Directions for Land Management in Rural Areas

Abstract

The monograph presents directions and trends of real estate management in the rural areas in Poland and in Norway. Changes and transformation of the spatial structure of agricultural farms have been intensively developed since the Polish accession to the European Union. Real estate management in rural areas covers technical, procedural and legal aspects resulting from attempts aiming at solution of current problems. The amending legal regulations and the rules concerning the real estate transactions force the changes of the real estate management in its wide sense. The new trends of management of real estates of the State Treasury and the procedure of privatisation of those lands is a long-term process. Section 1 of the monograph presents the possibilities to perform real estate transactions and the assessment of impacts of activities performed by the State Treasury Real Estate Agency on the real estate market and on the level of transaction prices achieved in the period of 2009 -2013. Purchase of real estate is still of high interest in Poland since those lands are much cheaper than real estates dedicated for building purposes. Modification of consideration of some issues is often forced by the current situation; this may be confirmed by the series of summer floods which occurred in Poland in recent years, or by the necessity to intensify works related with the programme of construction of motorways. As it has been proved by performed research works, the attention should be paid to such phenomena which are important for the specified areas and focused on adaptation to those phenomena instead of consideration of all possible variants of those phenomena. Information concerning the intensity of particular phenomena, complemented by spatial data about their distribution, are the excellent tools which may support decision making processes concerning rural areas. These aspects have been presented in Section 2. Surveying works, which support the process of structural changes in rural areas, concern land consolidation processes. The monograph presents, which types of land consolidation works should be performed in specified conditions in Polish rural areas. Examples of the scope of designed and implemented land consolidation works have been presented in Section 3, which is a compendium of knowledge concerning the land consolidation process. Specifics of land consolidation works in the case of linear or flood protection investments, as well as methods of utilisation and management of flood areas require that activities are undertaken at the physical planning level, as well as that many studies are performed. Land consolidation projects, which concern structural land consolidation, should follow those provisions. In Poland the issue of management within problem areas of agriculture is very important. It is necessary to balance the chances of development of farms within environmentally less favourable areas, which are characterised by the low soil productivity and which are hazarded by degradation. Section 4 of the monograph presents the analysis of criteria, which are applied for delineation of areas, as well as their spatial extension. As a result of land consolidation works management of the agriculture problem areas should emerge from destination of a given area for playing specified functions, as well as it should be compliant with legal regulations. Diversification and complexity of issues which occur within rural areas force the decision makers to specify areas where land consolidation works will be performed. Section 5 describes the methodology of specification of urgency to commence land consolidation and exchange using the example of cadastral districts in one of the administrative units (powiats) in Poland. The last section presents solutions applied in real estate management in rural areas, which are performed in Norway. Organisational structures of the norwegian "consolidation courts" (Jordskifteretten) - the units which are responsible, among others, for implementation of many procedures of real estate management - have been discussed. Particular attention has been paid to detailed presentation of the way of organisation of the court and its obligations in the field of implementation of real estate procedures. Solutions which have been developed and are currently applied in the Norwegian legislation have been explained and justified. The presented monograph discusses only some aspects related to real estate management issues in rural areas with consideration of the works of surveyors. The multi-issue nature of the monograph stresses the difficulties which are faced by surveyors in the course of implementation of land consolidation works, which must be accepted by the society, efficient and which must protect the natural environment.