Lack of Spatial Planning as a Cause of Environmental Injustice in the Context of the Provision of Health Safety to Urban Residents Based on the Example of Warsaw

Abstract

Spatial planning based on environmental justice is a key activity in the process of the provision of equal rights to live in a safe environment and possess the opportunities of using it. Irrational development of land containing historical earth surface contamination constitutes a severe threat to the health safety of residents, and it may consequently lead to slow violence. This paper’s objective is to identify districts of Warsaw where the phenomena of environmental injustice and slow violence in post-industrial areas occur and fill in the indicated knowledge gap in such issues in Poland. The aim is also to answer the question as to whether contamination of the pedosphere and changes in land use in brownfields have a considerable effect on differences related to the health safety of residents of particular districts of Warsaw. The results of analyses of correlations of soil environment risk, health safety of residents, social, and planning conditions show that, in districts with a large share of areas included in the register of historical earth surface contamination, higher-than-average soil environment risk occurs, and it is related to the transformation of brownfields. Wola is a district affected by the phenomenon of slow violence and environmental injustice. According to the research, Wola is an area of accumulation of the highest levels of soil contamination, as well as some of the least favorable indices of health safety of residents and social conditions (in the case of both, Wola takes the second position). It is also a place of dynamic, unplanned transformations of brownfields, resulting in the “discovery” of historical earth surface contamination at the stage of the investment process. As evidenced based on the example of Wola, lack of spatial planning in contaminated areas leads to the exposure of their residents to a higher soil environment risk that may result in reduced health safety and the occurrence of slow violence. Therefore, rational planning of development of land containing historical earth surface contamination, with consideration of the aspects of health safety of residents, is an instrument of provision of environmental justice in terms of access to healthy life and residential environment.

1. Introduction

Spatial planning has vital importance in terms of the distribution of environmental risks and benefits. Rational spatial planning ensures fair access to a safe environment for all citizens, and it can be an instrument of environmental justice. In particular, planning on degraded areas, which may be places of accumulation of substances hazardous to people, plays a key role in providing health safety to current and future inhabitants of such sites. Areas requiring special attention are brownfields, which are defined as ”sites that have been affected by the former uses of the site and surrounding land; are derelict and underused; may have real or perceived contamination problems; are mainly in developed urban areas; and require intervention to bring them back to beneficial use” [1].

According to numerous studies, the residential environment is of high importance in the context of health [2,3,4,5,6]. Persons residing in areas with a high contribution of degraded land containing, or potentially containing, historical earth surface contaminants are more prone to health problems than persons living in regions with a small contribution of such areas [7,8,9,10,11]. In the worst cases, degraded land carries a very high risk of the presence of carcinogenic agents in the neighborhood [12,13,14]. Literature proving that there is a correlation between the presence of degraded land and health issues is rather limited, although there are numerous epidemiological studies linking diseases or mortality with industrial pollution [15]. However, the cited research suggests that the presence of degraded land in a place of residence or its close vicinity may considerably affect the population’s health. The vital issue connected to this is the presence, or potential presence, of soil contamination. The negative effect of toxic substances in soil, seemingly invisible or difficult to identify, particularly over a short time, constitutes slow violence towards residents of contaminated areas [16]. Moreover, the problem is intensified by the specificity of soil contamination, compared to pollutants of the atmosphere or hydrosphere which can often be observed with the naked eye or smelled, whereas pollution of the pedosphere is, in many cases, impossible to diagnose without detailed research. Therefore, detailed identification of hazardous substances present in degraded land and their potential effect on people, as well as the analysis and assessment of the existing, designed, and appropriate forms of management of said land is an essential aspect of providing health safety to current, but also future, residents of such areas [12,17]. Some communities are devoid of the right of access to a clean environment, and they must face environmental problems caused by serious neglect at the stage of the spatial planning process, lack of reinforcement of provisions concerning spatial planning, or complete lack of any plans, permitting spontaneous transformation of post-industrial land by individual investors. Lack of planning in degraded areas constitutes a severe threat to the health safety of residents. By contrast, rational spatial planning can serve as an instrument of environmental justice in land use change, with particular consideration to planning areas for the permanent residence of people, i.e., housing estates, recreational areas, or service areas. Spatial planning in brownfields based on environmental justice is critical in providing equal rights to use and live in a safe environment. In contrast, as reported by Oliviera, Tobias, and Hersperger [18] the ever-increasing challenges of land, water, and biological degradation of terrestrial systems have received relatively marginal attention in the strategic spatial planning literature. Strategic planning, on the other hand, is crucial in the context of building urban resilience to crises [19]. To date, the literature on the topic has focused on resilience in relation to climate change adaptation and natural disasters. At the same time, there is little mention of strategic planning in relation to sites requiring urgent intervention due to existing contaminants—such as sites of former industrial plant activities that have led to the deposition of historical land surface contaminants. The old link between spatial planning and other disciplines has been degraded and, as Greenberg et al. [13] emphasize, the existing historically strong link between fields, such as public health, civil engineering, and land use planning, should be rebuilt. Deacon et al. [20] explicitly state that spatial planning to ensure an adequate level of resilience must be understood in a broad sense and include, among other things, the stabilization of expectations, the rekindling of faith in the possibility of creating better communities, and the introduction of procedural justice into the land use process, which inevitably links to the realization of environmental justice. This article points to the need to integrate knowledge from the field of risk in post-industrial areas, including such a field of knowledge as public health and strategic planning.

The methodology of the study comprised a comparative analysis of 18 Warsaw districts, in terms of pedosphere pollution and associated soil environment risk, health safety of residents, social conditions, and land use change, with a particular focus on former industrial sites. On this basis, a ranking of the districts was created in each of the presented categories. The data were compared in terms of existing correlations. The whole was supplemented with information on historical employment in the industrial sector in individual districts and the percentage of areas with current local plans. The data were used to draw conclusions about the possible occurrence of environmental injustice and slow violence in individual districts of Warsaw.

Warsaw is a place in which dynamic changes are occurring in post-industrial land. There are many examples of a lack of urban planning on contaminated brownfields in the Polish capital city. There is a probability that the inhabitants of districts with industrial histories suffer from slow violence and environmental injustice. This paper aims to identify districts of Warsaw in which the phenomena of slow violence and lack of environmental justice in post-industrial areas occur. The paper also attempts to answer the question as to whether contamination of the pedosphere and change in land use on brownfields has a considerable effect on differences related to the health safety of residents of particular districts of the capital city of Warsaw. The authors also aim to present recommendations on how to deal with the issue of spatial injustice and slow violence in formerly industrial districts.

2. Environmental Justice and Slow Violence in Spatial Planning

Environmental justice is defined as “the right for everyone to enjoy and benefit from a safe and healthy environment, regardless of race, class, gender or ethnicity” [21]. In the context of spatial planning, it can be defined as the right to reside in a safe environment, also in terms of health. Environmental justice will be achieved when “everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work” [22]. According to Davies and Mah, quoted in (qtd. in [16]), environmental injustice occurs everywhere where social inequalities and contamination take place. Data on mortality and morbidity caused by contamination reflect the systemic and structural character of environmental injustice. The most exposed groups are disproportionately more frequently the object of environmental safety threats—a number of research papers demonstrate higher exposure to negative environmental factors in the place of residence of minorities or persons with low income [10,23,24,25,26,27,28]. According to Eckerd and Keller [29], as well as Cambell and Peck [30], it is difficult to determine whether hazardous substances are located in the places of residence of minorities or people with low income, or perhaps that such people choose areas in the vicinity of substances hazardous for residence due to lower prices, whereas the wealthier part of society moves out of the hazardous areas. Inequalities in terms of environmental justice and, therefore, the safety of the environment of residence, work, or recreation—places described by Renefrew [27] as “human-centred [sic] places”—can reflect the issue of slow violence. Slow violence is defined by Nixon [31] as “violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all”. According to Davis [16], slow violence constitutes “a political geography of deferred environmental threats”, where violence is transferred in time to the “global future”. Permanent, hidden environmental injustice with postponed effects is slow violence. An example of slow violence is a situation where residents of a town fall ill or gradually die as a result of the emission of contaminants from industrial plants, sometimes even a decade later [27]. In marginal cases, an entire population, or considerable part of the population, of a town is exposed to toxic contamination. Such areas are defined as “toxic towns” [27].

One of the main elements accompanying slow violence pointed out by Nixon [31] is the obscure character of changes with disastrous results, because the devastating threats require time and do not accumulate in one “spectacular, explosive, cinematic scene”. Davis [16] aptly asks outside of whose sight threats resulting from slow violence occur, because, as the author explains, communities exposed to slow violence are witnesses to gradual harm. The accumulation of slow violence is not a vague threat but often takes a tangible form. Meanwhile, the distribution of the effects of slow violence over time is one of the basic problems in identifying its manifestations. Moreover, despite the substantial progress in research on environmental justice over the last five decades, the determination of cause and effect relations between exposure to contamination and the resulting illnesses remains extremely difficult [27]. The limitations of science in identifying diseases caused by environmental factors result from lack of information on thousands of toxic substances present in the market and the environment, as well as on the synergic effects resulting from the overlap of exposure to various factors [32]. Therefore, the currently growing research trend focuses on analyzing mutual relations between environmental justice and the human organism [27].

According to Ntiwane and Coetzee [33], environmental justice, in the context of planning, is represented by the principles listed below: the equal distribution of activities, land uses, and so on, contextual recognition, the inclusion of all parties taking part in the planning process, prioritization of the least advantaged groups, nature conservation, and safety of residents, as well as the promotion of compatible land uses. Environmental justice, and the concept of slow violence with reference to spatial management, entail the necessity of considering degraded areas that constitute a potential place and source of “gradual deaths, destructions, and layered deposits of uneven social brutalities within the geographic here-and-now” in the process of spatial planning [16]. Ecker and Keller [29] emphasize that the current contamination, future use, and the number or surface area of brownfields are essential factors contributing to prioritizing a given site in terms of potential remediation and future transformations. The authors also stress the importance of observing uneven risk distribution, shifting the context from the location and use of hazardous objects to their clean-up and reconstruction [29]. Been and Gupta, quoted in (qtd. in [29]), classify the objectives of the spatial economy, with respect to the issue of environmental injustice. According to the authors, in a situation in which minorities or disadvantaged groups reside in contaminated areas, the objective of the spatial policy is the implementation of environmental justice in the current process and, when impoverished groups choose degraded areas in which to reside, the goal is equal distribution of environmental risk along the socioeconomic spectrum. Environmental justice in industrially contaminated sites is gaining priority among environment and health themes. The Sixth European International WHO Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health promoted seven major themes described in the Ostrava declaration, including one about brownfields. The topic of contaminated sites was recognized as a priority at the European level from a health safety perspective for the first time [15]. In the Ostrava Declaration, signatory countries agreed to take actions to “prevent and eliminate the adverse environmental health effects, costs and inequalities related to waste management and contaminated sites…” [34]. However, the analysis performed by Pastello and others [15] shows that scientific evidence on environmental injustice in industrially contaminated sites is very limited across Europe, with the exception of the UK. Moreover, recent studies mainly assess environmental inequalities without considering the health dimension [15]. The authors of this paper aim to fill the indicated knowledge gap and provide evidence on environmental injustice in the local context.

Despite the many efforts undertaken to provide equal access to a safe environment, including the residential environment, many negative examples of the lack of environmental justice caused by a lack of rational spatial planning are still prevalent. Manifestations of the lack of environmental justice, with reference to the spatial planning process, result from, among other things:

• Purposeful or ignorance-induced infringements at the planning stage of the process;
• Lack of enforcement of provisions in planning and strategic documents;
• Spontaneous transformations of areas resulting from a lack of planning documents.

Residents of post-industrial districts are particularly exposed to a lack of environmental justice and slow violence, due to contaminants’ actual or probable occurrence in their area. Therefore, rational spatial management, particularly within former industrial districts, is the key task in implementing the concept of environmental justice. The voices of residents should be central in ensuring environmental justice on brownfield sites through spatial planning. Thus, the role of public participation is vital.

A critical stage of the brownfield development process involves strategic planning and the selection of development directions.

3. Study Area—Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. Warsaw has a population of almost 1,800,000, and the average population density is 3469 people per hectare [35]. Warsaw is an important scientific, cultural, political, and economic center. Warsaw is divided into 18 districts, which are its main administrative units—Figure 1. Warsaw is an example of a city where dynamic changes in land use are taking place, especially on brownfield sites that have lost their former industrial functions. According to Grochowski and Bogiel [36], the industrial land area in the city’s 1992 General Plan of Spatial Development of Warsaw was 9914 ha, which decreased to 2172.22 ha in 2014 (14.97% of the city area). Citing the Central Statistical Office [37,38], the extent of industrial land regression reached 156 ha between 2004 and 2014. Due to the rapid changes in the use of post-industrial land in Warsaw, there is serious concern about the health and safety of residents, as industrial areas are a source of potential contamination of the earth’s surface. This article is a first attempt to answer the question as to whether brownfields and the associated contamination of the ground surface pose a threat to the residents of Warsaw. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, to date, such research has not been conducted.

4. Materials and Methods

This paper employs four main groups of data: data on soil contamination in Warsaw, data on the state of health of residents of Warsaw, data concerning unemployment and social assistance in particular districts of Warsaw, and data on changes in land use in the territory of the capital of Poland. The algorithm of the research procedure was divided into the following main stages: soil environment risk analysis, analysis of health safety of residents, analysis of social conditions, analysis of land use, and statistical analyses. The following section describes in detail the data used and the studies conducted.

4.1. Soil Environment Risk Analysis

Data on soil contamination were obtained from the National Geological Institute. They were the results of analyses regarding the content of inorganic substances and organic compounds in the surface layer of the soil from a depth of 0–30 cm, performed in the period 2013–2015, in the context of the preparation of the Geochemical Atlas of Warsaw. The studied samples were collected from 2060 measurement points in a regular 500 × 500 m grid (4 samples/km²) in the case of inorganic compounds, and from 515 measurement points in a regular 1 × 1 km grid (1 sample/km²) in the case of organic compounds [39].

The research procedure started with the analysis of the content of inorganic substances and organic compounds in the soils of Warsaw. The arithmetic average of the soil content of each substance was calculated per district; then, the obtained district averages were compared with the acceptable contents of substances causing risk, determined for a depth of 0–0.25 m below ground level for Group I land in the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment [40], regarding the manner of assessment of contamination of the earth’s surface. Group I land includes land specified in

Table 1. Types of area included in Group I land, specified in the Regulation of the Minister of Environment of 1 September 2016, regarding the manner of conducting an assessment of contamination of the earth’s surface (source: [41]).

Group I land designated on the basis of land use in a given area, determined by the land and building register, with consideration of designations specified in provisions issued on the basis of art. 26 par. 2 of the Surveying and cartographic law (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 520, with further amendments 2).	Group I land designated on the basis of land use in a given area determined by land purpose specified in the local spatial management plan, with consideration of designations specified in provisions issued on the basis of art. 16 par. 2 of the Spatial Planning Act (Journal of Laws of 2016, item 778, 904, 961, and 1250). (Group designated when a local spatial management plan is passed for the area)
Residential areas, marked with the symbol B	Single-family housing areas, marked with the symbol MN
Other built-up land, marked with the symbol Bi	multi-family housing areas, marked with the symbol MW
Urbanized land, undeveloped or under development, marked with the symbol Bp	Service areas, marked with the symbol U
Built-up agricultural land, marked with the symbol Br	Sports and recreation areas, marked with the symbol US
− Recreational areas, marked with the symbol Bz, with exclusion of land specified in point 3e, including: − Areas of holiday resorts, playgrounds, beaches, parks, squares, lawns (outside road belts), − Sports areas, such as stadiums, sports fields, ski jumping hills, bobsled tracks, shooting ranges, bathing areas, golf courses, − Land with entertainment function, such as funfairs and amusement parks, − Zoological and botanical gardens;	Areas of distribution of commercial facilities with a commercial space of more than 2000 m2, marked with the symbol UC
	Farmstead areas in agricultural, breeding, and horticultural farms, marked with the symbol RM
	Areas of production facilities in agricultural, breeding, and horticultural farms, as well as forestry and fishery farms, marked with RU
	Maintained green areas, such as parks, gardens, greenery accompanying buildings, lawns, arboreta, alpine gardens, marked with the symbol ZP
	Cemeteries, marked with the symbol ZC

. The selection of the groups of land was determined by the criterion of occurrence of land for permanent residence of people, i.e., residential, recreational, and service areas—only the Group I land includes all the types of sites mentioned above [40].

Due to the lack of an equivalent to the content of phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the binding document, acceptable contents in soil specified in the non-binding Regulation of the Minister of the Environment [41] regarding soil quality standards and earth quality standards were adopted. Elements and compounds for which no acceptable values in the soil were determined on the basis of a relevant regulation were not considered in this publication, and they were omitted at this stage of the research procedure. The algorithm of soil environment risk-assessment covered an average district value of 25 organic compounds, exceeding acceptable levels in the soil for land intended for permanent residence of people. None of the average values of any of the analyzed elements exceeded the norms, therefore, they were not included in the algorithm. For substances where the district average exceeded the acceptable norms, the related potential threat was calculated using the following formula:

Substance score_n = carcinogenicity index_n + toxicity index_n

(1)

The carcinogenicity index was determined on the basis of data contained in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database, developed on the basis of the Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment. Five hierarchical categories of carcinogen risk assessment were ascribed to numerical data, according to the scale presented in

Table 2. Carcinogenicity index determined on the basis of a group of factors (source: [42]).

Group of Factors	Information on Carcinogenicity	Carcinogenicity Index
A	Factor with confirmed carcinogenic effect, with sufficient existing evidence of carcinogenic effect on people.	1000
B	Factors with probable carcinogenic effect on people. These include: B1—factors with limited available data on carcinogenicity in people; and B2—factors with existing sufficient evidence of carcinogenic effect on animals, but with insufficient evidence or lack of evidence in the case of effect on people.	100
C	Factors potentially carcinogenic in people, with limited evidence of carcinogenicity in animals, and insufficient data regarding carcinogenicity in people.	10
D	Factors not classified as carcinogenic for people, with insufficient existing evidence of carcinogenicity in people, or lack of such evidence.	1
E	Factors with evidenced lack of carcinogenicity in people.	0

, below. In the case of total aromatic hydrocarbons, total mineral oils, and contents of γ-HCH, no data regarding carcinogenicity were found.

The toxicity index corresponds to the values of toxicity of the soil exposure component included in the Superfund Chemical Data Matrix (SCDM). Values from 0 to 10,000 were adopted [43]. For fluoranthene, total aromatic hydrocarbons, and total mineral oils, no toxicity index was determined in SCDM. On the basis of data on carcinogenicity and toxicity, the soil environment risk was determined for the district based on the following formula:

Soil environment risk_d = ∑_j (substance score_n × multiple of exceeding substance_n)_j,

(2)

where:

multiple of exceeding substance is the multiple by which the acceptable norm is exceeded by the district average for a given contaminant n;

d—district;

n—a substance the district average of which exceeds the acceptable norms;

j—number of substances exceeding the acceptable norms in the district.

4.2. Analysis of the Health Safety of Residents

Indices regarding the state of health of residents of Warsaw were determined on the basis of data from the report ‘State of the health of residents of the capital city of Warsaw in the period 2012–2014′. The following data were selected for further analysis:

• Average life expectancy for men;
• Average life expectancy for women;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all reasons;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all cardiovascular diseases;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all cancers;
• Standardized indices of deaths due to cancers of the trachea, bronchi, and lungs;
• Standardized indices of deaths due to cancers of the large intestine and colorectal and rectal cancers;
• Standardized indices of deaths of women due to breast cancer;
• Standardized indices of deaths of men due to prostate cancer;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all respiratory diseases;
• Standardized indices of deaths due to pneumonia;
• Standardized indices of deaths due to chronic diseases of lower airways;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all gastrointestinal diseases;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all causes in men aged below 65 per 100 thousand residents;
• Standardized index of deaths due to all causes in women aged below 65 per 100 thousand residents;
• Infant deaths per 1000 births. All available indices of deaths due to particular diseases were selected, as well as life expectancy and infant mortality, in order to capture the average picture of health conditions in each district.

All of the aforementioned data were obtained for the period 2012–2014. Standardized indices of deaths were determined on the basis of the ratio of the actual number of deaths in a given district to the number of deaths that would be observed if, in particular five-year age groups, the mortality level in the district were the same as in the entire Warsaw population [44]. To reduce the random variability of the index of deaths, particularly in districts with a smaller population, the obtained data were aggregated for a three-year period 2012–2014 [44]. Differences in standardized death indices in particular districts suggest different levels of threat to the life of their residents, with reference to risk related to the selected group of diseases compared to the entire population of Warsaw [44].

A scoring system was developed for each of the aforementioned indices, in which a value of 1 is ascribed to the district with the most unfavorable health index—e.g., shortest life expectancy for men in the years 2012–2014—and a value of 18 is ascribed to the district with the most favorable index—analogously the longest life expectancy for men in the years 2012–2014. The values are from 1 to 18 as a result of the current number of districts in Warsaw. A total score corresponding to particular indices permitted the preparation of a list of districts in which the highest score was given to districts in which health indices were most favorable and, conversely, the lowest score was given to districts in which the conditions were the most unfavorable.

4.3. Analysis of Social Conditions

Data concerning unemployment, level of education of the unemployed, and level of use of social assistance in particular districts of Warsaw in the years 2012–2014 were obtained from the studies of the Central Statistical Office—”Panorama of Warsaw Districts”—in 2012, 2013, and 2014 [45,46,47]. Unemployment was estimated on the basis of the percent ratio of unemployed and the population of a given district. In the case of the index of the level of education of the unemployed, the percent ratio of the unemployed with secondary, elementary, and incomplete elementary education to the total number of the unemployed in particular districts was calculated. The level of use of social assistance in a given district was determined as the percent ratio of persons using social assistance to the total number of residents in the district. Each of the aforementioned indices was calculated for the years 2012, 2013, and 2014. Like in the analysis of health safety, each of the social indices was ascribed a value from 1 to 18, depending on the place in the district ranking, where the district with the least favorable index scored 1 point, and that with the most favorable index scored 18. The score for each index and each year was summed to obtain the final assessment of social conditions.

4.4. Analysis of Land Use

The analysis of land use consisted of the assessment of changes in the surface area of industrial land in particular districts and the analysis of the register of historical contaminants of the earth’s surface for the territory of Warsaw. A change in land use was assessed on the basis of statistical data included in the statistical yearbooks of Warsaw from 2006 and 2015, respectively. Data on changes in the surface area of industrial land in 2004 and 2014 were compared. Moreover, the analysis covered the register of historical contaminants of the earth’s surface (rejestr historycznych zanieczyszczeń powierzchni ziemi-RHZPZ) for the territory of Warsaw in order to determine the scale of transformations of contaminated land in the capital. A change in industrial land and analysis of land in RHZPZ was assessed in absolute units and as a percent share of the total area of land in a given district.

4.5. Statistical Research

The objective of statistical research was to find correlations between the indices from the stages described above. The analysis of relationships between the quantitative variables—total soil environment risk of the district, all indices of the state of health of residents, general assessment of the health safety of residents, social conditions and change in the surface area of industrial land in 2004 and 2014, as well as the surface area of land registered in the RHZPZ by district—was performed with the non-parametric correlation coefficient Spearman’s rho. The statistical analyses were performed using the statistical package R 4.0.2.

5. Results and Discussion

5.1. Ranking of Districts

Pooled results of the soil environment risk assessment, residents’ health safety, social conditions, and land use analysis of districts are presented in

Table 3. Selected indices by district ^a the higher the score, the higher the risk; ^b the higher the score, the greater the health safety; ^c the higher the score, the better the social conditions.

District	Soil Environment Risk	Health Safety	Social Conditions	Change of Industrial Land in the Period 2004–2014		Areas in RHZPZ (State as at 11 December 2020)
	Score a	Score b	Score c	Area [ha]	% of District Area	Number of Areas	Area [ha]	% of District Area
Bemowo	438,779	221	139	−41	−1.64	3	1.37	0.05
Białołęka	183,946	201	142	26	0.36	11	9.81	0.13
Bielany	113,535	117	56	−49	−1.52	3	0.72	0.02
Mokotów	125,146	143	94	−84	−2.37	26	20.12	0.57
Ochota	115,947	100	92	−4	−0.41	8	1.53	0.16
Praga Połunie	534,146	98	58	−39	−1.74	14	11.50	0.51
Praga Północ	204,225	33	9	−17	−1.49	10	4.64	0.41
Rembertów	84,061	165	43	149	7.72	1	4.64	0.24
Śródmieście	153,047	87	53	−7	−0.45	10	2.20	0.14
Targówek	157,449	79	61	15	0.62	5	1.64	0.07
Ursus	739,922	142	107	−12	−1.28	11	25.86	2.76
Ursynów	136,850	232	149	0	0.00	7	1.57	0.04
Wawer	143,019	165	77	3	0.04	2	1.28	0.02
Wesoła	54,031	203	125	6	0.26	0	0.00	0.00
Wilanów	233,150	257	162	27	0.74	1	0.70	0.02
Włochy	209,302	201	68	−25	−0.87	8	5.42	0.19
Wola	1,106,667	72	24	−64	−3.32	54	28.45	1.48
Żoliborz	179,448	156	80	−40	−4.72	5	13.85	1.63

and in Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8 and Figure 9, below.

The soil environment risk analysis of districts pointed to the most significant risk for the districts Wola, Ursus, and Praga Południe, with total scores of 1,106,667, 136,850, and 534,146, respectively (Figure 2). The district with the lowest soil environment risk was Wesoła, with a result of 54,031. In the Wola district, 18 out of 25 analyzed compounds showed exceedance of the acceptable values; the districts Praga Północ, Włochy, and Żoliborz showed 16 cases, with the lowest number of cases being found in the Wesoła district—6. The presented results may carry a high estimation error for several reasons: the small number of measurement points, the high variability in the number of analyzed samples among the districts, the high degree of averaging of results due to the application of arithmetic average for district surface area, and incorrectly adopted point scales. The soil contamination values in districts constitute averaged data, dependent on specific values obtained at sampling points, the number of which, in particular districts, was highly variable. Although the sampling points were distributed in regular grids (4 samples/km² for inorganic substances, and 1 sample/km² for organic compounds), their number in particular districts varied from 30 to 318 for inorganic substances, and from 8 to 77 for organic compounds. The coefficient of distribution of measurement points in a district for inorganic substances ranged from 0.24 to 0.28, with a standard deviation value of 0.01. The coefficient of distribution of measurement points in a district for organic compounds ranged from 0.92 to 1.06, with a standard deviation value of 0.04. The obtained values of the coefficient of distribution of measurement points should be considered to be characterized by low variability. Despite limitations related to the possibility of the over- or underestimation of the result, due to the presence of at least one considerably deviating data point, the application of the arithmetic average was justified. The primary assumption was to estimate the average soil environment risk of the district, as even point contamination with toxic substances is of importance in such cases. The point scale adopted for the soil environment risk assessment and developed for this publication is based on the knowledge and experience of the renowned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has been studying brownfields for many years. Unfortunately, due to the lack of data with higher accuracy, it was impossible to apply the already-tested calculation algorithms presented by Litt et al. [10], which are based on EPA data.

In terms of the health safety of residents, the least favorable conditions were determined for the districts Praga Północ, Wola, and Targówek, with total scores of 33, 71, and 79, respectively, and the most favorable conditions for Wilanów, with a total score of 257 (Figure 3). Praga Północ particularly stands out, where 12 out of 16 of the analyzed indices received the worst results in that district.

The least favorable social conditions occurred in the districts Praga Północ, Wola, and Rembertów, scoring 9, 24, and 43, respectively (Figure 4). Each of the analyzed indices for the assessment of social conditions, i.e., unemployment, share of the unemployed with the lowest level of education, and level of use of social welfare, showed the Praga Północ district to possess the most unfavorable values. Therefore, the total score for the district achieved the lowest possible result, namely 9, with nine analyzed indices. The Wilanów district achieved the most favorable outcome in the analysis of social conditions, totaling 162 out of a total possible score of 162.

According to the analysis of the change in land use over the decade 2004–2014, the greatest changes in terms of the surface area of industrial objects were observed in the Rembertów district, where the area of industrial land increased by 149 ha, accounting for 7.72% of the district area. The greatest losses of industrial land were recorded in Żoliborz, 4.72%, Wola, 3.32%, and Mokotów, 2.37% (Figure 5), whereas, in terms of absolute values, the greatest losses occurred in Mokotów, 84 ha, Wola, 64 ha, and Bielany, 49 ha (Figure 6). The recorded changes did not exceed 2% of the district area in the remaining districts, except for Ursynów, where the share of brownfields remained unchanged. The analysis of land included in RHZPZ permitted the assessment of the dynamics of changes in contaminated areas, due to historical industrial activity, among other things. The highest numbers of areas included in the register can be found in the districts Wola, Mokotów, and Praga Południe, at 54, 26, and 11, respectively (Figure 7). The greatest percent contribution of land included in the register in the district area was observed in Ursus, Żoliborz, and Wola, at 2.76%, 1.63%, and 1.48%, respectively (Figure 8). The largest area was occupied by such land in Wola, 28.45 ha, Ursus, 25.86 ha, and Mokotów 20.12 ha (Figure 9). However, data from RHZPZ are exclusively of a reference character and do not reflect the actual scale of contaminated land in particular districts. As shown by the inspection of the Supreme Audit Office [48] for the period 2014–2018, three out of eighteen districts declared the absence of historical earth surface contamination in their area and, in at least two districts, this information was false. Three districts subject to the inspection performed the identification in violation of related provisions. Their records were also conducted in an undiligent manner, failing to include, among other things, land with the occurrence, or likely occurrence, of historical earth surface contamination [48]. The scale of infringements in the preparation of RHZPZ in Warsaw’s districts is blatant and does not allow for a detailed analysis of the hazard. However, the register has been supplemented since the inspection, and it is currently more accurate. Many of the records of contamination still concern areas where remediation has been completed, and data on land requiring such measures are missing. Nonetheless, information included in said register permits a general assessment of the threat, resulting from historical contamination in the territory of Warsaw. Considering the fact that 179 areas containing, or potentially containing, historical earth surface contamination were identified in the city, with a total surface area exceeding 135 ha, and that this value is underestimated, the related risk should be assumed to be high.

Coefficients of correlation of soil environment risk with health indices, social conditions, changes in the surface area of industrial land, area of land included in RHZPZ, and the corresponding test statistic p values are presented in

Table 4. Results of the correlation analyses between soil environment risk and selected variables.

Soil Environment Risk and Selected Variables	rho	p
health_01	−0.17	0.496
health_02	−0.08	0.766
health_03	0.11	0.663
health_04	0.08	0.742
health_05	−0.1	0.705
health_06	0.05	0.836
health_07	−0.26	0.295
health_08	−0.18	0.484
health_09	0.08	0.76
health_10	0.29	0.25
health_11	0.24	0.332
health_12	0.16	0.515
health_13	0.18	0.463
health_14	−0.03	0.9
health_15	−0.01	0.977
health_16	0.13	0.618
Health safety	−0.15	0.539
Social conditions	−0.01	0.977
Change of industrial land in the period 2004–2014	−0.29	0.236
Percentage share of surface area of land registered in RHZPZ	0.44	0.067
Surface area of land registered in the RHZPZ	0.49	0.037

. The result of the analysis of the correlation between change in the surface area of industrial land, the assessment of health safety of residents, and the surface area of land included in RHZPZ is presented in

Table 5. Results of the correlation analyses between change in industrial land in the period 2004–2014 and selected variables.

Change in Industrial Land in the Period 2004–2014 and Selected Variables	rho	p
Health safety	0.35	0.149
Surface area of land registered in the RHZPZ	−0.43	0.078

. The results were considered statistically significant when the p value of the test statistic was lower than, or equal to, 5%.

The majority of tested correlations proved to not be statistically significant. Correlations with considerable significance were related to the soil environment risk of districts and indices for land included in RHZPZ. Both the percent share of land from the register in the district area, and the total surface area of the aforementioned land by the district, show a moderate positive correlation with soil environment risk of the district, reaching rho coefficients of 0.44 and 0.49, respectively, whereas, for the first correlation, the significance level was slightly above the conventional 5%. Moreover, the change in the surface area of industrial land in the years 2004–2014 in particular districts, and the total surface area of land from RHZPZ, are moderately negatively correlated, with a significance level slightly above the conventional 5%. The results show that, in districts with a high share of land included in RHZPZ, higher-than-average soil environment risk occurs, and that it is related to the transformation of industrial land. Analysis shows that land use change in post-industrial land is related to greater soil environment risk. This is an alarming conclusion in the case of Warsaw, because a large part of the former industrial land was transformed into residential use [36]. Lack of statistical correlations between the remaining indices, including the index of the health safety of residents and soil environment risk, may be a result of the consideration of only one environmental factor, namely soil contamination, and the neglect of other factors, such as those related to contamination of waters, atmosphere, or quality of the residential environment, among others. Moreover, as pointed out by Ringuist [49], the occurrence of the risk factor alone in a place of residence does not have to entail the highest exposure to a given factor. It may also be the cause of the lack of correlation.

In the detailed analysis of particular districts, the results obtained for the Wola district deserve special attention. It is the area with the greatest soil environment risk, with the largest surface area of land from RHZPZ, and which possesses the second-least favorable indices of health safety and social conditions;

Table 6. Ranking of districts.

The Greatest Soil Environment Risk	The Worst Health Safety	The Worst Social Conditions	The Biggest Decrease of Industrial Land in the Period 2004–2014		The Biggest Share of Areas in RHZPZ (State as of 11 December 2020)
			Area [ha]	% of District Area	Number of Areas	Area [ha]	% of District Area
Wola	Praga Północ	Praga Północ	Mokotów	Żoliborz	Wola	Wola	Ursus
Ursus	Wola	Wola	Wola	Wola	Mokotów	Ursus	Żoliborz
Praga Południe	Targówek	Rembertów	Bielany	Mokotów	Praga Południe	Mokotów	Wola

. The present situation in the Wola district is primarily a result of its industrial past. Employment in the industrial sector in Wola was the highest in Warsaw between 1955–1995, reaching a maximum value of 56,839 employed persons in 1975 [50]. However, the district’s historical data analysis poses several difficulties, because the borders of particular districts have been subject to numerous changes, in 1951, 1957, 1977, 1992, and 2002, among others. Therefore, the index of industrial employees per 1 km² is a better reference. According to Misztal [50], “among the districts, the area of Wola was the most saturated with industry in the years 1955–1985. Until 1989, it concentrated more than 2000 employees of industry per 1 km²”. The results show that Wola is an example of a district affected by the phenomenon of environmental injustice, and its residents may be exposed to slow violence. Many historical contaminants deposited in the area of today’s Wola district originated from industrial activity and, according to research by Stiber et al. [51], a correlation exists between historical industrial use and contamination of the environment.

5.2. Lack of Rational Spatial Planning in Warsaw’s Brownfields

Another factor related to the negative effect of historical earth surface contamination causing exposure of inhabitants is the lack of rational spatial planning in contaminated areas.

The spatial planning system in Poland, as defined in the Spatial Planning Act [52], is hierarchical, taking into account three levels: national, regional, and local. Documents of lower levels should be created based on provisions of higher-level documents. Among the planning documents of particular importance is the local spatial development plan (miejscowy plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego—MPZP), which is the only legal act in the spatial planning system in Poland. This means that there is a need to comply with the provisions of the local plan. In the case of other documents, there is no such necessity. The local plan is one of the primary instruments for introducing and maintaining spatial order in Poland, including order on post-industrial sites. According to the Local Plan Coverage Ranking, 31.4 % of the country’s area was covered by valid spatial development plans in 2020 [53]. Local plans are essential in cities and their outskirts where dynamic land use structure changes occur. In the case of voivodship cities in Poland, the coverage of local plans varies from 68% in Kraków to less than 16 % in Rzeszów [53]. In Warsaw, Poland’s largest city, the proportion of the area covered by binding local plans is 39.57% [53]. Bartoszczuk [54] points out that, at the end of 2010, the cover of particular districts of Warsaw with local plans was relatively low—in 14 out of 18 districts, it did not exceed 40% of their area. According to Bartoszczuk [54], approximately 37% of the area of the Wola district was covered by local development plans in 2010 and, according to data disclosed by the Warsaw City Council [55], the current situation remains unchanged. In the case of a post-industrial district, this situation can potentially negatively impact the health safety of residents. The local development plan constitutes the basic and exclusive planning document. A land devoid of such a plan can be subject to any transformations at investors’ discretion.

Due to their attractive location and lower prices, former industrial areas are an area of intense interest for investors. A prime example is the Wola district, which is adjacent to the downtown center. Investment pressure in this area is high, and the availability of free land is limited. All land that is not included in the local plan can be freely developed, which creates favorable conditions for investment. By law, the developer is not obliged to carry out a land survey, even if the development is in an area of former industrial plants and the planning designation is residential development. Instead, the developer is obliged to carry out remediation if ground contamination is confirmed. In this respect, the importance of historical land contamination registers is growing because, if they contain accurate information, many risks could be avoided. Unfortunately, the data available in the register for the Warsaw area are of poor quality and do not constitute a sufficient tool to protect the population’s health safety. In the area of the Wola district, as a result of free transformations, numerous examples of the “discovery” of historical earth surface contamination occur at the stage of construction of new residential estates, among others in Obozowa 20 Str. or Skierniewicka 21 Str. [56]. The examples of the “discovery” of historical earth surface contamination constitute evidence of the lack of rational planning and the failure to provide equal opportunities in terms of distance to a safe residential environment for residents of Wola. In the process of land use change, areas containing historical earth surface contamination are transformed into land for the permanent residences of people, including residential estates—as in the two above-mentioned examples. As a result of repeated serious anomalies during the planning process, Wola residents initiated a bottom–up initiative to identify areas potentially contaminated due to historical industrial activity [57]. Residents developed a map of post-industrial areas with potential land contamination on their accounts. The study is not a professionally prepared document, but it evidences the concerns of residents for their ecological safety. Residents of Wola were not allowed to participate in a fair planning process in terms of environmental justice. Aspects of environmental justice, such as equal distribution of activities, land use, nature conservation, and safety of residents, as well as promotion of compatible land uses, were omitted in Wola. In conclusion, the lack of local plans in post-industrial areas and unreliable data in the registers of historical land surface pollution are the main reasons influencing the lack of ensuring environmental justice in post-industrial areas, an example of which is the Wola district.

6. Recommendations

A more substantial environmental risk factor occurring in districts affected by historical earth surface contamination is undoubtedly the challenge of developing such areas. Therefore, as emphasized by Bambra et al. [7], remediation and redevelopment of brownfields should be treated as a health policy issue, and care should be taken to develop mechanisms providing the basis for such a process. Moreover, citing Litt et al. [10], “rebuilding brownfields neighbourhoods [sic] through an integrative public health and planning approach will be essential for improving the odds for sustainable redevelopment and securing long-term gains in public health”. Spatial planning based on data regarding the state of health of residents, preferably at the local scale, e.g., at the scale of a residential estate, will permit the reduction of threats to public health and the development of a strategy adjusted to the unique needs of residents of the transformed areas [17]. The described process will then contribute to solving the problem of slow violence and provide environmental justice to residents of areas affected by historical earth surface contamination.

Several interventions can be undertaken to ensure environmental justice in post-industrial districts, from research to proper planning and development of brownfield sites. The research community can act in several dimensions. First, researchers can provide reliable scientific data demonstrating the existence of environmental injustice and slow violence, as is attempted in this publication. In addition, the scientific community can play an essential role in disseminating research on, and knowledge of, the impact of the living environment and housing on health. The cited example of a grassroots initiative of the residents of the Wola district illustrates the great interest in the topic of health safety.

The future of brownfield sites is determined by how they are redeveloped. Depending on the conditions and planning process stages, it may end in great success or failure and, consequently, put the health, or even the lives, of residents at risk. An infamous example is the district of Wola, where changes were carried out in a chaotic way, without taking into account the health safety of residents. The process of redeveloping a brownfield site involves several steps, including a detailed analysis of the environment of the site, the choice of possible directions for development, the involvement of residents in the decision-making process, remediation if necessary, and the restoration of old or new functions for the brownfield site. An environmental audit on brownfield sites is the initial step. Detailed identification of historical contamination of the earth’s surface enables the rational management of brownfield sites. To properly carry out the process of selecting a brownfield site direction, available decision support systems (DSS) will be helpful. A detailed review of decision models used in the selection process for brownfield redevelopment can be found in a comprehensive meta-analysis by Hammond et al. [58]. The voices of residents, including the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and minorities, should be included in the decision-making process. The choice of development direction should be made on the basis of best practices. The available literature on brownfield development describes many good practices. Lin et al. [59] summarize the current state of knowledge on brownfields and redevelopment, and identify the most influential publications in this area. In addition, there are many planning interventions to address environmental injustice on brownfield sites. Among the most important are the provision of access to recreational areas and the use of nature-based solutions [29,60,61]. Other interventions emphasize climate change adaptation measures [62], industrial site management [63], or circular urban transitions [64]. There are plenty of available tools and strategies. The cited actions exemplify solutions to environmental injustice and slow violence on brownfield sites. It is important to emphasize that these are not quick or simple actions. Each of the cited solutions requires time and consistency. Nevertheless, in the face of the goal of the health safety of the population, the effect is worth the effort.

In the absence of planning on the territory of Warsaw, the adoption of urban plans for undeveloped areas is by far the best solution. Introducing priority in the adoption of plans for brownfield sites would make it possible to speed up the planning procedure in these areas, which will have a significant impact on the health security of future residents.

7. Conclusions

This paper points to the considerable differences in particular districts of the city of Warsaw in the context of soil environment risk, the health safety of residents, social conditions, change in industrial land, and areas included in RHZPZ. The obtained results empirically reflect the problem of slow violence and environmental injustice evident in Wola—a district with an industrial past. The analyses showed that Wola—an area affected by the most serious soil contamination—is a place in which some of the least favorable indices regarding the health safety of residents and their social conditions occur (in both indices, Wola takes the second position). Wola is also a place in which industrial land transformations are dynamic, chaotic, and at variance with rational planning. The example of Wola illustrates the need for a coordinated approach to the spatial planning of land containing historical earth surface contamination in the scope of public health.

The paper also provides evidence that the higher-than-average soil environment risk is related to the transformation of brownfields and is positively correlated with the surface area of land included in the RHZPZ. This may mean that residents of neighborhoods with a high proportion of brownfield sites may be exposed to soil contaminants in health-hazardous concentrations above acceptable standards much more often than others. No statistically significant correlation was found between soil environment risk estimated on the basis of exceedance of acceptable values of inorganic substances and organic compounds in the soil and standardized indices of deaths due to various causes, particularly chronic diseases, life expectancy, and general assessment of the health safety of residents, as well as the assessment of social conditions. This suggests that environmental factors related to contamination of the pedosphere have no significant effect on the health safety of residents of Warsaw from a statistical point of view. This does not mean, however, that no such effect exists at a larger scale.

This paper focuses on the district approach and reveals the need for research at a local scale. The results show that district generalization, although necessary at the preliminary stage of research, does not allow for capturing certain dependencies with local importance, such as, e.g., the higher morbidity of residents of particular residential estates. The currently available data do not permit such detailed analyses. Nonetheless, this paper emphasizes the need for further research in the context of environmental injustice and the exposure of residents of Warsaw to slow violence, both at the scale of districts and smaller units. Moreover, the paper’s authors point out the need for a complex analysis of contamination of many components of the natural and residential environment, not only the pedosphere, to assess the heath safety of residents of Warsaw. Therefore, it is necessary to undertake further research with regard to environmental justice and slow violence in Warsaw, considering other components of the natural and residential environment.

As evidenced by the authors of this publication, lack of spatial planning in areas of occurrence of historical earth surface contamination leads to the exposure of their residents to higher-than-average environmental risks, potentially reducing health safety and causing the occurrence of slow violence. Therefore, rational planning of the development of land containing historical earth surface contamination, in consideration of the aspect of health safety, constitutes an instrument by which environmental justice can be provided in terms of access to healthy life and residential environment. To solve the problem of environmental injustice and slow violence, it is necessary to study vulnerable sites and groups in detail, disseminate research results, and plan the development of brownfields on the basis of the best possible solutions, such as decision support systems for brownfields or nature-based solutions. Changes in the approach to planning in brownfield areas and a priority pathway for the development of planning documents for such areas could be an important element in ensuring the health security of inhabitants.

Strategic planning that includes risk-management issues in problem areas, such as brownfields, is a necessary task in ensuring its inhabitants’ safety and building cities’ resilience. As shown in the article, the lack of planning on brownfield sites and the weakening of the links between fields such as urban planning and public health can cause environmental injustice and slow violence. Strategic planning integrated with risk management knowledge allows for building urban resilience, which should be understood broadly, not only as the ability to cope in times of natural disasters, but also in crises related to, e.g., the occurrence of historical surface pollution.