Local conflicts against the construction of road bypasses : NIMBY syndrome on the example of road investments

The ‘NIMBY’ (Not In My Back Yard) concept is commonly useing to explain public opposition to new developments near houses and communities, such as: wind farms, electricity pylons, large dams, medium and maximum security prisons, commercial nuclear power plants, and gambling casinos. Despite its common use, the concept has been extensively critiqued by social scientists as a useful concept for research and practice. In this paper we are especially interested in environmental conflict with road bypasses construction. Although almost all road bypasses are constructed along existing traffic corridors, they sometimes infringe on areas of environmental or sentimental value. They may not directly create social problems but can serve a conduit for people who bring social problems (such as crime) to new areas. They change access and transpor-tation costs which may create local competitive advantages as well as disadvantages to a previously isolated community. Whether or not a road bypass has a stimulative effect on the area that is influenced by a variety of factors. This paper explores three research points: (i) describing the environmental attitudes of a population in close proximity to the road bypasses, (ii) determining the influence that proximity has on road bypasses attitudes, and (iii) determining if the Not-In-My-Backyard (Nimby) phenomenon is appropriate for explaining human perception of road bypasses. The survey questionnaire was developed to explore perception of road bypasses in the Opoczno city, as well as general attitudes about the roads, especially road bypasses. This study used Multiple Regression Analysis to identify what factors might predict attitudes towards mooted road bypasses