The paper deals with the analysis of spatial identification treated as the process of individual identification with the particular space by taking the role of the inhabitant of the particular territory as well as the sense of the connection with the territorial community which makes the social group of positive reference for the individual. The paper analyses two measures of spatial identification: individual identification and collective one. The analyse results in answering the question what is the range of coherence of spatial references of Lodz inhabitants. In order to do that the typology including indicated aspects of spatial identification was created. Obtained results present that within investigated individuals category including the process of identification with the city in individual measure and treating the neighbour community as the reference group dominates. That is why it is necessary to notice the lack of the coherence between individual and collective measure of spatial identification of Lodz inhabitants.
Human capital stock affects the economic growth by raising the productivity of labour or by improving the ability of the economy to create and absorb innovations. In the scale of the local economy of an academic city, this process can be reinforced by attracting students and researchers to study and work at the local universities. To do this successfully, the city needs not only a high quality academic institutions but also the wider labour market for the educated individuals and – more generally – the ability to attract the creative class to settle down. The article provides the comparative analysis of the ability of the largest Polish cities to attract and absorb human capital. The research is based on the unique dataset coming from nasza-klasa.pl website (allowing users to contact their former class mates). The research concludes with the typology of the Polish cities with respect to the scale of benefits from performing the academic function.
The aim of this paper is to examine the process of issuing decisions on building conditions and land management in rural-urban areas located in the outer zone of the Szczecin Metropolitan Area, and to determine whether the individual municipalities adopt a similar policy in this case. We also study the possible reasons for the differences. In the research, covering the years 2007–2010, we examined four rural-urban municipalities located in the outer zone of the Szczecin Metropolitan Area. We specified the number of decisions regarding the building conditions in each year and in each municipality, we counted the motions which were denied and the decisions to establish the locations of a public purpose investment. In the latter case, we also studied the purpose of such investments. Moreover, in the total number of the decisions issued for economic purposes, we defined the percentage of those made in favour of legal persons and those made in the city’s area.
The author investigates the citizens perception of the impact of Polish-German border on local economies and communities in Western Poland. The research, based on the survey conducted in selected municipalities, reveals also the attitudes of the citizens towards the protection of natural environment and their opinion about the neighbours at both sides of the border. Finally, it attempts to assess the degree of citizens identification with the border area.
Analyses of nationwide business cycles provide information on the length, course and phase of a current cycle. However, the nationwide cycle is not always convergent with the economic situation of individual regions. Discrepancies in this regard are often described in the literature. In this paper, we presented an analysis of the economic situation of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship from 2008 to the 3rd quarter of 2010 in the context of the recent turbulence of the global and Polish economies. What is more, we evaluated the usefulness of multi-dimensional comparative analysis methods to assess the condition of the business cycle in Warmia and Mazury. We verified the view of Michael P. Niemira and Philip A. Klein (1994) concerning the relationship between regional development level and business cycle fluctuation vulnerability. Finally, we showed that less developed and less economically diversified regions are more prone to economic fluctuations.
The aim of the paper is to identify and diagnose problems relating to Poland`s metropolitan areas. In the frst part, the authors offer a review of the most important features metropolisation process and indicate problems associated with such processes on the local and regional scales. This is followed by an identification of major urban centres in Poland, and a delimitation of their metropolitan areas. In the subsequent part of the study, the identified metropolitan areas are characterised in terms of their pertinent development problems. Finally, a set of conclusions and recommendations is proposed, with the aim of improving the functioning of the largest cities and their environment.
The article presents the classification of municipalities in Poland, divided into urbanised and non-urbanised based on their spatial dimensions. The spatial distribution of urbanised municipalities and their basic characteristics are discussed. The classification was performed using the k-means clustering algorithm on the spatial data from Corine Land Cover databases. The comparison of the administrative and land-use driven classification of municipalities in Poland indicates that the widest differences occur between the functional areas of cities and along dynamically developing transport routes, when identification of urbanised areas in terms of land use is taken into consideration.
The article describes the costs of higher education. To do so, it uses the cost estimation method and, on its basis, determines the structure of individual costs and estimates them on the example of economics departments. The author takes into account direct, indirect and alternative costs incurred by students as well as their income, and differentiates between full-time and extramural students. He hypothesizes that the main cost incurred by full-time students is alternative cost, and in the case of extramural students – tuition. He also assumes that full-time students of economics-related ?elds have a relatively high income from their own work.
The paper discusses urban renewal projects implemented in Polish cities in the framework of Cohesion Policy 2004?2006. Renewal projects constituted only a small portion of the intervention under the Cohesion Policy programmes in cities. Relatively small outlays and a small number of projects resulted in a clear diffusion of the intervention, which undoubtedly affected the scale of results. Most undertakings classified as renewal projects were not comprehensive, i.e. they did not consist in restructuring of spatial, social and economic structures, but were rather repair and modernization investments. The general influence of the projects classified as renewal projects at the domestic level was small, even though most individual projects had a definitely positive impact on their direct surroundings or even the whole city (especially the projects concerning larger public spaces).
The article is devoted to the problems of the handicapped people with special reference to the functioning of the Railway Missions in a metropolitan environment. From the beginning of industrialization process the railway stations in Europe were creating a specific social environment, including such phenomena as prostitution, slaves trade, drugs dealing or just individual stories of the travelers. Specifically to deal with these problems, a social institutions called `missions` were established at the railway stations in Germany and Poland. This article shows the historical development of the German and Polish Railway Missions with special reference to its role for the local societies.
Currently, cultural heritage is often thought of as a development resource in development strategies, monument protection and regeneration programmes. It is considered as an obligation and its potential is recognized by specialists and public administration of all levels. The aim of the article is to show that since heritage is a multi-faceted resource, its protection and usage is important for many stakeholders. Many individuals and organisations representing the public, the private and the third sector operate in various segments of the heritage market. Taking into account their expectations and goals is necessary to avoid or at least weaken potential conflicts brought about by using heritage for present day purposes.
Whose is the city? This question only superficially refers to the past when at least some cities were in fact law-making, autonomous communities of their citizens. Unlike in the past, the contemporary city is a random collection of individuals gathered in a space with no clear boundaries, who in their majority have a weak sense of identification with the place of their residence, whether longer or shorter. The residents of such a city are not citizens but merely users of space which has become a commodity. Taking Warsaw as an example, the paper shows the process of selling out the city space, which is driven by globalisation and metropolisation processes. The consequence of this is privatisation and fragmentation of space, leading to the evaporation of public space in the city.
The aim of the article is to describe the phenomenon of non-partisanship of local governments in large Polish cities. It is a report from a research conducted in Wroclaw, Gdynia and Katowice. The article contains a description of typical justifications of non-partisanship, an identification of differences between partisan and non-partisan city councillors and a description of quasi-partisan organizations functioning as political support for non-partisan mayors. The results of the research confirm the existence of a specific category of local activists consistently rejecting party politics and very often having no political ambitions concerning higher levels of government; this category is typical for quasi-partisan organizations. The research demonstrates that non-partisanship can be a means of institutionalization of a particular manner of understanding and making politics. One of the final conclusions is that the problems of partisanship and non-partisanship at the local level are derivatives of a vague relationship between public administration and politics at the local level.
For many decades, temporary labour migrations from the Opole region have had a significant impact on the social, economic, and demographic situation. They are particularly important for the villages in the region, for most of the migrants are recruited there. What is the situation in farmers’ families? Are their members labour migration participants too? What is migration’s role in the income of farmers’ families? The paper characterizes migration from rural farmers’ families of the region. It is based on the results of an analysis carried out in July 2012 in the Opole province in 383 individual farms the size of 2–30 ha.
The aim of the paper is to analyse the allocation of resources from the Cohesion Policy provided to individual regional programmes in the European Union’s 2021–2027 financial scheme. In addition to the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus funds, funds from the Just Transition Fund distributed under the European Funds for Just Transition programme, as well as funds from the European Funds for the Eastern Poland programme were also analysed. The analysis covers the proposition of allocation of funds to regions in the context of the experience gained so far in Poland in the implementation of regional programmes. The carried out analysis confirmed the decrease in the importance of regional programmes in shaping the Regional Development Policy in the 2021–2027 perspective due to the reduction in allocation.
The paper analyzes the sources of economic growth in the regions of Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) using a multi-dimensional approach that takes into account: a) disaggregation of the economic structure; b) the international and national contexts of regional development processes; and c) the main types of regions. The results corroborate the validity of such an approach, showing the interrelationships between the development dynamics of individual regions and the structural changes that are difficult or impossible to identify using an analysis of aggregated values. In particular, the analyses conducted as part of the study help identify the key constituents of metropolization processes taking place in the regions of major city centres, the progress of reindustrialisation processes occurring in transitional regions, and the mechanisms underpinning development of peripheral regions. Based on these differences, the author formulates some general recommendations for policies implemented in these types of regions.
Public space of the post-modern epoch is a conglomerate or blend of discontinuous functions, a collection of loosely connected fragments, increasingly more frequently unrelated to a city. People compose for themselves their own town from individual trajectories that are outlined by means of motor roads. Neo-liberal logic of city development recognizes the rule of spontaneity wherever the interest of big capital groups dominates, pushing onto the sidelines the more important task of contemporary urban planning – the protection and development of public spaces. Due to the crisis it is undergoing at present (commercial pressure), the efforts are taken to regain its social and spatial significance. The purpose of these transformations is bonding public spaces with broader surroundings (with open terrains, waterside zones, promenades, playgrounds, etc). Such recomposition is part of a regeneration process that unites the city and reconstructs the identity of the place where relationships of inhabitants with their urban environment were not completely abandoned.
The article discusses the idea of co-production, understood as informed and intentional participation of citizens in the organisation and provision of public services in the context of the global ageing process, a phenomenon which necessitates actions aimed to secure the needs of older people. The basis for the empirical investigation was a study carried out under the aegis of a WHO agency, the Centre for Health Development in Kobe, Japan. It offers an analysis of the case studies of initiatives addressed to elderly people in the local communities of 10 selected developing countries (Chile, China, Iran, Libya, Russia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam). The key criterion in the selection of the analysed projects was direct involvement of institutional and non-institutional representatives of local communities in their implementation. As a participant (researcher) of this international survey, the author analyses the observable manifestations of silver co-production characterising the individual initiatives.
The paper provides a comparative analysis of so-called land management and spatial development studies of the biggest Polish cities regarding the scope of functional and morphological delimitation and zoning. Due to the lack of detailed regulations, individual cities developed their own zoning methodologies. The authors of such studies take into account three factors: functional, morphological and administrative aspects. The zoning in the analysed cities is determined by individual factors which vary from city to city.
The issue of transport-related exclusion in Poland is increasingly being raised in the public debate. This problem intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the reduction in the number of routes and the frequency of buses and trains. However, in Poland, the scientific literature on this subject is still insufficient. This article attempts to broaden our knowledge on this topic. The main objective of the paper is to show, from the perspective of the residents, various aspects of transport-related exclusion. Three dimensions of this phenomenon are considered: limited access to public transport, spatial and temporal limitations, and the inability to participate in important social institutions. The article is based on three case studies in the Masovian Voivodeship, namely from Ostrów Mazowiecka, Żuromin, and Tczów. The research was carried out in 2021 through the use of two methods: an analysis of secondary resources and individual in-depth interviews. Based on the opinions and observations of the residents of the above-mentioned towns, this article presents the social consequences of limited access to bus and train connections.
The war initiated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in 2022 can be seen as a drastic shock event with unpredictable long-term socio-political consequences at the national, regional and global levels. This study aims to identify the impact of war-related disturbances on the dynamics of social cleavages in Ukraine, in particular the possibility of deepening or diminishing such cleavages or promoting the occurrence of new ones. For decades, the internal partition of Ukraine into East and West has been attributed to national self-identification, linguistic and religious peculiarities and the geopolitical preferences of residents of different regions. Shortly before and after the outbreak of the Russian invasion, fundamental changes in Ukrainian society and domestic politics became evident, some of which can be interpreted as signs of the mitigation of social cleavages. Our findings revealed at least two significant shifts in these ‘old’, traditional cleavages: one occurred after the Revolution of Dignity and the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, and the second one is emerging now, due to the full-scale war on Ukrainian territory against the Ukrainian people. More broadly, this research aims to assess the resilience of social cleavages in the face of a shock event.
Current glocalisation processes require the identification of priority areas for Ukraine’s further integration into the international economy. The right choice of direction, tools and forms of implementation allows the government to determine, justify and implement a competitive strategy for the country. The study aimed to determine the relationship between international economic integration and Ukraine’s global competitive power. Identifying Ukraine’s sectoral comparative advantages in trade with the EU and evaluating the index of the regional orientation of Ukraine for specific groups of goods and services made it possible to define the effects of economic collaboration with the European region. The assessment of the complementarity index of Ukrainian–European trade relations revealed that Ukraine and the European Union are main trading partners. Furthermore, the analysis of the mechanism of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union proved that the agreement actively contributes to the growth of Ukraine’s global competitive power. Comparative analysis in historical retrospect revealed priority areas for improving the integration processes which help to form the main competitive advantages of the country.
The aim of the article is to analyse the strategies undertaken by urban movements in the process of advocacy promoting the interests of the inhabitants of Polish cities. The strength of urban movements in the first years of their activity in Poland was their grassroots nature, lack of connections with the public policy system, and therefore independence and being able to put forth uncompromising postulates. Over time, urban movements began to undergo transformations, and the strategies of representing the interests of the residents they implemented evolved as well. When starting research on this text, the author assumed that the results of the analyses would be the observation of a clear trend from bottom-up activities to professionalisation. However, an in-depth analysis of the issue showed that there is no uniform trend in the development of urban movements nor in the strategies of advocacy for the interests applied by them. The study was based on desk research analysis; additionally several individual in-depth interviews were conducted.
The article deals with determinants of efficient absorption of European Union`s structural funds by local authorities entities. It focuses on factors connected with civil society that distinguish different regions. As it was broadly recognized and explored, the "basis of civil society is the social capital of a region. Social capital includes networks and relationships between people that transmit their shared attitudes and values and therefore influences on structures of common initiatives undertaken by individuals and different groups
in order to fulfill local societies` needs. The author studies to what extent social capital of different regions conditioned by cultural factors influences institutional efficiency of local authorities in Poland in relation to absorption of pre-accession fund SAPARD.
The development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has caused numerous problems in traditional labour markets, occurring both at the national level and the level of individual regions of the country. However, breakthrough technologies of the recent decade have initiated new forms of labour organisation, mainly digital jobs and the formation of a digital labour market, which contributes to solving the problems mentioned above. The paper’s goal is to assess the readiness of the economy of Ukraine and its regions for forming a digital labour market to determine promising strategic directions for its development. The findings justify the significant prospects for developing the digital labour market in Ukraine at the national and regional levels. Also, they determine the priority types of digital jobs in selected regions as well as form the methodological basis, information, and analytical base of the organisational and economic mechanism for managing its development.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges. Comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic experiences led to the re-evaluation of the role of festivities and their associated traditions. Through semi-structured interviews, people’s perceptions of festivities during the two-year-long period of repetitive social restrictions were investigated in Latvia (Latgale region). Data analysis revealed that the quality of festivities related to otherworldliness decreased. Celebration as a powerful practice for developing a sense of togetherness and experiencing collective joy was commonly acknowledged. Festivities were primarily perceived as a tool of socialization and collective identification, as well as an opportunity for entertainment and creative expression.
The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationships between geographical and virtual proximity in cluster organisations (COs). The authors report the findings from a qualitative study conducted in four COs in Poland. The basic technique for collecting and analysing data was an in-depth individual interview and qualitative content analysis. The research has shown that the relationships between geographical and virtual proximity depend on the cooperation level and the role of the CO. The findings presents a broader view on cluster cooperation as a phenomenon based on geographical proximity which facilitates personal interactions, but needs to be supported by various ICT tools.
Human capital stock affects economic growth by raising the productivity of labour in a given area or by enhancing the ability of the regional economy to create and absorb innovations. From the perspective of an academic city, this process can be reinforced by attracting students and researchers to study and work at the local universities. To do this successfully, the city needs not only high quality academic institutions but also a wider labour market for educated individuals and, more generally, the ability to attract the creative class to settle down. The article provides a comparative analysis of the capacity of the largest Polish cities to attract and absorb human capital. The research is based on a unique dataset coming from the nasza-klasa.pl website (which allows users to contact their former classmates). The research concludes with the typology of Polish cities with respect to benefits from performing the academic function.
Structural funds – instruments of cohesion policy – are aimed to support local and regional development and to speed up regional convergence. For the last few years they have been the main source that enable realization of different activities and investments on local level in Poland. In the light of systematic extension of financial resources provided within structural funds effective absorption of those funds becomes a matter of great importance. Experience of previous implementation period gives some clues on the perspective of use of structural funds provided for Polish regions in 2007–2013 period. The results of previous research showed that effective absorption of pre-accession and structural funds depends on many both material and untouchable factors but the most important for effective absorption is adequate institutional system with procedures of programming, financial management, monitoring, evaluation etc. This paper presents the results of research conducted in 2008. The authors focused on three main areas: experience of 2004–06 period of implementation – identification of successes and barriers of structural funds implementation system, practical use of these experiences to improve institutional system for 2007–13 period and finally priorities of 16 Regional Operational Programmes realized in Polish voivodeships.
To assess the development level of Polish regions, it is necessary to observe changes in the country taking into account its sustainable development. Differences between regions are due mainly to their nature, their social, economic and institutional conditions and their political functions. The character of a region has a strong impact on the direction and the pace of development of individual spheres of sustainable order. Research shows that regions with big urban areas have much higher economic and social points than non-industrialised areas. However, agricultural and tourist regions deal with environment problems better. That is why all actions concerning region development and meant to decrease disproportions have to depend on the type of region. The taxonomical analysis can be a base for further research.
The paper focuses on the transformation of human capital in the Silesia province and the formation process of the creative class. In the first part are described some theoretical assumption of human capital and creative class, and the history and specifics of the most important social groups in Silesia. In the second part the authors cite the main results of their research conducted in 2010–2011. In interviews, entrepreneurs, experts and policy makers recognized the existence of regional professionals and active individuals who operated at the level of enterprises and local communities. This confirms the assumption of the enclave nature of the formation process of the creative class in Silesia.
The study proposes a method of designating areas at different levels of socio-economic development (problem, success areas, and the intermediate stages between them). In the adopted research procedure, the above-described areas were identified on the basis of a synthetic indicator, which took into account six features assigned to two thematic categories (socio-demographic and economic-technical). The years 2003–2019 were assumed as the research period. The applied dynamic approach made it possible to trace the path of socio-economic development of the surveyed units within the proposed four types of areas. The obtained results refer to rural and urban-rural municipalities of Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia) Voivodship (województwo), with a particular emphasis on the Kłodzko district (powiat), which has been considered a problem area for many years.
The title of the article may suggest that it presents issues important to the global economy, and not to a district, city, region or university. This is not the case, however, because the process of globalisation of production, services, investments, finance, the labour market and knowledge will continue over the coming years, irrespective of the scale of national protectionism. Therefore, the effects of globalisation will be experienced by everybody: countries, regions, local communities and individuals. If we want to achieve success, both as a country and as individuals, we have to be well prepared for globalisation.
The article was published in Polish in "Studia Regionalne i Lokalne", 2/2004
The paper offers a review of the evolution in defining and describing regions, showing mutual relationships between particular approaches and logical succession between various analytical concepts of the region. The analysis highlights the strong relationship between individual theories and overall social change. Three main approaches to regional research are outlined: the chorological approach, Regional Science and contemporary social and cultural interpretations of the region. Each approach is presented in three perspectives: theoretical, methodological and practical. The changing role and status of geographical research in regional studies is also discussed.
Article is devoted to identification of towns endangered by socio-economic degradation (marginalisation). Using the example of 10 selected towns it shows their weak and strong points and complex sources of developmental problems. Authors present and evaluate activities undertaken by town authorities. Town of Bilgoraj serves as a benchmark (positive example of successful local transformation after 1989).
The aim of the paper is to identify different visions and expectations of the citizens and the local government regarding the development of their suburban space, which are a source of potential spatial conflicts. It discusses contradictory interests of all the people living in the suburban area, certain groups of inhabitants, and local authorities. The paper characterizes different types of conflicts, including spatial ones. The conflicts in the suburbs are generated by a desire to keep the suburban character of the place of residence, the primacy of property rights and individual interests over collective ones, and excessive development ambitions of local authorities. Considerations on spatial conflicts in a suburban zone are illustrated by the results of two surveys carried out in the Lesznowola municipality near Warsaw, one on a representative sample of residents throughout the whole municipality (394 persons), and the other on a representative sample of residents of Mysiadło (305 people).
This paper focuses on the changes in transport accessibility at the regional scale in terms of individual car transport due to the introduction to the regional road network of the bypasses of Łódź in the meridian course. The changes are determined on the basis of measures of the time and potential accessibility of the network, conducted before and after the ring roads were implemented. The results are presented in both relative and absolute terms for each of the 4956 settlement units and 177 communes of the Łódź region. The author determines that the construction of motorways and expressways, especially those representing bypasses of large urban centres, helps to increase the cohesion of a region and increase accessibility of peripheral areas, while the size and spatial extent of the impact of road investments are clearly differentiated.
The aim of this paper is to present the first 16 coherent regional input-output tables for Poland, together with the methodology applied to their regionalization from the national level. On the basis of the tables – especially the use and trade tables aggregated to the 19 NACE sections – the structure as well as intra- and inter-regional trade is presented for all 16 NUTS2 regions. Based on the example of the R & D sector, the usefulness of the tables as an analytical tool is confirmed. Like in network analysis, the authors present the links and exchanges of this sector with other sectors of the regional economies in individual voivodships and between them. The regional input-output tables together with their methodology presented here is the first attempt, to the best knowledge of the authors, to publish methodologically coherent 16 input-output tables at NUTS2 level for Poland. They path the way for further research in such directions as: higher regional and sectoral disaggregation, application of the tables to the analysis of different regional economic policies in Poland, and for international comparisons.
The goal of this article is to investigate the spatial allocation of human capital investment at the local level in Poland. In particular, this analysis refers to the funds within the Human Capital Operational Programme (POKL 2007–2013). The study is divided into the following parts: extrapolation of the algorithm for allocating the POKL funds between regions to the local level; comparison of the allocation based on the data from the period before the programme with the hypothetical allocation of the same funds based on the measurement done after the end of the programme (the „before-after” method); and a comparison of the intentional allocation of POKL funds with the observed actual absorption of funds at the local level in 2007–2015. The analysis carried out in this article proves that the final effect of POKL allocation at the local level is not a simple extension of the government’s plan of division expressed by an algorithm. The absorption of funds per capita differed between municipalities within individual voivodships, but more funds did not necessarily go to the areas that were particularly structurally burdened (according to the governmental algorithm). The „before-after” analysis leads to the conclusion that, in the period under study, development disparities increased, and development gap between eastern and western Poland deepened. The situation is particularly difficult in the territories of the so-called internal peripherals.
In the last decades, especially in Europe, a process of the rebirth of national and regional identities of small ethnic groups has been taking place, leading in many cases to a change of language situation and to attempts to stop and even to revert processes of linguistic assimilation. The article presents individual cases of ethnic/regional movements having “language issue” in their programmes, and makes an attempt of a typology of regions and countries according to their language situation and policy. The language question also appears at the European Union level. The EU institutions try to combine the ideological principle of multilingualism (equality of all official languages of the EU members) with pragmatism implying minimizing the number of working languages. At the “civil” level the EU supports the model of multilingualism of the inhabitants as a means to facilitate functioning of the common labour, commodity, service and capital market while maintaining cultural identities of its member states. In individual countries the language policy is competence of national authorities; there are no common binding rules on the territory of the whole EU. As a result, there are differences among countries in their attitudes towards languages of ethnic minorities.
Apart from traditional fashion trade fairs understood as specialist events addressed to a limited number of business clients, a growing popularity of B2C fashion fairs has been observed in recent years in Poland, in particular in large cities. Such events provide opportunities for purchasing unique clothing, offering possibilities for cultural distinction but also for spending leisure time, engaging in social interactions, and participating in urban arenas. They are in line with broader phenomena such as the festivalisation of urban space, the development of the experience economy, and the ecologisation of consumption. The aim of this article is to show the scope of this phenomenon in the Polish context. Proposing a typology according to this sort of fashion events as well as places where they occur, the authors attempt to show the intraurban and interurban specificity of fashion fairs, pointing to main centres and important factors of their location.
After partitions of Poland in 1795 its west territory (Wielkopolska) became a part of Prussia. Poland and Prussia were parts of east European complex of economy, but Prussia was more developed and better organized than Poland. During the XIX century Prussian elites were romantically oriented and dealt with bastion policy which was oriented towards defending the Germans against the Slavs. Prussian state played main role in economy and subordinated it to the military oriented goals. Prussian case was extremely popular among Polish elites at the beginning of XX century. At the base of Prussian patterns the Poles learnt that main actor in economy is not individual unit but the state, and Prussian case was the source of inspiration for strong nationally oriented ideology in Poland after 1918. Research on Polish communes proved that impact of Prussia on contemporary development in Poland was rather damaging than uncourageous.
The main aim of this article is to apply the concept of “identity” to the analysis of phenomena and processes associated with the formation and functioning of clusters and cluster initiatives. Cluster structure is a kind of social group, and therefore should be subject to the same trends as other social groups. One of its most important characteristics (directly related to identity), observed particularly in groups whose aim is to survive for a long time, is their willingness to create mechanisms that distinguish the group and its members, and that build internal coherence and a sense of belonging of its members to the structure as a whole, and their attachment to each other.
Public space of the post-modern epoch is a conglomerate or blend of discontinuous functions, a collection of loosely connected fragments, increasingly more frequently unrelated to a city. People compose for themselves their own town from individual trajectories that are outlined by means of motor roads. Neo-liberal logic of city development recognizes the rule of spontaneity wherever the interest of big capital groups dominates, pushing onto the sidelines the more important task of contemporary urban planning – the protection and development of public spaces. Due to the crisis it is undergoing at present (commercial pressure), the efforts are taken to regain its social and spatial significance. The purpose of these transformations is bonding public spaces with broader surroundings (with open terrains, waterside zones, promenades, playgrounds, etc). These changes use programmed connections, contacts, passages, links, connecting areas and other relations that invest new sociological and cultural meanings into public spaces. The integration process gives positive results in numerous cities of Western Europe. One of them, perhaps the most essential, is development of more attractive and deeper relationships of inhabitants with their urban environment. Although the task fails to be easy (integrating tendencies compete with inclinations for disintegration), it is an important step towards the enhancement of urban life quality. The evidence can be numerous discussions and conferences on the issue of public space.
Uptade from 2.03.2021: Parts of this article were subsequently used in the following publication: Swianiewicz, P., & Brzóska, A. (2020). Demand Elasticity for Local Public Transport in Polish Cities: Do Local Policies Matter?. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 16(61), 125-142
After 1990, the number of local public transport passengers has been systematically decreasing at the expense of individual transport, which led to an increase in traffic congestion and deterioration of air quality in cities. However, for the last few years, a reversal of this trend has been observed in some cities. The article, using the data on the present number and recent changes in the number of passengers in nearly 100 Polish cities, discusses regression models to explain the factors influencing the diversity of demand for public transport services and its dynamics. The independent variables of the model refer both to the characteristics of cities (their socio-economic environment) and the organisation of services (e.g. organisational and legal forms of local transport companies, tariff policies, etc.). The results show that the density of the public transport network is the most significant factor explaining variation of the demand, while the level of ticket prices is almost insignificant. Demand in the largest cities has also recently been on the increase, but the relationship between the demand and the population size of the city is not a linear one.
The aim of the article is to identify in spatial and thematic terms the so-called special areas in strategic and planning documents at the national and regional levels, and a quantitative and qualitative description of spatial delimitations (comprising the communes categorised in particular special areas). The analysis included documents at the national, supra-regional and regional levels, i.e. 10 country-wide strategies (including 7 industry-specific strategies), 5 supra-regional strategies and 16 regional strategies and voivodeship spatial development plans. All the special areas were vectorised or assigned to the relevant municipalities, and then such issues as the number of special areas within them were examined. The analysis demonstrated significant over-regulation of strategic planning (in one of the communes 87 different categories of special areas at the national or regional level were identified). This article expands the issues examined in the project carried out in 2015-2016 at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation PAS for the Ministry of Development, entitled “Identification of the state intervention strategic areas, including problem areas” (Śleszyński et al. 2017a, 2017b).
The aim of the paper is to indicate metropolitan areas in Poland as well as to provide the assessment of their situation. The first part is devoted to literature review focused on identification of the most significant trade-offs of metropolisation process in regional and local scale. This constitutes a base for indication of the most important cities in Poland for which delineation of their metropolitan areas are provided. In the next part these metropolitan areas were characterised to reveal obstacles in their development. This enables authors to provide recommendations regarding activates that should be undertaken to facilitate growth of the largest cities and their surroundings.
The article seeks to identify socio-economic conditions that affect the demand of individual consumers for cars and to analyze spatial differences in these conditions. To achieve this objective, econometric modelling is conducted. The analysis was conducted in all poviats in Poland and covered the years 2010-2015. The findings show that the demand for new cars is stimulated by incomes of potential consumers and by a net in-migration, while the level of unemployment together with prices of complementary goods (especially petrol prices) negatively affect the demand for cars. Moreover, geographically weighted regression shows that the identified conditions differ across the country, which may explain the noticeable differences in the level of motorization between poviats.
This paper examines the impact of the implementation of participatory budget (PB) projects on the development and creation of public spaces in the city. The first part of the paper describes the main assumptions and models of participatory budgeting as well as the legal basis and rules of PB implementation and financing in Poland. In the second part, those are confronted with the implementation of PB (civic and green) in Lublin in 2015-2019. In the third one, detailed analysis of the PB rounds 2015-2017 show that 86% of investment projects submitted and 87% of projects selected for implementation were directly associated with activities in public space. Furthermore, the spatial distribution and thematic scope of those investments in 27 districts of Lublin in relation to 10 categories selected by the authors as well as the motivation and activity of residents of individual districts in applying for projects were presented. The fourth part shows the changes in Lublin’s public spaces caused by the implementation of PB projects and Lublin’s experience in relation to other cities in Poland. The summary includes recommendations on how to effectively implement BP to create a high quality public space in cities. Three aspects are distinguished: 1) organizational and procedural; 2) mobilisation of the stakeholders and 3) implementation of projects.
Information Society technologies are aimed at raising productivity while reducing time and costs of materials and energy for the economy. Specialists have also observed that ICTs, which have become significantly cheaper, are in huge demand for individual (household) use. Individual applications of ICT in Poland’s economy lead to a growth in different human activities. They impact the economies of Poland in a similar way to the well-known take-back (rebound) effect, which increases the efficiency of resource use and electrical energy consumption in households.
The aim of the paper is to present spatial variation of social capital in Poland, especially in relation to historical differences between various regions (resulting from the country’s partitions and border changes) and the level of urbanization. Previous studies indicate that such variation exists. However, they were carried out on the basis of declarations, an approach which has its drawbacks. This study uses a novel approach to assessing social capital: observing the behaviour of a study group using experimental economics, used in conjunction with a questionnaire which enables us to study the intention-behaviour gap. The study group consisting of 1540 individuals indicates very little variation between the regions. However, there are differences concerning the gap between declarations and behaviour in questions related to trust, trustworthiness, and cooperation, and our results confirm the conclusions from previous studies only weakly.
The article presents innovation issues in public administration in the Podkarpacie region. In the situation of progressing territorial development, widely understood innovation is the ability to create, put into practice and disseminate it. This ability is the condition to raise competitiveness of the regional economy, while increasing the opportunity to achieve success in the escalating competition between the regions. Taking into account that local and regional authorities play the major role in the modernizational and developmental processes, the analyses and characteristics included in the article are concentrated on the diagnosis of the competence of public administration employers. The range of the above mentioned competence is the management of the local and regional development and the economy development based on the knowledge. Identification and description of the restrictions and barriers of innovation in the council and government administration were considered as well. The study is based on the results of the empirical research which aim was to recognize attitudes and actions of public administration in the Podkarpacie region, realized within the confines of the purposeful project of the Science and Informatics Ministry: "The Regional Strategy of Innovation of the Podkarpacie Province".
The article was published in Polish in "Studia Regionalne i Lokalne", 4/2004
The paper discusses regional disparities in Poland in their many dimensions and aspects economic, social and political. Individual phenomena basically have a similar spatial representation, which can be seen as a corroboration of the well-known thesis on the existence of a strong interdependency of many phenomena in the development process. The historical underpinnings of these disparities prove once again that they are the products of "long duration` processes. Both characteristics of these differences, showing their complexity and historical factors suggest caution as to what can realistically be expected of regional policy because it can change the objective reality only gradually and only to a limited extent. The paper ends with some recommendations for regional policy.
In most European cities industrial districts and, later, consumption areas have emerged supplementing the areas of exchange, which had always been existing within the cities. At present, the cities are almost free of production (especially of industrial production), which has been replaced by the areas of entertainment. This is due to the fact that the metropolitan class - which lives in the cities and moves between them as the most precious part of the tourist community – has demonstrated growing demand for culture and entertainment. The influences of the media, mostly of television, make this demand more and more uniform, which results in globalisation of culture and entertainment. It is therefore quite obvious that big corporations engage themselves in undertakings that shape the urban areas in order to advertise their products and brands. As a result, the public parts of the cities are appropriated by individual interests and privatized in a specific way.
The title of this article might suggest that it refers only to the global economy, discussing problems that are not important for particular localities, regions or universities. Such reasoning is however wrong. I the near future the globalisation of industries, services, investments, finance, labour markets and knowledge will expand, regardless the protectionism of nations. The effects of globalisation will touch everybody: countries, regions, local societies and individuals. If we want to be successful, both as a country and as individuals, we have to be well prepared for this process.
The article provides the analysis of main factors, trends and patterns of regional development in the Czech Republic during the transformation and pre-accession period. The paper is structured in the following way. It starts with a brief elaboration of basic trends in regional development since the collapse of communism, then proceeds to the identification of the main factors of regional development. In the final part, the author outlines the possible future patterns of regional development in the Czech Republic.
The aim of this article is to gain a better understanding of the patterns of human capital mobility in transition economies. It exploits a unique dataset from a Polish social networking website to develop a typology of skilled migration. Determinants of human capital flows are further elaborated using an empirical model of student and graduate migration. It is found that spatial mobility of human capital in Poland is low, and the distance between the home region and potential destination plays the most significant role in migration decisions. Migrations of skilled individuals favour metropolitan areas, which experience a net gain of human capital, while all other regions are subject to brain drain.
The paper analyses the Irish way of implementation of the structural assistance from the European Social Fund within a context of Ireland`s development strategy. Identification of the factors influencing considerable efficiency and effectiveness of Ireland`s performance is the article`s main focus. The paper begins with a review of the Irish labour market situation and, responding to it, human capital development policy of 1990s. Then, implementation and evaluation of the measures supported by the ESF within a programming period 1994-1999 are examined in detail. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations from the Irish case for Poland are outlined.
The article discusses the extent to which the national (Polish) cluster-based policy reflects scientifically-based industrial cluster identification methods as well as policy selection criteria. The framework of the current Polish cluster-based policy is discussed, followed by the presentation of eight well-grounded cluster identification methods. A four-level qualitative scale was used to determine the degree of compliance of 17 selection criteria with the identification methods. Only insignificant links were found in such criteria as “critical mass” (the number of the cluster members and the cluster structure), “concentration” (the number of the entities acting within some distance from their coordinator) and “economic cluster’s potential” (employment rate and sales values).
The aim of this article is to analyze the odds to find a job and the assessment of the duration of long-term unemployment. The data base is the 2007–2011 records from the Local Labour Office in Sulęcin. The authors of the article make the hypothesis that the impact of the determinants on the odds and rate of finding a job by the long-term unemployed is the same as in the case of the all the unemployed. The authors present a thesis that the determinants of long-term unemployment in the period of study are: the place of residence, age, the level of education, gender, seniority and the year of leaving the register. To analyze the data they use such nonlinear regression models as: the logistic model and the Cox hazard model. The former enables them to compare the odds to leave unemployment and the latter – to assess the time spent on finding employment. The designated odds ratios and hazard ratios are used to study the differences between subgroups of individual characteristics of the long-term unemployed as compared with all the unemployed.
Education is a field which is not subject to unification in the European Union. Education systems in the EU countries differ, among others, in terms of: sources of funding, provision of basic education, participation in the education and training system, and functioning of higher education. The main aim of the present study is to compare education systems in EU Member States using statistical methods of linear ordering of objects. The study posits lower effectiveness of individual indicators that characterize education. It is focused on a synthetic evaluation of education in EU countries using Hellwig’s modelling method. This approach makes it possible to prepare a ranking and to determine the distance separating Poland from the best (model) education system.
The article discusses the results of empirical research conducted in ca 50 municipalities located in four Polish regions. The authors conduct desk research of official documents, questionnaires and in-depth interviews with local government staff and politicians, and present differences and similarities in opinions on various Operational Programmes. The article discusses all stages of applying for EU grants: from selection of an Operational Porgramme to the final decision of the Managing Authority on the list of selected projects. It refers to issues arising from formal procedures, the passionate character of the competition for funds in individual Operating Programmes, as well as informal mechanisms of influence on the outcome of the selection processes. Unlike earlier research, the article discusses the changes in the Programmes implemented within the 2004-2006 and 2007-2013 perspectives.
The aim of the article is to examine if the form of ownership is a base of social identifications as important as a space of living. Author presents results of own research, conducted in Szczecin in Social Housing Associations area. The results show that forms of ownership become important part of social identity, even more than location in urban space.
Identification and delimitation of metropolitan areas, as well as measuring their actual metropolitan potential, are complex research problems. They become even more complicated in the case of a metropolis shaped around a polycentric core, consisting of cities which rank similarly in the national or transnational urban network. The paper is an attempt to identify and analyze the crucial problems of internal integration within the Tri-City metropolitan area which significantly hamper the metropolitan discourse and undermine the cooperation indispensible for metropolitan development.
The local government plays a huge role in supporting local development. In this paper, the authors present the results of conducted research concerning the impact of selected aspects of financial policy of the local government units on their development on the example of cities affiliated with the Union of Polish Metropolises. Therefore, firstly, they construct a synthetic indicator of local development and use it to assess the relative development of the analyzed cities. Then, they measure the relationship between the level of the cities’ relative development in the years 2007?2012 and the values of major categories of the units’ financial management in those years (per capita), in particular the amount of their debt, total and investment expenses, and expenditures on individual groups of local government tasks.
Since the very beginning of their establishment, municipalities, counties and regions (voivodeships) have been struggling with financial problems. Unfortunately, these problems affect the performance of the tasks assigned to these administrative units, including the standard of provided services and investment activities. Although extensive, the scale of the unsatisfied needs in LGUs varies between individual units, including municipalities. Thus, the positive financial results (the balance at the closure of the fiscal year) achieved by local government units in Poland in the recent years, as well as their future, offer an intriguing topic of research. The purpose of this paper is to identify the causes that: 1) underpin the re-evaluation of the LGU goals (from the implementation of the local government mission to achieving a budget surplus), and 2) allow the positive result of the LGU budget to finance goals other than investment-related ones. In order to achieve this, the study covers and illustrates, using the empirical data from the years 2007-2016, the types of possible LGU budget results, LGU activities that could contribute to the closure to LGU budgets with a positive result, directions of using budget surpluses and the so-called uncommitted funds, as well as local governments’ debt in terms of the intergenerational solidarity concept of its repayment and its perceived optimal structure.
The idea of the paper refers to the comparison of functions that determine an international position of Warsaw, Prague and Budapest. It is also an attempt to evaluate the chances of these three cities to win and develop individual metropolitan functions in the future. At the same time, this paper aims at identifying the main factors, both obscuring and supporting the development of metropolitan functions of cities under analysis. The author recognizes the following reasons of CEE metropolieses development – a significant change of geopolitical position, due to socio-economic transformation, a membership of Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary in the structure of EU, globalization and civilization of information technology. Within the first part of the paper capitals are analyzed in relation to several theoretical approaches. The second part shows the results of author’s research, based on statistical data analysis, referring to metropolitan functions of these cities.
The issue of political leadership is widely studied and described in the literature. It should be noted that this problem can be analyzed both at the institutional and the individual level. The institutional factors determine the way of selecting local leaders and the scope of their competence. The individual features, on the other hand, create a leadership style. Cities have a presidential system with a strong mayor. In the case of cohabitation, though, this system can be destabilized because, instead of peaceful institutional co-existence, the institutions may be in conflict. After the local elections of 2014, half of the Polish municipalities had to confront the problem of cohabitation. The aim of this paper is to present the question of local leadership in the context of cohabitation.
