorisation of externalities was proposed in relation to spatial planning and spatial policy, real estate management, natural, environmental and agricultural conditions, and technical infrastructure. The assessment of particular externalities was based on integrated governance consisting of partial governance frameworks: economic governance, institutional and political governance, spatial governance, social governance, and environmental governance. The Delphi method was employed to evaluate externalities, by putting together a team of 12 spatial management experts. The methodological assumptions required adopting a definition of externalities and their features. Also, an in-depth analysis was conducted on the relationships and effects of activities carried out by entities operating in specific conditions and within the framework of social, economic and spatial policies. We considered the necessary assumptions aimed to explicitly define positive and negative externalities in spatial management, which was a difficult undertaking because of the particularities of cost-related and external benefits. A comprehensive list was created, relevant to the adopted classification of externalities. The conclusions provide recommendations for sectoral policies and advance further research directions.