Shaping the Rural Landscape: Institutions of Land Use Change in Non-Urbanized Areas in Poland

Although extensive research has examined land use dynamics in urban settings, non-urbanized areas remain understudied, particularly in post-socialist contexts. This study investigates the political, economic, and institutional drivers of land use changes in the non-urbanized areas of Poland through the Political Market Framework. It focuses on how local government structures and interest group interactions shape land development decisions. The two-stage Heckman model was used to address sample selection bias. The results reveal three key findings: (1) municipal council composition significantly influences land use outcomes, with farmers and highly educated councilors generally opposing intensive development, while partisan councilors favor it; (2) interest groups, particularly production companies and the tourism sector, drive both the initiation and scale of land use changes; and (3) institutional factors, including agricultural land quality and farm size, moderate these relationships. This study advances our understanding of rural land use governance by demonstrating how political–economic forces interact with local institutional contexts to shape spatial development patterns. These findings have important implications for land use policy in transitional economies and contribute to broader discussions on rural governance.