Principal Issues of the Responsibility for Damage Caused by Spatial Planning in Poland

Liability for planning damage is gaining importance in Polish and European law due to the effects of the accelerating development of civilisation and the increase in the world’s population. These phenomena result in the everincreasing transformation of land for the needs of transforming societies and the economy. However, natural and spatial resources are limited. Moreover, sometimes it is not possible to change a space once developed, or it becomes very difficult and expensive. The above-mentioned circumstances make it necessary to exercise public authority in planning and spatial development to an increasing extent. In turn, the expansion of the scale of public authority activities in this sphere entails a proliferation of the legislation normalising the principles, boundaries and forms within which it should take place. Finally, an increase in the intensity with which planning and zoning tasks are carried out by public authorities leads to a rise in the frequency of planning damage, that is, the damage created to citizens’ rights to real estate. In this paper, liability is aimed at compensating for these damages.