Airport Noise as Public Bads: Comparative Remarks on Legal Challenges in Resolving the Neighbor Conflict Between the Airport and Landowners

Incompatible uses of land create neighbor conflicts connected with the notions of civil law immissions (non-trespassory invasions) or common law nuisance. These traditional instruments of resolving the neighbor conflict have their limitations when pollution (such as noise pollution produced by aviation) interferes with the use and enjoyment of land that affects numerous landowners. Lawmakers seek to resolve the neighbor conflict with public intervention in such circumstances. Instead of relying on the market, the state allocates entitlements, indicates how parties must behave, and prescribes the conditions under which lawmakers should conclude an agreement. Interestingly, although the nuisance caused by airport noise has the same characteristics worldwide, no uniform solutions are applied. Existing literature regarding airport externalities concentrates on land values, land use, measuring noise, and the influence of noise on human health. Little has been written on legal solutions that seek to balance opposing sides’ interests and indemnify the aggrieved landowners. This Article aims to provide a comparative overview of how lawmakers seek to balance the interests of airports and homeowners in selected European jurisdictions, namely Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Poland. The analysis is based on Richard Posner’s positive analysis, which allows for a systematic description and explanation of the legal system. Understanding the regulating behavior and its effect on the regulated behavior is important when considering possible amendments and developments of the law. The Article begins with assessing the features of a neighbor conflict, analyzes potential property or liability solutions, and then focuses on the public intervention employed to resolve the conflict. A comparison of the various solutions and their underlying assumptions will allow assessing to what extent they are suitable to achieve the objective of conflict resolution and balancing of interests. This Article identifies inconsistencies in policies as compared to the applied economic and legal instruments to indicate good practices in resolving this particular neighbor conflict and provide a basis for future normative analyses

Electric Dipole Moments from Stark Effect in Supersonic Expansion: n-Propanol, n-Butanol, and n-Butyl Cyanide

The orientation and magnitude of the molecular electric dipole moment are key properties relevant to topics ranging from the nature of intermolecular interactions to the quantitative analysis of complex gas-phase mixtures, such as chemistry in astrophysical environments. Stark effect measurements on rotational spectra have been the method of choice for isolated molecules but have become less common with the practical disappearance of Stark modulation spectrometers. Their role has been taken over by supersonic expansion measurements within a Fabry-Perot resonator cavity, which introduces specific technical problems that need to be overcome. Several of the adopted solutions are described and compared. Presently, we report precise electric dipole moment determinations for the two most stable conformers of the selected molecules of confirmed or potential astrophysical relevance: n-propanol, n-butanol, and n-butyl cyanide. All dipole moment components have been precisely determined at supersonic expansion conditions by employing specially designed Stark electrodes and a computer program for fitting the measured Stark shifts, inclusive of cases with resolved nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure. The experimental values are compared with suitable quantum chemistry computations. It is found that, among the tested levels of computation, vibrationally averaged dipole moments are the closest to the observation and the molecular values are, as in the lighter molecules in the series, largely determined by the hydroxyl or nitrile groups

Fair and effective compensation of loss in restricted use areas surrounding airports in Poland

The intervention on the real estate market through a restricted use area (RUA) surrounding an airport changes the situation of the parties to the conflict and determines the manner of resolving the dispute, which is caused by noise externalities. The state, as a third party to the contract, influences the level of transaction costs on the real estate market. The aim of the publication is to present and compare the concepts of compensating loss relating to residential real estate located within RUAs surrounding airports according to the market value and fair value, as well as to present the methodology and estimates of social costs related to this kind of intervention. The methodological perspective is an effectiveness (market) based justification of the intervention derived from R. Coase’s views, which are subject to critical assessment. Legal and economic deliberations are presented on the basis of studies, conducted in 2016-2018 for 5 largest Polish airports (according to the number of passengers), regarding the assessment of loss compensation in RUAs in the case of residential, single-family houses. The results of empirical research and the case study concern one airport, namely Poznań – Ławica. Theoretical considerations focus on comparing and searching for a legal, economic, and social justification of utilizing two bases of valuation, namely: market value and fair value. The methodology of research has been arranged with the use of R.A. Posner’s approach. The discussion is divided into two parts: an analysis of the regulating element (the legal system) and the changes of the real estate market conditions from the point of view of price and cost levels after the implementation of a RUA

Nie-miejsca pamięci o ludności żydowskiej w Zabrzu

A landscape in the context of memory is a record and a testimony of the previous generations that lived around and therefore influenced the shape of the landscape. The nature of the landscape is twofold: not only does it have a material context, but also it is an output of the perception of the people who relate to it. The landscape consists of places. The places make it possible to define the identity and at the same time can be used as carriers of memory. The memory of the place can have a form of locus or memorial. The memory landscape consists itself of places of memory and non-places of memory. In her exploratory research in three locations in Zabrze, the author tries to discover the attributes of the landscapes of (or “after”) the Jewish community in Zabrze. Are the chosen locations places of memory or non-places of memory? The result of the research suggests that the memory about the Jewish community is very poor, and the investigated places are rather non-memory places in the landscape of the memory

Żydzi w pamięci zbiorowej współczesnych mieszkańców Zabrza i Gliwic

The dissertation refers to the subject of the city and the collective memory concerning the Jewish society. (...) The research is unique due to two historical events that are responsible for current social and demographical structure of Zabrze and Gliwice. Firstly, before 1945 these cities (along with the rest of western part of Upper Silesia) belonged to German state. Secondly, the migration movements after 1945 led to exchange of citizens on the large scale. Most of autochthons left the cities (and the country), and their place was taken by migrants from another parts from Poland, from “the East” and re-emigrants from Western Europe. The main purpose of the research was to define the content of the collective memory of current Zabrze and Gliwice citizens – the memory referring to the Jewish society. Secondly, it focused on remembering and forgetting processes that are responsible for current state of the memory. Thirdly, the research led to identification of sites of memory referring to Jews that are present in the memory of respondents. The collective memory is understood as shared pool of memories consisting of autobiographical and socially acquired elements that underwent selection and transformation processes leading to unification in presentation of the past. The collective memory is dynamic and variable process and its construction consist of three levels: individual memory in the social context, unified collective memory and the official memory. (...

Przestrzeń jako film – architektura w perspektywie badań nad audiowizualnością

Space as a Film. Architecture in the Perspective of Audiovisual StudiesBased on the BA thesis Urban Spaces of Motion Pictures: Modern Architecture in the Perspective of Audiovisual Studies, this paper explores the links between architecture and cinema. My goal is not only to show some theoretical concepts regarding this topic (including ones by Sergei Eisenstein, Walter Benjamin and Jean Baudrillard), but also, and primarily, to study the actual effect which the cinematic perception has on the fi eld of modern architecture. Therefore, I analyse two projects of Rem Koolhaas (Embassy of the Netherlands in Berlin and ZKM in Karlsruhe) in the perspective of audiovisual studies. In my analyses, I examine such notions as “the narrativity of architecture” and “the architectural media screen”, using some methodological tools borrowed from the field of film studies

Space as a film : architecture in the perspective of audiovisual studies

Based on the BA thesis Urban Spaces of Motion Pictures: Modern Architecture in the Perspective of Audiovisual Studies, this paper explores the links between architecture and cinema. My goal is not only to show some theoretical concepts regarding this topic (including ones by Sergei Eisenstein, Walter Benjamin and Jean Baudrillard), but also, and primarily, to study the actual effect which the cinematic perception has on the fi eld of modern architecture. Therefore, I analyse two projects of Rem Koolhaas (Embassy of the Netherlands in Berlin and ZKM in Karlsruhe) in the perspective of audiovisual studies. In my analyses, I examine such notions as "the narrativity of architecture" and "the architectural media screen", using some methodological tools borrowed from the field of film studies