Inappropriate object: Warsaw and the Stalin‐era Palace of Culture after the Smolensk disaster (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

This article is about the shifting relationship between the city of Warsaw and the Palace of Culture and Science – a gigantic Stalinist skyscraper which dominates the city centre – in the aftermath of the 10 April 2010 plane crash that killed the Polish president and 95 others (mostly very senior military and political figures) in the woods outside Smolensk in western Russia. The crash's victims had been on their way to a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of a massacre in the Katyń forest, near Smolensk, during which thousands of Polish army officers were shot on the orders of Stalin. Despite its status as Warsaw's most obvious material relic of Russia's historical domination over Poland, the Palace of Culture has in the last two decades been gradually reappropriated into the city's own landscape and everyday life. In fact, since the fall of communism, the Palace has eclipsed the city's traditional emblems and monuments to become regarded as the most identifiable marker, or ‘symbol’, of the contemporary city. Further, the Palace has consolidated the tangible and powerful impact it exerts on the city's architecture and urban layout, on its political, bureaucratic, ‘cultural’, commercial and educational life, and on the bodies and minds of its citizens. The very word ‘palace’ is normally understood in Warsaw to refer to the Palace of Culture. For a time after Smolensk, however, the word acquired a new association with the Presidential Palace, where crowds gathered to lay flowers, light candles and stand vigil. The markedly muted presence in Warsaw of the Palace of Culture during the mourning period after Smolensk demonstrated that the happy interaction between post‐socialist Warsaw and the rehabilitated Palace does not extend into every domain. The topography of mourning in Warsaw in the days after 10 April seemed to highlight the abject dimension of the Palace's uncanny presence in the city. This article explores why, how and for how long the Palace withdrew and was withdrawn from the life of the Warsaw after Smolensk.     

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND URBAN ABANDONMENT: CASE STUDIES AND TYPOLOGICAL ISSUES

The article discusses the phenomenon of urban abandonment as a result of environmental hazards. Seen as an outcome of environmental drivers, the underlying assumption is that a characteristic of environmental hazards is their spatial and temporal constancy of impact, whereby processes and phenomena having taken place in the past have their analogies in the present. In order to generate insights for future research and policy development, there is a need to pay greater attention to the precarious relationship between humans and the natural environment, not least by drawing lessons from the past through the study of historical cases. The article clarifies the dynamic interactions of drivers and their progression through various stages of urban abandonment. This is done by recourse to an analysis of some general trends and an in‐depth examination of three selected case studies from Poland. It has two objectives. The first is to identify the historical role of environmental drivers in the process of urban abandonment, while the second one is to contribute to the typology of environmentally related processes of urban abandonment in order to better identify future calamities. With respect to the former, the findings reveal that the relation between environmental hazards and urban abandonment is pertinent in regions with specific geographic conditions and pertains only to certain categories of urban settlements. With respect to the latter, by drawing on these findings, we propose some alterations and amendments to McLeman's comprehensive model of settlement abandonment in the context of global environmental change.     

Early development of late Vistulian (Weichselian) lacustrine sediments in the Żabieniec swamp (central Poland)

The early sedimentological and ecological developmental stages of a late Vistulian lake in the ?abieniec swamp near ?ód? (central Poland) were analysed by radiometric dating, changes in the frequency of specimens and species composition of Cladocera and multivariate statistical analysis (DCA). The longevity of the lake resulted in a fairly complete sedimentary record from approximately 22 ka to 11 ka cal BP. Species composition and the variability in the frequency of Cladocera specimens has made it possible to distinguish eleven zones of their development, which are well correlated with radiocarbon data. The results were compared to those from other sites of north and central Europe. The initial Cladocera development comprises the richest and oldest late Vistulian Cladocera record in Europe. These cladoceran assemblages show that a deep, oligotrophic, moderately cold-water lake was present at the beginning. It appears that the cladoceran development was mainly due to climate change, but also to changes in locally prevailing conditions in the water body. The high frequency of cladocerans, as well as the presence of cladoceran taxa preferring warmer water, was noted before approximately 16 ka BP. The biota suggests that the Oldest Dryas cooling was not severe and fairly variable in terms of humidity and temperature. The changes in Cladocera composition give evidence of what is described as the Intra-Bølling Cold Oscillation. It is also concluded that the Bølling is represented by two phases in the ?abieniec lake sediments.     

Tree ring analysis as an indicator of environmental changes caused by tourist trampling — A potential method for the assessment of the impact of tourists

This paper shows that tree-ring trends might be used for the assessment of the intensity of trampling along touristic tracks in the forests. The study aims at determining the effects of trampling, on the dynamics of annual increments in trees subject to pressure from hiking tourism. The studies were conducted at a spruce stand in the Tatra Mts., on sections of different trails. Within each trail, four transects were determined. Transects include the zones with damage from trampling and the un-affected areas, treated as a reference zones. Selected trees growing in both zones were sampled by coring and the core samples were used to develop sequences of annual increment widths. Next, the dynamics of increments in trees growing in the tourist zone and the reference zone were compared. The decrease in the annual increments was significantly more rapid in trees growing directly along the trail that those in trees deep in the forest stand in one locality. This finding may testify the adverse effects of hiking along tourist routes on the radial increments in trees in the neighbourhood of the trails. The results of the study indicate that the impact of trampling in the form of soil compaction and mechanical damage to root systems of trees may, to some extent, be compensated by better light access and lessened competition experienced by trees growing along the edges of hiking trails. Tree-ring analyses might be an efficient alternative for assessment of tourism intensity conducted by the other methods.     

Stable carbon isotope analysis of subfossil wood from Austrian Alps

The presented studies were carried out in order to check the usefulness of subfossil wood for stable isotope analysis. The aim of research was also to define the optimal method of subfossil samples preparation. Subfossil samples used during the presented studies are a part of the multicentury dendrochronological scale. This chronology originates in an area situated around a small mountain lake — Schwarzersee, in Austria. The obtained results of stable carbon isotope measurements confirmed that the method of α-cellulose extraction by the application of acidic sodium chlorite and sodium hydroxide solutions removes resins and other mobile compounds from wood. Therefore, in the case of the analysed samples, the additional chemical process of extractives removing was found to be unnecessary. Studied wood samples contained an adequate proportion of α-cellulose similar to the values characteristic for the contemporary trees. This proved an adequate wood preservation which is essential for the conduction of isotopic research.     

The Impact of Innovations on Growth and Stagnation Regions in Poland

The goal of this article is to identify the impact of innovations on growth and stagnation regions in Poland. The research procedure consists of two stages. At stage one, Polish administrative units (voivodeships) were arranged on a scale of economically robust and weak regions following data clustering, indicators organized in line with the following aspects of social and economic growth: (1) population and settlement, (2) the economy structure and the labour market, (3) the technical infrastructure and spatial accessibility and (4) the financial situation and level of affluence. Stage two includes identification of the relation between the regional diversification and the distribution of growth and stagnation regions in Poland which is based on canonical correlation.     

DOUBLE TRANSITIONS? REGIONAL PATTERNS OF POPULATION AGEING IN POLAND

The number and geographical distribution of the aged, and how the distribution changes over time, have captured the attention of geographical gerontologists; the complexity and spatially differentiated nature of ageing is of considerable practical and theoretical import. This article seeks to link the traditional concerns of population geography to the social and spatial relations between old people, their health and places of residence and care. It does presuppose, however, that patterns and processes at the sub‐national level are also taken into account. Therefore, the aim of the article is to identify the aged and the localities or regions where they reside, within the particular context of a Polish post‐socialist society that has recently become integrated into the European mainstream. As such it is potentially subject to a double transition, where the political and economic changes cross path with the second demographic transition. To identify interrelationships between ageing and post‐socialist transition, areas vulnerable to ageing are defined using ageing indices. Projections of the share of elderly up to 2030, based on a component cohort method, are made with a view to identifying future change in the spatial patterns of ageing. Regional patterns of ageing are presented in social, political or economic context, to show their relation to the structural changes that societies such as Poland have been passing through during the period of transition to democracy and a market economy or are likely to go through in the near future.