Premises for locating industrial and warehouse sites – Evidence from the backyard of Europe's Green Lungs

Abstract

Warehouse and industrial sites (W&Is) have been extensively developed in the urbanised areas, especially with regional trade gateways. However, recent years have shown that warehouse areas are also being developed in less invested spaces, including regions with little industrial development and focused on preserving natural assets. W&Is consume large shares of land, attract high volumes of truck movement and greatly affect the environment. The aim of this research is to analyse spatial changes in the distribution of W&Is in the north‐eastern part of Poland, called Europe's green lungs, with particular emphasis on changes in land use mix, road accessibility, the size of neighbouring cities and existing W&Is. The share of the W&Is in the built‐up areas of the Warmian‐Masurian region is for the present 7.14%. The largest W&Is are concentrated in the western part of the region. In the period from 2014 to 2022, this area increased by 311.77 ha. Both the government and the public must work together to facilitate effective regulation of warehousing externalities and equitable distribution of associated environmental influences.