Study on transformations in land use in the functional context of extensive city ventilation routes using the example of Bródnowski Ventilation Corridor in Warsaw, Poland

Ventilation corridors are critical for regulating the appropriate flow of urban air streams. Details on how they function, especially in a specific location, can be found in local eco-physiographic studies. Such analyses are designed during conceptual work on the conditions and directions of the development of a studied area. Such documentation includes advanced research on the impact of natural conditions on the area's growth and evolution. In Warsaw, Poland, such a study makes it possible to define various natural areas that are essential for the appropriate functioning of the city and increase its inhabitants’ well-being. This provides an initial basis for further analysis and motivates researchers to investigate the distribution of natural sites. It inspired the authors to assess the land-use structure in the context of the location of ventilation corridors. Thus, land use and land cover (LULC) modifications were examined in the context of their tendency to aid in the ventilation of the city. The object of the study is the Bródnowski Ventilation Corridor (BVC) – one of several designated for Warsaw in the spatial planning concepts of the 1980s and 1990s. In the research encompassing the years 1982–2020, the authors analysed the land use and roughness determined by the development characteristics and vegetation cover. References were made to current and archival planning documents, aerial photographs, satellite images, and the Topographic Objects Database BDOT10k. The research was prompted by the municipality's intention to urbanize the study area, which will undoubtedly eliminate the ventilation function of the southern part of the corridor and significantly reduce its remaining territory. Analysis of changes in the land cover of the south part of the corridor confirms its marginal importance for the city's ventilation. In this area, ongoing modifications proceed slowly, and urbanization – mainly low-rise and less intensive buildings – is limited. This zone has largely retained and is likely to maintain its favourable features from the point of view of ventilation and air regeneration.