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The article aims to identify the geographical dimension of social (in)justice in the context of the existing permanent differences in the level of socio-economic development in Poland from the geographical and historical point of view. It also discusses the consequences of these inequalities for development policy on regional and local levels. The study consists of two essential parts. The first one presents synthetic deliberations on the geographical aspect of the social justice discussed. In the second part, an attempt was made to exemplify a geographical dimension of social (in)justice through the analysis of the spatial distribution of the socio-economic development level (a synthetic indicator) and selected partial indicators. In addition, the presence of dependencies of the socio-economic development level and the degree of political support for political fractions proclaiming the slogan of “social justice” was verified. The results of the conducted research confirm the existence of considerable developmental differences in the Polish space. Their strength is historically determined and, despite the passage of time, their pattern invariably corresponds to the former partition boundaries. These disparities are not minimised and the influence of economic growth on the income rise remains limited, especially in economically weaker areas, which leads to growing social dissatisfaction. As a result, one can conclude that in Poland those differences constitute the geographical dimension of social (in)justice.

In the past twenty years, research on the measurement of social capital has been among the leading areas of interest in social sciences. The impact of ethnic diversity on the level of social capital is an interesting aspect of this research. According to Robert Putnam, in the U.S. context, ethnic diversity has a negative influence on the level of social capital. Various research initiatives implemented in Europe indicate, however, that ethnic diversity does not have a significantly negative correlation with social capital, and, that examples of its positive impact on social capital can be found. The article presents a quantitative analysis conducted in 20 municipalities of the Opolskie Voivodship (10 of them ethnically homogeneous, and 10 – ethnically diversified) in order to analyse this relationship. On the basis of the data collected in the analysis, it can be stated that in the surveyed region, ethnic diversity is not a factor with a negative impact on the level of social capital, and it is also highly probable that it is a factor that enhances social capital, at least its bonding dimension.

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 method and rules of elections of village heads and village council-members, which are conducted at meetings of village residents, are one of the last examples of direct democracy. Even though this form of democracy has been studied and described previously, the electoral rivalry within rural communities is marginalized; therefore, it is little known. The paper tries to define the features of electoral competition and analyze rivalry at this level of government. It has been based on a case study of one commune and three research methods have been used: direct observation, document analysis and personal interviews. Additionally, the paper presents sociological and demographic studies on some of the newly elected village heads and their councils.

The aim of the present research is to describe the role of the Warmia and Mazury University in the formation of the functional macroregion in the Olsztyn agglomeration. The main criterion used to delimitate the macroregion of Olsztyn is the range of educational services of the biggest university in Warmia and Mazury. The authors use data relating to the place of living of the candidates who registered during the recruitment process in 2011 and 2012. They also analyze the impact of selected factors on the size of the area of Olsztyn university’s spatial influence. The research results show that the functional macroregion of the Olsztyn agglomeration covers, apart from the Warmia and Mazury voivodship, also the neighbouring districts of the Podlaskie and the Mazowieckie voivodships.

The paper discusses selected tools within Cohesion Policy that stimulate cooperation between cities. Subject to analysis are two programmes from 2004?2006: INTERRREG and URBACT. In the case of INTERREG programmes, the analysis pertains to the largest Polish cities (31 most populous cities and the Silesian and Tri-City conurbations), while in the case of URBACT, all the cities that were beneficiaries of the programme were taken into account. The results of the projects are usually of the soft type and involve transfer of good practices, building institutional capacity, and human capital. In this respect, the results of the analyzed projects should be considered at least satisfactory, although the number and scale of the completed projects does not allow for clear and measurable effects to be perceptible in a country-wide perspective.

The article presents 4 capital model as an evaluation method of the region development strategy implementation as well as strategy document analysis. The introduction provides definition of these types of capitals that might be adapted to analysis of sustainable development. Than the authors describes a result of exercise conducted together with representatives of self-government authorities consists of impact assessment of the strategy implementation in the context of selected forms of capital. The results were confronted with opinions of local self-governments authorities as well as small and medium size enterprises. These breakdown enabled authors to indicate weakness of the strategy and potentials trade-offs between different types of capital. As the final result recommendations regarding the updating processes of the strategy were formulated.

The main purpose of the paper is to recognise the impact of statutory Sunday trading restrictions on consumer behaviours (shopping time) and mobility (activeness, motivation, modal division) of residents in Łódź, one of the largest Polish cities. An additional aim is to determine the independence of the indicated elements for selected features of the surveyed residents and their households, for which purpose a two-stage questionnaire survey was conducted among the residents/dwellers of Łódź. The first stage was performed during a week following a non-trading Sunday, and the respondents were asked to refer specifically to the previous Sunday. The second phase was carried out during a week immediately following a trading Sunday, with the questions focused on that particular Sunday. The returned results showed that the main factor determining the time when people do their shopping to make up for a non-trading Sunday is their professional Sunday activity. The answers also revealed that the residents of Łódź chose an inactive and rather a “couch-potato” lifestyle on the analysed Sundays, whether trading or non-trading.

The paper is an overview of selected aspects of sustaining the development of Brussels. The mechanism of multi-level governance of the capital of Belgium and the nature of its problems resulted in the emergence of instruments that give local actors greater control over the urban processes. The paper describes two of such instruments, namely the neighbourhood contracts and the Regional Development Plan. Despite some criticism, both are considered valuable tools of urban policy. The way in which they have been adapted and the results they give confirm that Brussels’ sustainable development is achieved most effectively by the application of system solutions, specifically those used in the smallest administrative areas of the city – neighbourhoods.

The transformation of the German economy, which has been in progress for the last twenty years, determines the changes of the labour market. Since the reuni?cation in 1989, a major increase in atypical forms of employment has been observed as a result of deregulation processes of the labour market. The aim of this paper is to present the spectrum of problems regarding the diverse development of these forms in the eastern and western parts of the Federal Republic of Germany, with particular focus on the different situation of men and women. The author assumes that in order for non-standard forms of employment to ?ourish, the employment of women has to be considerable. The differences appearing in both parts of Germany are caused not only by economic factors, but also to a high degree by social and institutional ones.

The aim of this paper is to define the relationship between the level of human potential and economic efficiency of companies in different voivodeships. For the purpose of this paper, a synthetic indicator was constructed to evaluate the economic efficiency of companies as well as a synthetic indicator of human potential in a region, based on previously selected set of diagnostic variables. All 16 Polish voivodeships were included in the research. The TOPSIS method, Ward’s method and the PAM method were used in the research to classify different voivodeships. Moreover, correlation analysis and spatial autocorrelation analysis were carried out. The main criterion when selecting variables was their completeness and their accessibility for all objects in the research between the year 2009 and 2013.

The main purpose of this paper is to present selected methods of spatial-economic research with a special focus on Michalski`s method. The enlargement of the European Union by new countries is an important opportunity to carry out comparative studies, making it possible to analyse and assess the competitiveness of regions as well as spatial and regional diversity of growth centres. The presented visualisation methods are the authors` modest contribution to literature on this subject. This contribution includes collecting domestic methods, their implementation in research and some modifications. The purpose of these methods was to examine spatial processes (in such areas as: economy, demography, agriculture, quality of life or building) in different spatial sections, in the years 1990–1992. There are many methods of examining similarity (dissimilarity) of regional structures. All of them fundamentally depend on the concept of structure. In this paper, two different approaches of this concept and the relevant measures shall be presented. Furthermore, various methods of visualisation of the obtained measures shall be presented.

The goal of this article was to estimate the regional rates of return of investment in higher education as well as potential benefits of migration of educated people between Polish regions. The results show that the benefits of higher education in Poland are higher for women than for men. Also, wage benefits of education grow with age and work experience, but they are characterized by decreasing marginal value. Internal returns of investment in education, calculated for every region assuming no migration of workers, are weakly correlated with the expected salaries of university graduates. In turn, the returns of interregional migration for people with higher education indicate that the most attractive destination in Mazowieckie, and the least attractive – Podlaskie. A particularly strong motivation for migration is faced by educated women of Podlasie. The research demonstrated also that in some regions (Lodzkie, Lubuskie), the expected earnings of graduates are largely influenced by the opportunity to work in neighbouring regions, offering more attractive salaries.

The paper analyzes the functional aspect of metropolitan processes in one of the most densely populated areas in Poland. The purpose of the article is to study metropolitan functions, as well as to analyze the intrinsic structure of the Upper-Silesian Metropolitan Area, which used to be an industrial conurbation that evolved into a polycentric settlement arrangement. The analysis is based on selected qualitative features of international and domestic standings, and uses the centrality indicator. The selected functional metropolitan area is formed by 15 municipalities, including 13 towns with county rights, and is inhabited by 1.9 million people. The functions are dispersed in different towns and seem polarized. The metropolitan centre of utmost importance and holding well-developed metropolitan functions is the city of Katowice, whereas Gliwice and Chorzow are first-class auxiliary centres. The remaining towns are centres of developing metropolitan functions.

Due to a dynamic increase of the number of tourists, to demand and supply changes, or – in short – to changes of paradigm, tourism has been recently considered as an important factor of regional development. Countries and regions attempt to encourage tourism development with modern planning. An overview of selected planning documents, mostly regional, leads to the conclusion that in spite of a declarative adoption of the new paradigm on the strategic level, the operational level is still dominated by the old approach, based on a number of myths. These myths should be considered main obstacles in tourism development in Poland.

The purpose of this paper is to perform a cross-sectional ex-post evaluation of the impact of interventions carried out in the framework of EU Cohesion Policy on social cohesion of Polish cities. Social cohesion has been understood as the ability of modern society to ensure long-term prosperity for all its members, including the provision of equal access to resources, respect for human dignity and diversity, personal and collective autonomy and responsible participation. The study shows a concentration of resources in large system projects, and the greatest progress is seen in the case of education, labour market access for women and availability of medical services. A relatively slower improvement can be observed in programmes concerning social exclusion, supporting disabled people, and culture.

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 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.

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 notion of a network is one of the key terms used to describe the contemporary world. The role of cooperation networks is also stressed in the context of innovation and its spatial aspects. In this particular case, most attention is given to metropolises as major networks of flows not only of people, capital or goods, but also of information and knowledge. The paper discusses selected spatial aspects of collaborative networks in Polish science. The discussion of examples is preceded by a theoretical introduction intended to outline various aspects of innovation networks at national and regional levels, with particular emphasis on the role of metropolises in collaborative networks.

This article presents, from a sociological perspective, selected methodological issues concerning urban studies. The authors of such studies either create theories of a city’s rise and fall or describe a changing urban reality, investigating the history of cities. Examples of the first approach are the more or less formalized works of Louis Wirth or Richard Florida, as well as Geoffrey West’s and Louis Bettencourt’s quantitative concept.. The second type of studies is represented by Max Weber, Fernand Braudel and others. The author, although he is not denying the merits of the first approach, claims that the descriptive-historical perspective has so far been more useful in explaining the process of urban development.

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between the socioeconomic potential and the financial condition of regions (voivodeships) in Poland. The authors hypothesise that there is a linear relationship between the potential of regions, manifested by the wealth and economic activity of people living and entities operating in their area, and the income potential of these local government units, and thus their ability to meet the needs of the local government community. For the purposes of the analysis, eleven measures were selected from four areas, reflecting the social and economic potential of the regions, and seven measures of financial condition, reflecting the structure of their budget income and expenditure, as well as their selected values on a per capita basis. In connection with the above, the study used descriptive statistics methods, linear correlation r-Pearson, and the method of standardised sums (Perkal index) in order to typologise the studied entities.

The aim of the research was to determine the forms of support provided to energy clusters in Poland. The author sought to answer the following questions: What activities do energy clusters receive support for? Does the support come from foreign (EU) or domestic funds? How do energy clusters fit in the current cluster policy in Poland? The study area was the Lower Silesia Voivodeship – one of 16 administrative regions of Poland. The author selected this region, because it has the largest number of energy clusters in Poland. The following methods were used to achieve the goal of the research: (1) a review of literature and industry reports; (2) a CAWI survey of clusters; and (3) interviews with cluster coordinators. Public support received by the surveyed clusters concerned either the commencement or the continuation of cluster activity. In the initial phase of the clusters activity, the support received concerned documentation work, drafting plans for the expansion of the power grid, and purchasing an energy monitoring and management system. At later stages of cluster development, the implemented projects mainly concerned the construction of ground-based PV farms and photovoltaic installations on the roofs of public utility buildings. Less frequently implemented projects included the thermal modernisation of public buildings, hybrid investments (PV and wind turbine), and energy storage facilities. Apart from the above, educational projects were implemented. The support funds came mainly from the EU funds (Operational Programmes and the Interreg programme). In turn, support from national funds came from the Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, from local government funds, or from the Polish Deal, i.e. the government’s programme of strategic investments.

Both transmission and distribution power lines are fundamental components of the electrical power system, enabling the transmission and distribution of electricity generated in power plants to end consumers. However, their presence is associated with certain land use restrictions, which are described in detail in local spatial development plans that are local acts of law. In the relevant literature, there is a noticeable lack of the proper analysis leading to a conclusion about the character of the mentioned restrictions. Using selected local plans as examples, this study aims to identify limitations on the placement of building objects in the vicinity of overhead power lines.

This article explores the legal nature, classification, and fiscal role of parafiscal charges in the system of local public finance in Ukraine. It identifies the main features of such instruments, analyses their divergence from classical tax and non-tax revenues, and evaluates their practical use by local authorities. Comparative insights from selected European countries are provided. The study reveals significant legal uncertainty and risks of uncontrolled fiscal pressure at the local level, offering recommendations for clearer regulation and alignment with relevant European standards in the broader context of fiscal decentralisation, local governance reform, and sustainable development of territorial communities.

This paper attempts to diagnose the attitudes of municipal office employees toward civic participation and assess selected outcomes of participatory budgeting (PB) in the six largest Polish cities between 2014 and 2023. The analysis is based on empirical research, including surveys, in-depth interviews, and secondary data analysis. The findings reveal an institutional perspective and indicate the presence of two dominant approaches among public officials, namely an affirmative and a critical one. The article also discusses both the direct and indirect effects of PB – educational, social, political, and redistributive. In cities where the affirmative approach prevails (Poznań, Wrocław, Gdańsk, and Łódź), higher educational and political outcomes were more frequently observed. In contrast, in Warsaw and Kraków, where the critical approach dominates, lower educational and political outcomes were more commonly noted, along with relatively stronger redistributive effects. The results further suggest that participatory budgeting can serve as an effective tool for municipal administrations in identifying residents’ needs, although its capacity to meet those needs remains limited.

The aim of the article is to depict the issue of commemorating foreign partnerships of municipalities present in the public space. The municipalities of the Gniezno district were selected as a case study. The author initially verified the following hypothesis: although foreign cooperation is an optional and secondary task of municipalities, their authorities commemorate it as a manifestation of their international ambitions. The source base was: secondary data, first-hand sources (information from town halls), as well as photographic documentation made during field trips. The identified commemorations took various forms: welcome boards at the entrance to the municipality, monuments, and the name of the square. They were established in locations important to the municipalities. In the case of one of the monuments, state diplomacy and paradiplomacy merged.

Globalisation – characterised by dynamic economic growth, increasing exploitation of the natural environment, and deepening social inequalities – brings negative consequences and is strongly perceptible also in local communities. A new approach to development policy based on the idea of sustainable development must be incorporated into local governments’ strategies, programmes, and actions. We adopted exploratory approach to determine the level and identify the spatial patterns of sustainable development of Polish poviats. The aggregated (synthetic) indicators of economic, social, and environmental development were developed to analyse the spatial patterns of the poviats’ development trends. Our research shows that in Poland there are overwhelmingly more poviats characterised by lower development than those better developed in all three analysed categories. Hierarchical analysis using the Ward’s method revealed that Polish poviats can be divided into three relatively homogeneous clusters in terms of development levels. The largest group consists of poviats characterised by the relatively lowest level of sustainability in economic and social areas, and the highest – by environmental development. Analyses using the Moran method made it possible to determine the so-called spatial regimes of clusters. The captured spatial relationships indicate that selected poviats have a significant impact on the level of development in the neighbouring poviats.

In the article, we analyse the reactions of large Polish cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) to the (re)centralisation pressure of the central government in 2015–2023. Referring to the developed typology of these reactions, we attempt to measure the intensity of contestation on the part of cities and determine the variables that build the potential for expressing such contestation. As measures of contestation, we use three variables: the city mayor’s participation in the Self-Government Movement “Yes! For Poland”, the adoption of a local in vitro programme and the presence of a roundabout, square, or street named after Women’s Rights in the city. The independent variables were the city’s size and wealth, the city mayor’s political affiliation, and the local electorate’s political preferences. The study showed that the city’s size and its citizens’ political preferences are the factors most strongly associated with the tendency to engage in conflictual behaviour towards government policies.

The article presents a contemporary, multifaceted analysis of changes occurring in post-industrial sites within Polish cities. The research focuses on the demographic, morphological and functional changes observed in selected brownfields in Wrocław and Kraków. The findings indicate that such areas in large post-socialist cities are currently undergoing a period of intensive transformation, primarily characterised by increased land use intensity and functional changes. To preserve the cultural heritage of these areas, it is essential to continue monitoring these transformations in the future.

This article shows the profiles of people who hold at least the second cadence on the position of village mayor, mayor or president of the city. According to the paradigm New Public Management, the person who manages the community is often antidote on its problems, the key for its economical success and the chance of better life its inhabitants. Doubtlessly, it is connected with a charisma of the leader. What is hidden under this term? The aim of this article is to answer the question whether it is possible to show some personality features and the model of management which decide on the chance of holding the position of the mayor of community on the next cadence. The method of the studies contain the interpretation of the personality test NEO-FFI and the questionnaire concerning the model of management of the community. The results show that the people which are the managers of the community must have some level of the main personality features in fact. Only then it is possible to hold the next cadence. It relates mainly to extraversion and conscientiousness. The model of management chosen by them is of great significance too.

The French territorial system is marked by a historical very large communal dispersion. Strangely the French State, although considered very strong, has never managed to impose the merger of these municipalities, as was the case in most other European countries. This resistance of local elected representatives, often also national parliamentarians, then led the central government to use another strategy: their grouping in public institutions of intermunicipal cooperation (EPCI). The creation of the Metropolis of Lyon is, therefore, very original. Created by the law of 27th January, 2014, it is the only “metropolis” with the status of territorial collectivity and merges on its territory the Rhône department and the former “urban community” of Lyon. This metropolis is thus unique in France, and the authors will tend to verify whether it could serve as a model to follow by other metropolises, considering the case of the first institutionalised metropolis in Poland, namely the GZM Metropolis, which is struggling with structural problems. The GZM Metropolis was established in 2017 by the Polish Parliament’s law and provided with a specific governance regime comparable to the “manager and council model” and decision-making based on a double majority of the municipalities and population. After the first five years of functioning, the leaders of this first Polish metropolis seem to be ready to adjust their metropolitan institutions, understanding its limits and searching for inspiration at the international level.

The notion of a network is one of the key terms used to describe the contemporary world. The role of cooperation networks is also stressed in the context of innovation and its spatial aspects. In this particular case, most attention is given to metropolises as major networks of flows not only of people, capital or goods, but also of information and knowledge. The paper discusses selected spatial aspects of collaborative networks in Polish science. The discussion of examples is preceded by a theoretical introduction intended to outline various aspects of innovation networks at national and regional levels, with particular emphasis on the role of metropolises in collaborative networks.

The aim of this article is to analyse trans-border entrepreneurial cooperation in selected territorial units of the Polish-Slovakian border. The authors estimated the number of enterprises operating on both sides of the Polish-Slovakian border and described the branches which are represented by these firms. They also presented other examples of entrepreneurship in the analysed area.

In this paper, the author provides a description and an explanation of regional variation in gender wage gaps in Poland, and shows that the gap is especially large in the Silesian Voivodeship (ca 25.44%). He presents several explanations for this phenomenon. First, gender wage discrimination is likely to be especially strong in Silesia. Second, in this region, men typically work in bigger firms than women. Third, the distribution of women between different occupations and industries in Silesia is especially disadvantageous for their relative wages. Fourth, the structure of occupational wage differentials in Silesia is also unfavourable for women, i.e. predominantly female occupations pay relatively less in Silesia than in other regions.

The reforms driven by New Public Management (NPM) led to the introduction of management principles in local governments, marketisation and outsourcing. They made the greatest impact in the United Kingdom, but were also put in place in other European countries such as Ireland, Sweden, Germany, and – to the least degree – in France (compared to other countries discussed in this paper). There is a risk that NPM-inspired reforms may come to lose sight of the underlying social purpose of public services. NPM has not however become a new, universal model for public sector management. Issues tackled in the debate concerning the reform of public services have moved (mostly in the UK) beyond the concerns of NPM towards the emerging concept of networked community governance.

The article presents the main topics of the European debate on the EU Cohesion Policy after 2013, i.e. a discussion of territorial cohesion, the new EU economic strategy 2010-2020, and the next EU financial perspective after 2013. The debate has been continuing in the shadow of the financial and economic crises (2008-2010) and the trouble in the Euro zone (2010), which were caused by continued structural differences between the Member States. The Cohesion Policy is too weak an instrument to solve these problems. The author’s analysis focuses on the main proposals of changes in the Cohesion Policy put forward during the debate, which were shaped mainly by political interests of the dominant actors, and based on experts’ opinions and scientific concepts. In the conclusion, the author presents some recommendations for future Cohesion Policies.

The article presents selected results of studies presented in the Report of the State and Conditions of Planning Works as at the End of 2006. The report was prepared in the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, for the Ministry of Construction in autumn 2007. In this article attention is focused on the analysis of the Local Development Spatial Plans coverage and agricultural land changes in 2004–2006. In the studies, delimitation and classification based on the administrative-settlement structure, routes of the transport corridors and land use kind and intensity were taken into consideration.

The level of adaptability of basic administrative units in Poland (municipalities - gminy) has a huge impact on the extent of adverse consequences caused by floods, and therefore on the flood risk in municipalities. As part of the research, we selected 15 characteristics of the municipalities which shape their adaptability processes and allow a diagnosis of the municipalities’ adaptability to be made. The article aims at presenting the methodology of empirical research seeking to obtain observable data (indicators) using quantitative studies. These indicators make to possible to assess the level of the municipalities’ adaptability to flood risk. The empirical research with the use of the questionnaire produced the results which – by preparing a questionnaire –enabled us to obtain data which are unavailable to the general public, but are vital in identifying all characteristics of a municipality which impact its adaptability assessment. The questionnaire was applied in an adaptability research of 18 municipalities located in the Nysa Kłodzka basin, which are most at risk of flooding. Nevertheless, the research tool is a universal one and could be used for analysing any type of natural hazards.

The problem of centralization and decentralization is very interesting and important in management science, political science, sociology, political economy, economics and regional sciences. The discussion over the centralization versus decentralization is a never-ending one. It is an age-old battle of standardization versus autonomy, corporate efficiency versus local effectiveness and pressure on costs and resources versus accommodation of specific local needs. The advantages of each model are, in essence, the disadvantages of the other. Decisions to decentralize or centralize must be derived from a careful cost–benefit analysis. The debate over whether to centralize or decentralize is not so much over which type of strategy is more effective but the degree to which each strategy is used in combination with one another.

The main objective of the study was to identify regularities related to selected aspects of stability of cross-border cooperation on the example of Polish borderlands. The basis for the analysis was a comprehensive study of cross--border cooperation projects Interreg, ETC, ENPI, ENPI implemented in 2007–2013 and 2014–2020. The study covered a total of about 1500 projects in terms of stability of the subject of cooperation and stability of spatial structures of cooperation. The analysis allowed to find partial stability in relation to selected thematic categories of implemented projects and spatial stability in terms of distribution of cooperation beneficiaries by locality.

The paper refers to sublocal units within metropolitan governance, focusing on Wrocław in the context of multi-level governance and good governance. In Poland, such units function as ancillary units of municipalities (gminy). The paper describes their legal status and functioning within the Polish territorial government and discusses selected urban districts (powiaty). The analysis is based on legal acts and interviews with people involved in the local and sublocal government in Wrocław. The organisation of metropolitan governance based on smaller units is an efficient solution applied in cities worldwide, however, in the case of Wrocław, the borough model leaves a broad potential to develop this element of municipal management structure. Currently, a clear concept of their role in the city is needed.

The institutionalized revitalization process is an important tool of contemporary Polish public policy. According to the declarations of local authorities, its programmes are designed to support the development of so-called degraded spaces and the effort against social exclusion of their inhabitants. However, as the analysis of municipal revitalization programmes (GPR) in the biggest cities reveals, planned revitalization leads to gentrification of a urbanized area and is therefore more conducive to segregation than to social inclusion. This paper discusses the relationships between revitalization and gentrification on the basis of the content and assumptions of urban regeneration programmes. It is based on the literature and on selected GPRs.

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.

The paper discusses the subject of intersectoral cooperation in sustainable development projects in order to identify social value created by the cooperating partners. There were several questions posed to find out what kind of social value is created in sustainable development projects undertaken by stakeholders from different sectors, and what is the role of such intersectoral cooperation in the process of creating social value. The empirical part of the work presents case studies from selected projects. As the results demonstrate, the use of mutual potentials allows for a more effective creation and use of value by a wider circle of stakeholders. A higher quality of services is achieved and, what is more, a wider range of social value is created. Social value in the local cooperation model is universal in terms of implementation, creation and use for various crosssectoral sustainable development projects.

The article analyses the participation of nation-wide parties in the elections of local authorities: municipal councils and mayors. There is no empirical confirmation of the assumption that along with the democratic consolidation in Poland, political parties strengthen their presence in local governments. Between 2002 and 2018 the overall spread of national parties in local elections decreased, even though the national party system (at the parliamentary arena) was relatively consolidated. The level of political parties’ engagement in local authorities, despite the changes in the level of parties’ support, is relatively stable – and low: no more than one third of elected local officials in Poland are affiliated with political parties. Among parliamentary parties, only four: PO, PiS, PS and SLD, maintained their significant representation in local governments, but the share of power at the local level which they were able to win varied considerably. LPR and Samoobrona rapidly lost their significance after their defeat in the 2007 parliamentary elections. The “new parties” established later failed to secure representation at the local level. The analyses confirm a positive (and stable over time) relationship between the level of party politicisation of local governments and the size of the municipality.

The paper is an attempt to answer few questions, which are of crucial importance for the assessment of local government financing in Poland. The main focus of the paper is on inter-governmental financial transfers. What are goals and principles of inter-governmental grants in the theory of fiscal federalism? How these principles are applied in European countries? How the practice of local finance in Poland is related to these principles and to international experience? The first section deals with theoretical issues of grants` transfers and equalization schemes. The second part includes a brief description of grant systems in selected European countries. The third section concentrates on the evaluation of the Polish practice, and includes recommendation fo future changes. However, the paper skips a detail description of the Polish grant system (which is well-known and described in Polish academic literature).

New Public Management – inspired reforms have influenced implementation of management principles in local government, the marketisation and outsourcing. These reforms were mostly visible in the United Kingdom but appear also in other European countries, for example: Ireland, Sweden, Germany, the least in France (among described in this article). There is a risk that NPM-led reforms may come to lose sight of the underlying social purpose of public services. NPM has not became a new, universal model of public sector management. The debate about public service reform has moved (particularly in UK) beyond the concerns of NPM to an emerging concept of networked community governance.

The rising costs of educational tasks due to the decreasing number of students force municipal authorities to take cost-saving measures, including the most radical form, that is closing down schools. Such decisions are not popular with the local residents and in all the examined municipalities have caused conflicts between the stakeholders of local educational policy. The aim of the article is to present actions taken by municipal authorities to reduce the negative effects of conflicts arising in connection with the liquidation of schools. The authors focus on the activities of municipal authorities to curb the negative consequences of the conflict, but turn out to be financially ineffective. The article was based on the analysis of the subject literature, as well as the results of empirical research conducted by the authors. The theoretical framework draws on selected concepts of conflict management and the polarity management model.

The paper includes the most important results of the project of the same title, carried out as part of a larger project “The Development Trends of the Mazovia Region”, implemented for the local government of the Mazowieckie voivodship in 2010?2012. It primarily concerned demographic and settlement issues related to the evolution of functional relations and linkages, spatial availability, as well as infrastructure and land use conditions. The main objective was to formulate the conditions which would ensure development, and to identify the factors and conditions that affected easy flow of development stimuli and better efficiency of the suburban zone and spatial cohesion of the Mazovia region. The horizon time of the project concerned the period after 1990 (diagnosis and retrospective study) and 2030 (forecast). The paper has a survey character, it reports on selected topics only, and its aim is to disseminate important research results.

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.

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 study aimed to examine the determinants of car choice in daily trips of the inhabitants of four Polish cities: Białystok, Gdańsk, Kraków, and Warszawa. Data from the Eurostat’s Quality of Life 2019 study was used to achieve this goal. The results of the empirical exercise revealed that the main factors affecting travel mode choice included the respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics. The perceived satisfaction with air quality, the city’s noise level, and public transport quality were found among the important predictors of car choice. The homogeneity of travel mode preferences at the city level was also analysed.

The paper presents the basic consequences of the introduction of single-member districts (the FPTP system) in municipal elections in Poland. The authors analyze the results of the 2010 and 2014 elections (before and after the electoral reform). Basing on the difference-in-differences research scheme, the paper presents changes in the municipalities where either block- -voting or proportional representation systems were replaced by the FPTP. The empirical analyses demonstrate that the change from the BV to the FPTP system brought only marginal effects. The replacement of the PR system by the FPTP was more visible. Quite paradoxically, it increased the number of committees competing in the elections. However, the disproportionality and the share of wasted votes increased significantly, while the fragmentation of local councils decreased. In the municipalities previously using a proportional representation system, the number of candidates decreased visibly; contrary to the initial assumptions, its impact was neutral to the share of elected female councillors. The introduction of the FPTP system significantly limited the already weak presence of nation-wide political parties in local councils.

The article discusses political leadership in local government. Change from traditional local government to local governance requires also institutional changes and new roles played by local leaders. The notion of political leader is limited to persons having democratic legitimacy for their role played in local politics. It excludes people, who might be influential but remain outside formal democratic institutions of local government. The article distinguishes between type (which depends on formal institutional settings) and style (more dependent on personal characteristics) of leadership. The article discusses selected theoretical concepts of type and style of leadership and tries to refer them to Polish local governments. Recent Polish reforms have brought a change from the type which was close to a collective model to one closer to a strong mayor form. Analysis of four initiative in 2 Polish cities (Poznan and Ostrow Wielkopolski) allows to formulate some conclusions on citizens’ perception of actual styles of local political leadership. The largest proportion of citizens in analysed cities prefers a style which is close to consensus facilitator. But in a real behaviour of leaders, citizens see more of city boss style, which might be characterized by the implementation of an own vision with internal resources existing within local government structures. Comparison of citizens’ preferences with the perception of actual behaviour of leaders allows to compute an Expectation Gap Index. The gap is usually quite narrow in initiatives focused on the construction of broad development programmes, but it becomes wider if we turn to more concretely focused projects.

One of the most important features of Eastern Poland is its peripheral character. This region is often associated with various negative socio-economic phenomena. Population processes, including the problem of depopulation, affect a large part of rural areas of the macroregion. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the demographic changes occurring in rural areas of Eastern Poland in 2002–2015 on selected areas of socio-economic life, as well as to attempt to determine the scale of the changes and their spatial consequences in the field of education, entrepreneurship, construction, housing, and public finances.

The article discusses the involvement of the US federal government in the policy of urban development in the years 1965-2012. The implementation paradox, understood as a limited ability to achieve national policy objectives as a result of the empowerment of potential adversaries, and the changing views of the successive presidents on federalism were considered crucial in explaining the discussed issue. The following categories have been used: federalism, orientation and instruments of development, and financial outlays for development. Orientation and instruments of development have been presented on the basis of selected federal programmes addressed to cities, and outlays – based on federal budgets. Three generations of public policy implementation theories constitute the theoretical framework of the study. In conclusion, the author points to the withdrawal of the federal government and the growing importance of state authorities in urban development policy.

The article discusses the differences in the mayors’ political strength in European countries and the implications of their role in horizontal power relationships for the operation of the local government scene. First, it shows how the role of the mayor is measured, taking into account various institutional settings such as the election system, the scope of competences vis-?-vis the legislative body and possibilities of recall before the end of the term of office. Second, it demonstrates how such dissimilar contexts of the mayor’s political strength impact on several selected aspects of their activity, including the propensity to be formally affiliated with a political party, perception of the mayor’s autonomy in their day-to-day management of the municipality and the possibilities to keep the mandate for several terms in a row.

Social councils (SCs) are local collegial actors formally created by local authorities as consultative bodies for different policy issues. The main objective of this article is to define the role of SCs in collaborative governance (CG). The paper is based on the quantitative research conducted in 65 Polish cities. The research is focused on the members of youth, senior citizen councils, and councils for residents with disabilities. The research results indicate that SCs meet many of the prerequisites of CG, however their potential to influence decisions and consensus seeking has not been entirely proven.

This paper is based on data collected during a study (questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews) conducted in selected Polish gminas and focused on selected road corridors. On this basis, social perception of the accessibility of selected services is assessed as well as changes in frequency of road use, quality of life, and road safety. In the case of three road corridors (highways A1 and A4; express road S8), changes in accessibility have occurred as a result of road investments.

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.

As a result of interaction of many factors, the conditions of academic institutions have changed significantly over the last decades. Globalization and internationalization, demographic and economic challenges, as well as growing international competition between universities causes these institutions to take up new functions, restructure and change their character. Top universities respond to the changing context by developing new strategic solutions aiming at sustaining and strengthening their high position in international rankings. Some of the strategic solutions are similar for most universities, but some are unique and specific. The aim of this article is to identify latest trends in strategic management of top universities and present selected case studies to illustrate the most interesting solutions.

The article attempts to assess the development policy of the self-government authorities of Pomorskie region. Since the third level of territorial self-government has been established upon the state reform of territorial administration, one may ask how the intra-regional policy develops in Poland. The self-government of the region has been bound by the law to draw up a document specifying the trends of the region development a strategy of the region. The strategy provisions constitute a good point of reference for the assessment of the undertakings within the development policy taken on by the regional authorities. The assessment of the development policy in the years 1999-2004 corresponds to the first term of office and a half of the term of office of the regional authorities elected during an election. The article covers many aspects and concentrates on the description of the selected undertakings with the aim to create a regional innovation system, to support medium and small business, to create regional capital market, to develop farming and operation of the special economic zones. The author makes an attempt to show that the regional self-government, giving as an example the Pomorskie region self-government, tries to create its own development policy in compliance with the strategy in the circumstances of stiff standards imposed by the central authorities.

The purpose of the paper was to study the nature of demand for labour on the basis of the characteristics of unemployed people registered in the Local Labour Office in Szczecin that have found employment in the last quarter of 2006. In the paper, the authors studies the possibilities to use survival analysis methods for analysing the influence of gender, education and age of the unemployed person on their job search time and interactions between these variables. In the last quarter of 2006, Szczecin’s labour market demanded young and well-educated employees. The women tended to find jobs faster among younger groups, men among the older age groups.

A low level of social activity in all dimensions is a characteristic feature of Poland. However, some enclaves of social activity do exist: there are fields of social life in which Poles are more active and devote more spare time to them; we can also distinguish active social groups. The article is an attempt to analyze social activity of Lodz citizens in the following dimensions: the participation in community activities and the participation in non-governmental organizations. The authors try to indicate the level of social activity of Lodz residents and the correlates of the analyzed dimensions of civic activity. Sex, age, profession and income are analyzed as independent variables.

The aim of this paper is to characterize three main concepts of region developed in the period of the 2nd Republic. First of all, the Author describes the ethnographic concept of region, created by Kazimierz Moszyński. He focuses on tangible differentiators of region. Józef Obrębski, who is Moszyński’s disciple, takes as a basis the ethnographic concept of region and adds to it the idea that a region is formed in contact between members of a regional group with the Other. Józef Chałasiński, the author of the third concept, shares Obrębski’s view and adds that it is in contact with the Other that is developed the most important factor in the region-building process, namely regional identity. The paper offers information on the theoretical tradition of sociology of region in today’s Poland.

The paper is based on the results of empirical studies concerning town identity building conducted in 206 selected town administration offices in Poland during the years 2003–2005. The paper aimed at identifying the main identity strategy instruments applied in Polish towns. For that purpose the major town identity building instruments related to visualization, communication and pattern of behaviours including marketing activities, were identified and characterized. Those instruments should be focused around the most important attributes of a given town. It was established, however, that towns expose too many attributes of identity in their strategies hence the image created can become unclear and illegible.

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.

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 purpose of the paper is to point out the characteristic features of spatial development in cities of the Metropolitan Union of Silesia (GZM), located in the central subregion of the Upper Silesian region. The specificity of its development is the result of both historical conditions arising from the exploitation of natural resources, which were taking place for many centuries, as well as the contemporary economic and social impacts that are affecting the functioning of highly integrated territorial units that co-create the GZM. The presented research results refer to a selected area of interest in urban morphology. In this case, it is the comparison of a combination of building types located in the GZM cities with buildings in other cities of the Upper Silesian region and all other Polish cities.

The objective of this article is to analyze the impact of business cycle fluctuations on the regional labour market. The study is based on a less developed Polish region, i.e. Warmia and Mazury. Five variables are selected to describe business cycle fluctuations on the regional labour market: unemployment rate, number of employed persons, number of created jobs, number of unemployed persons who found a job, and the average gross wage. In order to eliminate the effects of seasonality as well as the impact of irregular factors, the TRAMO-SEATS method is used. For the business cycles estimation, the Christiano-Fitzgerald band pass filter is applied, and the Bry--Boschan procedure is applied to date business cycles turning points. The results of the survey imply that some of the labour market variables can be treated as leading, and others as lagged business cycles variables in relation to the reference series, i.e. output of industry.

The aim of the article is to measure the sustainable development of rural areas of the Wielkopolska region and define the role of the Rural Development Programme for 2007-2013 in reinforcing developmental changes. The conducted research measured sustainable development for the year 2015 (in three dimensions: economic, social and environmental), and shows the spatial variations of the analysed phenomenon. As the next step, the awarded funds were measured and their impact on sustainable development was assessed. The measurements were carried out with the use of a synthetic measure, while the relationship between the level of development and the level of the awarded funds was assessed using analysis of variance. The research comprised rural and rural urban municipalities in the region. The findings demonstrate significant variations in the level of sustainable rural development in the Wielkopolska region.

The aim of this paper is to discuss urban renewal policy implemented in France over the 20th and the 21st century. Referring to selected examples from the agglomeration of Paris, special attention is paid to the social dimension of urban renewal. The diversified tools in the field of urbanism and contract policy led to vertical and horizontal cooperation between different entities. The key element was the differentiation of housing supply, especially in the case of apartments for rent. In the areas with better potential and likely to become more multi-dimensionally attractive, the effects of renewal were more spectacular, whereas urban renovation carried out in deprived areas still brings mixed outcomes.

The article describes the phenomenon of urban space in Lodz being transformed by graffiti and wall-writings. The graffiti samples selected for analysis may be described as conveying a message that is easily understood by every local. This seemingly meaningless composition of wall-writings is highly influential in fact and transforms the surrounding city space. The author, by analysing the content of the graffiti, its graphical form and space context in which it appears, explores the way in which graffiti transforms urban space in the city of Lodz. The subject of the research is photographic documentation made in 2006 and 2008 in the city centre and some of the residential areas situated on the outskirts of the city.

The paper analyses the changes in the scale of the rural economic activity and identifies their selected determinants. The socio-demographic characteristics of the labour resources and the economic differences between rural regions in Poland were analysed as reasons for the dissimilar levels of rural employment. Analyses have demonstrated that, in 2010–2016, rural economic activity measured by the employment rate increased from 50% to 53%, primarily as a result of the impact of cyclical determinants, reflected in the increase in the number of the employed being higher than the number of inactive persons, with a reduced scale of unemployment overall. The studies indicated similar values of the employment rate for urban and rural areas, while the differences in its level within the selected social categories were much more visible for rural populations. This reflected a persistence of territorial disparities in labour markets as well as a trend towards their convergence. The level of territorial differences in the rural employment in Poland was moderate and should be linked with regional economic characteristics. In this context, the allocation of rural labour supply could be attributed to the impact of cities and their functional areas and to the progress in economic diversification of villages located in a particular region. The discussion section of the paper outlines the institutional opportunities and barriers increasing rural economic activity. The presented conclusions were based on the Central Statistical Office data (mainly the Labour Force Survey and the Local Data Bank) and statistical and comparative analysis methods.

The aim of the paper is to analyze the factors determining the likelihood of reelection of Polish mayors. In order to identify the factors impacting the likelihood of reelection, the author estimates the parameters of the binomial model. The results show that spending in the election year, especially on housing, is greatly appreciated by the inhabitants of cities. The mayors who are very likely to be reelected are leaders of cities that are successful in acquiring EU funds, where the labour market is stable, and the material situation of inhabitants and businesses does not deteriorate during their term. Cities that are capitals of voivodeships offer a greater likelihood of reelection, as do those formerly in the Austrian partition or on the so-called Reclaimed Lands of Western Poland. Variables belonging to the domain of sociology of politics have an equally significant impact on the analyzed likelihood.

The paper is an attempt to analyze the reform of the local government electoral system introduced by the Act of January 11, 2018. The authors of the study describe the most important changes from the point of view of the citizens mentioned in the title of the act as well as of the institutions involved. Among the most important changes the authors list those related to passive voting right, seat allocation method and the structure of constituencies. Because of the lack of an appropriate time perspective, the authors limit themselves to legal and political analysis, pointing only to their possible consequences.

In the article, the authors present the distribution of human capital in Poland in general and in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship in particular with respect to demographic and socio-economic characteristics. In the analyses, they applied a composite indicator of human capital. In order to construct, validate and test the reliability of the indicator, its authors carried out an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and a principal component analysis for categorical variables. They used data from the Social Diagnosis 2009. The results show that human capital in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship was slightly higher than the average for Poland, but more dispersed according to selected demographic and socio-economic characteristics than in the whole country.