Between nostalgia and a new investment model

Tuesday’s edition of *Rzeczpospolita* reports that “property ownership is moving into the third dimension” (link: https://lnkd.in/d4AH2k-5). I first heard of so-called “layered ownership” in Poland a good 20 years ago, when – just as today – the possibilities for utilising Polish State Railways (PKP) land in the centre of Warsaw were being considered, for example, above the tracks near Aleje Jerozolimskie.  

The concept of layered ownership is familiar to other legal systems, so it is not a leap into the unknown. The process of adapting it to the Polish legal reality – which has been going on for decades – is certainly a challenge. However, it is not the mere fact of the work being resumed – and, if press reports are to be believed, it is already nearing completion – that has caught my interest in this article.

What caught my attention – and which, over 20 years ago, was not even considered as a potential consequence of the introduction of the new ‘3D’ ownership regulations – was the idea of ‘covering over’ Łazienkowska Route and moving it underground. A few years ago, I read a book by Zygmunt Miłoszewski entitled *Jak zawsze* (*As Always*). It is not a crime novel, unlike most of this author’s books. The plot summary reads as follows: ‘An ironic romantic comedy about a couple who are given the chance to relive their love. And about a nation that is given the chance to relive its history. And about what came of it.’

In the book, the author describes Warsaw in an alternative reality, in which Trasa Łazienkowska is closed off and a beautiful promenade stretches out above it. Many times I’ve asked myself the rather naive question: ‘Why did they have to build this road in such a way that it causes so much noise in the city centre?’ It was probably a matter of some sort of socialist realism symbolism, because after all, in the 1970s, when the road was being built, tunnels were already well known to engineers as a technological solution. As an aside – the new local spatial development plan, adopted in August 2025, already provides for the Agrykola area to be partially covered with green spaces.

In any case, after reading the RP article, scenes from Miłoszewski’s book came flooding back to me – I’ve rarely looked forward to a change in the law quite so much. I can’t wait to see what I’ve pictured in my mind’s eye in this alternative version of Warsaw.

From a business perspective, the return to the concept of layered ownership should be seen as a potentially groundbreaking legal tool that could unlock large-scale infrastructure and property development projects in city centres, where the traditional, ‘flat’ understanding of property law currently acts as a barrier. From a business and legal perspective, this offers opportunities for new investment models, more effective use of public space, and a redefinition of the relationship between the public and private interests in urban planning processes.