The aim of the paper is to evaluate the sustainability of the location of all elements of tourist infrastructure on the slopes of Babia Góra Mt. in the Western Beskidy Mountains taking into account local relief and a range of geomorphologic processes. For more than 130 years, local tourist facilities remained unthreatened by slope processes with the exception of very limited sections of the northern slope. A deep-seated landslide reactivated in the mid 19th century affected a small section of that slope that is outside of regular tourist traffic while another landslide, a shallow one that remains active, has been damaging a single marked tourist trail. Debris flows observed locally on the northern slope are not typical of contemporary relief dynamics across Babia Góra Mt. and therefore cannot be regarded as a universal threat to local tourist infrastructure. In addition, snow avalanches that reach short stretches of tourist trails on the northern slope have not damaged them. The current hazard status of the tourist infrastructure on Babia Góra Mt. is clearly better than it would have been if certain heavy development plans had been carried out in geomorphologically vulnerable areas.

Human impact on the evolution of a landslide lake. Case study: Lake Pucołowski Stawek in the Gorce Mts

The paper presents the results of a study of the human impact on the evolution of a landslide lake. An example of a landslide lake subjected to strong anthropogenic influence is that of the Pucołowski Stawek lake in the Gorce Mts. Historical data analysis, interviews with local inhabitants, and several surveys of the lake area and shoreline at various moments of its history have enabled us to reconstruct the lake’s evolution since the early 20th century. Research has shown that since the first field description in 1932, the lake did not become overgrown (as it is very common for this type of lake), until the late 1980s. The reason for its preservation has been human activity. The subsequent acceleration of the overgrowing of the Pucołowski Stawek lake has been connected with the cessation of mowing, grazing and peat extraction in the lake basin. This has led to the full disappearance of this water body and the reservoir to fen type peat bog. In December 2011, the owners of the lake deepened the lake basin and removed organic sediments at the same time. This led to lake reactivation, although with a changed shoreline. The area of the lake basin decreased about 22% compared with its size in 1968. The same is true of the shoreline development factor which is now 1.08 compared with 1.23 in 1968.  Dynamic plant succession has been observed since 2012 in the Pucołowski Stawek lake, and the lake area has decreased about 27% compared with its size in 2012. The consequences of the action which led to the deepening of the lake significantly affected the fauna and flora of the reservoir, causing improvement in amphibians’ habitat conditions. Human activity in this area has led to water reservoir reactivation, giving it unique landscape value as well as increasing its biodiversity by restoring adequate habitat conditions.

Outdoor advertising in areas of high natural value. The Tatras surrounding area case study

Outdoor advertising is increasingly being used as a medium in marketing. It allows a simple and effective way to reach potential customers. Outdoor advertising as „the only medium that cannot be turned off” is growing faster than traditional means of marketing communication; it results in an increase in the intensity of its  occurrence in public space. However, it is accompanied by negative consequences such as the degradation of the quality of public space and the aesthetics of the landscape. The aim of the study is to answer the question: Is the quality of the mountain landscape significantly threatened by widespread outdoor advertising? The study area consists of the Tatras on the Polish and Slovak sides. Significant differences were found in the occurrence of outdoor advertising on both sides of the border. Much more advertising media exists in the Polish (northern) part of the study area where they have the highest concentration along major roads and at tourist  destinations. In the Slovak part, the distribution of advertising media has a lower intensity. The final finding is that chaos exists in areas of high landscape value in terms of advertising volume.

Application of the urban audit to the evaluation of spatial organization in former railway settlements – Sosnowiec Maczki case study

The aim of the study is to evaluate spatial organization quality using the urban audit. It is one of the suitable methods used in this type of diagnosis, and it is a procedure with independent modules for the collection and processing of information in order to show social, economic, and urban public space diversity. However, this study is limited to a single subsystem – urban space. The basic condition for the correctness of the urban audit execution is the selection of a relatively small and functionally and morphologically homogeneous area. The study was conducted in Sosnowiec City – in the Maczki district, in the area associated with the establishment of the Warsaw–Vienna Railway border station between the Kingdom of Poland ( then part of Russia ) and Austria–Hungary and the broad-gauge railway station of the Iwangorodzko-Dąbrowska Railway. The urban audit was conducted for the following streets: Kadłubka, Krakowska, Skwerowa, Spacerowa, Stacyjna and Wodociągi. It was found that in the worst condition are the following streets: Stacyjna Street, leading to the former broad-gauge station, with gaps between buildings and low quality of road infrastructure, and Skwerowa Street, which is characterized by a predominance of old housing stock for railway workers. The best technical condition for identified in the case of Spacerowa Street, primarily due to the occurrence of privately-owned housing. Thus, research has shown that the district is in need of urban revitalization.

Community participation in the urban revitalization process: the case of the Integrated Revitalization Program of the Nikiszowiec public housing project in Katowice

The aim of the paper is an analysis of the planning process of the Integrated Revitalization Program for the Nikiszowiec public housing project in Katowice. The article is based on desk research (data provided by the Katowice Municipal Office, work reports for the project), interview with an expert responsible for the consultation and the final shape of the project – Dagmara Mliczyńska-Hajda, as well as on surveys conducted among organizations working for the citizens of Nikiszowiec. The paper presents the history of the Nikiszowiec housing project and the current crisis area. Discussed is the process of planning and designing a revitalization project by an expert. It has been shown that social participation is needed for successful revitalization and the analyzed example can be considered as a model case study.

Atmospheric circulation and ocean currents as controls of sea routes from Europe to India during “Age of Sails”

Knowledge of prevailing winds and ocean currents was one of the crucial factors deciding the success of European sailors during the Age of Discovery. Its role has not been fully appreciated in Polish geography yet. The role of prevailing winds and ocean currents in the determination of sea lanes in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean is described in this paper. It has been shown that winds and ocean currents can both make easier or more difficult navigation to a given destination. Some navigational techniques were developed to overcome such obstacles. The volta do mar technique was used to avoid beating trade winds during return voyages from the West Africa coast. The use of this technique in the South Atlantic Gyre demanded to drift southwest after passing by the Guinea coast and use the Brazilian Current and next prevailing westerlies to reach the Cape of Good Hope. Monsoon circulation is the main navigational challenge in the Indian Ocean. Good timing is essential for the fastest voyage there. The Brouwer Route resolved the problem of the seasonality of navigation to the Malay Archipelago to some degree. It was shown too that using the sea lanes mentioned above enabled many important discoveries, particularly those of the Brazilian and Western Australian coasts.