The paper discusses the role of commuting as one of the main indicators of functional linkages and a criterion used in governmental classifications and delimitations of areas, e.g. in the US Metro and Non-metro Classification by US OMB, in the Canadian Census classification, and the ‘Rural and Small Town’ classification. The above methods are presented in the light of selected research findings on the social and economic phenomena which, as either a reason for or a result of commuting, justify the use of the three main parameters, i.e. direction, catchment areas, and intensity, as tools of classification and delimitation of areas.
The article analyzes the economic basis of Pax Americana over the next 10?20 years and describes the future position of Eastern Europe (New Europe) in the American constellation of interests. The main factors of geopolitical power are wealth – total and per capita, the production of leading goods, and innovations. An analysis of the position of different countries in the advancement of the new economy (knowledge-based economy) proves that in the next 20 years the US will be the most important power of the Western world. The position of Eastern Europe (New Europe) in Pax Americana will be the result of its rather poor impact on the national interests of the US.
This paper provides a review of structure and contents of Local Economic Development (LED) programmes. It also offers a list of data and information necessary to develop and implement such programmes. The author emphasises the difference in approach to LED by the researchers (theorists) and the practitioners, dealing with LED on every day basis. This gap, according to the author is in part a legacy centrally managed economy and is typical for the countries in transition period.
The aim of the French territorial reform from December 2010 was to change the structure of the French local political and administrative system thanks to institutional solutions that would strengthen the biggest agglomerations and lead to their progressive metropolization. The announced changes were meant to adjust the model of territorial organization to the requirements of contemporary economy and to enhance national economic growth of the country in stagnation. The introduction in the law of metropolises as new local-government territorial units that took over the most important competences of municipalities and departments was meant as a “territorial revolution”. Unfortunately, it failed. Meanwhile, the regulations that would make it possible to create a rather loose form of interterritorial cooperation, a so-called Metropolitan Pole, that were inserted into the project at the last moment, gave results unexpected by the legislator. This situation shows the growing importance of flexible solutions regarding competences and territory, solutions that use multilevel governance as an effective tool for inter-territorial management in the situation of inertia of the classical territorial structure and obstacles to its reform.
The following article shows the problem of environmental pollution in contemporary world as an side-effect of economic development. The main aim of the article is to present two political theories of an environmental protection extend – Green Political Theory and environmentalism and ecological modernization as a possibility of solution for the environmental protection problem in the process of development. Action is complex and guided by the state. The role of context is pointed out, which is proved on the example of USA, Germany, Norway, Great Britain, socialist states, Poland and European Union. Additionally, article analyses the directions of environmental policies – ecocentrism, technocentrism, ecoliberalism and ecocollectivism.
As a result of broad demilitarization process, numerous military bases had been locked out in the last years all over the world. In the regions whose economies depended heavily on military orders, and large share of employment was in the army-oriented services, the closure of the military bases had huge negative impact on the economy, as finding new development path showed to be difficult. The article demonstrates the examples of successful demilitarization and conversion of the cities and regions in France, Germany and USA and formulates recommendations for the Polish communes experiencing military base closure.
The aim of the work was to analyse the essence of recreational resources as a component of ecosystem services for the planning and development of recreation within the protected areas of Ukraine. This study highlights the features and essence of the ecosystem services concept. The classification, characteristics and possibilities of cultural ecosystem services usage of protected areas are assessed, and the location and importance of recreational services are emphasized. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the recreational ecosystem services assessment of protected areas were performed using GIS tools. The negative consequences of the Russian Federation military aggression on the protected areas of Ukraine and the ecosystem services decline are considered. The main advantages and obstacles of implementing the ecosystem services concept for planning the recreation development of the Ukrainian nature reserve fund are discussed.
“Zombie developments”, i.e. the problem of unfinished development projects, is an unrecognised phenomenon in Poland. In the USA, research on the causes, consequences and actions aimed to reduce the nuisance has been conducted for years. Therefore, the aim of this article is to show, through case studies, that the problem of “zombie developments” also occurs in Poland, causing many negative consequences for various entities. At the same time, this study is intended to help identify the causes of this phenomenon in Poland.
The paper discusses research results regarding the influence area of cultural institutions located in Łódź. The analysis includes data collected from nine biggest museums and theatres. In order to gather the information, customers were asked for their zip-codes. This method allows for surveying a large group of people and at the same time it does not interfere much with current activity of the institution. During the spring of 2012, the information about places of residence of 35 thousand customers who visited cultural institutions in Łódź was gathered.
The aim of the paper is to define and evaluate the level of local socio-economic development of largest cities in Poland, as well as the differences and disproportions which appeared between them in the years 2010-2012. The subject of the research were 30 cities in Poland whose population exceeded 120 thousand. These cities fulfil key roles in the country. A literature review and an empirical analysis were used as the base for this work. The data from the Local Data Bank (by CSO) were analyzed with the use of one of the taxonomic methods – the Hellwig development pattern method. Originally, 67 diagnostic variables were examined which, after verification, were cut down to 42 variables. Five groups of variables were distinguished: demographic figures, quality and availability of cultural and educational services, labour and social security conditions, housing conditions, and economic potential. Statistical description of the cities was prepared for all the groups of variables. The differences and disproportions between the cities were revealed. After reduction, 21 variables were used. Four groups of cities representing different levels of local development were distinguished. The results of the research allow for a comparative assessment of each city with reference to its characteristics. The research results showed substantial differences and disproportions in the level of local socio-economic development of the surveyed cities. The used method proved to be an adequate tool for local development analysis. The synthetic measures and indexes proved to be a useful tool of city management.
The paper presents an analysis of usability of regional operational programmes 2007?2013 (ROP) evaluations. The elements of usability under study are: quality, relevance, and credibility of the evaluation assumptions. The study consists in desk research of a representative sample (n = 71) of the evaluation reports completed between 2008 and 2012. The results show that many reports do not contain important recommendations and do not answer key research questions. In most cases, the evaluations fail to supply an answer on the impact of ROP on the socio-economic development of regions. The limited usefulness of evaluation reports leads to conclusions about negative trends in the development of the ROP evaluation system, which is focused on providing simple information, reports production, and does not respond to actual demand for knowledge.
The study focuses on the mutual relations between the quality of government and the implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy in various regional contexts. The research shows quite significant differences in this respect between “convergence-oriented” regions and „competitiveness and employment-oriented” ones. The quality of government has a positive impact on the efficiency of spending of EU funds in both groups of regions, although the dependence is much stronger in the „convergence-oriented” regions. In turn, the scale of EU funds contributes to the improvement of the quality of government, but only in the „convergence-oriented” regions. In this group, changes in the quality of government took place immediately before and after accession to the EU, when the process of adapting the institutional system to the needs related to the implementation of Cohesion Policy occurred. Although the differences in the quality of government between the two groups of regions have decreased, the research shows that in the „convergence-oriented” regions, the potential causative power of EU funds was rather poorly used in this respect.
The author of this article describes residential segregation of foreigners in Barcelona. She presents some theoretical considerations, makes statistical calculations pertaining to the problem, and defines causal factors of residential segregation. What is important, residential segregation in Barcelona may be far deeper than in other cities because of the relatively strong separatism in Catalonia and the required knowledge of the Catalan language. These factors make full access to local labour market very difficult for immigrants and lead to their marginalization. In the statistical calculations a measure of residential segregation (Duncan, Duncan 1955) is used which allows a comparison of the situation in Barcelona and in other cities, as well as an analysis of changes in Barcelona in recent years.
The aim of the study is to examine the impact of the amendment to the Municipal Self-Government Act (hereinafter: MSGA; Journal of Laws 2018, item 994) on the implementation of participatory budgeting (PB) in 2019 and 2020 in Polish voivodship cities. Using the desk research method, 36 PB regulations and over 3.4 thousand projects were selected for implementation in 10 categories: 1) sports (investment and other), 2) leisure and recreation (investment and other), 3) construction or modernisation of sidewalks, 4) construction or modernisation of streets, 5) pedestrian walkways, 6) parking lots, 7) lighting, 8) city bicycles (bicycle infrastructure), 9) modernisation of buildings, and 10) other (e.g. educational, cultural, training). Detailed studies were carried on the influence of legislative changes on: 1) financial mechanisms; 2) principles and organisation of the budgeting process; 3) generic structure of projects; 4) participatory budgeting model. In order to verify the results obtained, changes in the PB regulations not resulting from the MSGA provisions were additionally analysed. It was shown that the amendment to the Act had a significant impact on the implementation of PB in all the analysed cities. The changes mainly concerned the financial and formal-organisational aspects of participatory budgeting process. The most crucial ones include: increase in the size of the overall subsidies (in 15 cities), modification of the distribution of the financial means (9), introduction of letters of support at the stage of project submission (7) and appeal procedure (9). Among the “non-statutory” activities, the abolition of age limits in the remaining 7 cities should be mentioned. These activities brought positive effects on the increase in turnout (15), the number of projects selected for implementation (12) and their average value (13). On the other hand, the changes in MSGA did not affect the generic structure of the projects (in both years, in 10 cities the category “leisure and recreation” prevailed, and 1149 projects from this category were selected for implementation). The final unification of the PB implementation model in Polish voivodship cities has been completed. Finally, three modes of PB implementation according to the new rules were indicated: financial, procedural and combined.
Local referenda are a special form of direct democracy in Poland. As a result of some legal solutions and in the light of practice, now reaching back for over ten years, they must be considered as a populist and ineffective instrument. This refers primarily to the referenda on recalling local authorities such as city council and mayor, accounting for 85%-90% of all such events. The practice of local referenda in Poland embraces approximately 400 cases. During the first three terms in office of the territorial self-government (1990-2002), 347 referenda concerned recalling the communal councils. Such referenda may be initiated only by the residents of the commune. Only 37 of these referenda proved to be decisive, as their attendance turnout exceeded 30%. The effectiveness of referenda is limited mostly to small towns (up to 20 thousand residents), where the threshold turnout is usually reached.
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.
The article gives the description and analysis of regional ownership changes in Poland at the end of 2004 with close attention to the privatization process. The research proves that in both dimensions - the whole-Poland and regional there have not been noticed any dominant privatization methods, though in particular voivodships there are some differences concerning their usage frequency mostly determined by the number and profile of state enterprises from particular voivodships. The privatization analysis in a regional aspect reveals an area differentiation of the process advancement.
The article describes the important problem of increasing regional competitiveness through the international (interregional and cross-border) cooperation. Activities supporting the competitiveness of companies and whole regions are described in the article using the examples of transregional projects carried out by different partners dealing with logistics. The first project ECO4LOG carried out in the framework of interregional cooperation programme INTERREG III C promotes the usage of the intermodal infrastructure located in the transport corridor along Polish and German border and further through Austria, Hungary and Slovenia to the Adriatic sea. One of the main tasks of this project is the improvement of cross-border cooperation in goods transport among bodies which are interested in such cooperation (also public authorities). Another important target of ECO4LOG is the increase of effectiveness of the existing transport network through the improvement of information flows. The second project has the acronym CORELOG and is carried out in the framework of INTERREG III B CADSES. Its target is the development of logistics solutions favourable for enterprises, logistics operators and the whole region – propagating co-ordination of activities of different organisations, feasibility studies of developed co-operation models. Analysis and evaluation of the most important factors influencing the strategies of supply chain management and evaluation of activities carried out by administrations (of the national, regional and local level) affecting transport development and economic growth in the region will provide background for the implementation phase. Several pilot actions will test the ideas for coordinated regional logistics development.
The article aims to present and assess educational migration as a driver of human capital redistribution across regions. The unique research on academic careers of 8.5 thousand secondary school-leavers in Lublin (Poland) allowed to gather microdata on the mobility of young people along with the school-leaving examination results being a proxy of human capital. The results indicate that the ratio of youth out-migration from their home region amounts to roughly 20%, which seems a low figure against comparative studies. However, the distribution of migration rate along with the logit regression proved high propensity of the most talented youth to move out. Hence, strong positive migration selectivity is regarded as an important driver of human capital redistribution across regions, which might negatively affect human capital accumulation in the sending area.
The article presents the results of a questionnaire received in Autumn 2013 from over 1,300 Polish municipalities whose population does not exceed 50 thousand people. The material obtained from this questionnaire offers exact data concerning the performance of local governments in promoting local economic development, as well as opinions and values shared by these governments. The research is related to a similar undertaking performed in mid-1990s, and confirms earlier hypotheses indicating that spatial differentiation of performance of the local governments in Poland has deep historical roots.
The purpose of this article is to analyse both the allocation of the financial support from the 2nd instalment of the CGFLI in the Opolskie Voivodeship and the debate in this region over accusations of the clientelistic allocation of this fund. According to the first hypothesis, the local governments affiliated with the German minority are not treated as politically neutral; therefore, they might be vulnerable to discrimination in allocation of the fund. The second hypothesis claims that the peculiarity of the local political patterns in the voivodeship, which is characterised by the low level of partisanship, gives the ruling party’s regional politicians the opportunity to undermine the thesis on clientelistic distribution of the CGFLI. The research has shown that the local governments affiliated with the German minority have a lower chance of getting financial support when compared to the non-partisan ones. Additionally, the study has distinguished five modes of counter-arguing against the thesis on clientelism, employed by the ruling party politicians of the region.
