Violation of land use regulations for allotment gardens: The case of Warsaw, Poland

Allotment gardens are widespread across European cities and serve as much-needed green spaces generating positive environmental externalities. Changing user preferences result in excessive built-up constructions and changing land use, that contradict the environmental aspects of allotment gardens. These create a breeding ground for flourishing, yet highly opaque, markets for allotment gardens, which naturally increase risks of illegal rent-seeking and other behaviours breaching prescribed land use. This is the first paper that looks into the nature of the market for allotment gardens in three critical dimensions: (a) explore the transaction framework and market operations, (b) given the absence of observable prices, find sound proxies for prices that enable market research, (c) given rising demand, assess if the market operates in line with the regulations or if there is evidence of rent-seeking. This is done based on allotment gardens in Warsaw, Poland, where this market is most prominent. This study uses a mixed-method approach. The transaction framework is established based on thematic archival analysis of regulations and legal literature. To explore price formation and test for rent-seeking, hedonic regression modelling is used and applied on posted offers. It is found that there is a poor transaction framework, that pricing is sensitive to legal (and illegal) private investments, and that illegal rent-seeking on land is prevalent. The research also finds increasing investment in allotment gardens reducing biodiversity. These findings demand scrutiny mechanisms to improve adherence to current regulations and more efficient land use planning to support allotment gardens as rich natural urban habitats.