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 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.
The article presents intraregional convergence processes in different types of European metropolitan macro-regions in the years 1995–2004. The typology is based on factor analysis using principal components methods as well as cluster analysis using the Ward method. The results of the analysis indicate the presence of a specific situation in particular types of macro-regions. On the one hand, a clear internal divide of capital city regions of Central and Eastern European Countries was observed, as well as large interregional differences in the level of development in other peripheral macro-regions. On the other hand, Northern Italian and Southern German macro-regions, dependent on modern industry, were internally quite coherent regarding their level of development. The situation was similar also in some regions that experience problems and undergo restructurisation processes. Capital city regions of smaller European countries, especially from the former EU15 (but not constituting any particular type), were the most differentiated group of macro-regions.
The article deals with the analysis of the anticipated middle-term demand for dwellings in Poland. On the basis of the empirical research this demand has been considered as being determined by the two groups of factors: demographic and economic, together with the level of the state of fulfillment of the basic housing needs. The finale set consisted of eight factors of the diverse wage. These were: the percentage of deficient flats counted as the difference between the number of households and the number of flats, the average space floor per capita, the population growth in 1998-2002, the percentage of people in the age from 20 to 39, prognosis of the number of inhabitants in 2002-2010, the unemployment rate, average wages, and the number of the business entities per 1000 inhabitants. The analyze has been carried out in the commune-scale pattern and can be useful for spatial planners and persons professionally involved in the housing market.
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the importance of innovation in the formation of regions of development and those of economic stagnation in Poland. The test procedure adapted by the authors consists of two stages. In the ?rst one, the authors use cluster analysis to group voivodeships into two categories according to the strength and weakness of their economies, on the basis of socio-economic development indicators, structured according to the following aspects: (1) population and settlement, (2) the structure of the economy and the job market, (3) technical infrastructure and easy access, and (4) the ?nancial situation and wealth. In the second stage the authors use canonical analysis to identify the relationship between regional differences in the level of innovation and the distribution of development and stagnation regions in Poland. The results of the analysis shows a strong correlation between the level of innovativeness of a region and its level of socio-economic development in all highlighted aspects of this process, particularly in the relationship between the level of innovation development of a region and its ?nancial situation and wealth.
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.
For more than 20 years, social capital has been gaining popularity both among researchers and policy makers. However, this theory has just reached its maturity. The paper presents classical and critical approaches to the concept. Main aspects and types of social capital are distinguished, followed by a description of the most relevant model for empirical research. Finally, the most important research fields are discussed, including mechanisms explaining the influence of social capital on other social, political and economical phenomena.
The article discusses the results of empirical research on the competitiveness of municipalities covered by the Natura 2000 network. Authors conducted a correlation analysis of the share of the Natura 2000 sites in the general area of a municipality and the indicators characterizing dimensions of competitiveness and development. Questionnaire surveys were conducted among local governments in Poland. On this basis conclusions on the socio-economic situation of municipalities with a large share of Natura 2000 areas and the impact of this form of conservation for local development were formulated. The article is also an attempt to answer the question whether Natura 2000 actually delivers sustainable development, or simply forces environmental protection without taking into account social and economic needs of local communities.
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.
Rock mining is popular and characterized by the exploitation of local deposits, which are used as a bargaining chip in local economic and socio-political politics. The aim of the paper is to analyze the impact of rock mining on the local economy of Polish communes. A contextual analysis was performed of inflows to the communes’ budgets resulting from the exploitation of rock minerals, the contribution of rock mining in the creation of local jobs was assessed, and the benefits from reclamation and development of post-mining areas were estimated. To do all that, the Author used the method of indicator analysis of local government units and stochastic methods of data analysis, as well as inference based on collected data. Studies have shown that rock mining is a factor supporting the local economy. Benefits from the exploitation of rock minerals should be taken into consideration in the development of plans concerning mineral rock deposits.
The concept of economic resilience is a relatively new subject of debate within the framework of regional studies. In the first part of the paper, the authors present two main concepts of resilience, i.e. an evolutionary approach and an agency perspective. On the example of Wight European regions, they describe the actions taken to mitigate the adverse effects of the economic crisis and the strategies that build economic resilience. The final section identifies the key effective tools used in most analyzed regions.
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 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.
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.
This text addresses three key issues presented in the article by Perdał et al. (2020) and in the polemic by Bolesław Domański, published in this issue of Studia Regionalne i Lokalne: territorial aspects of social justice, the relationships between territorial differentiation of socio-economic phenomena and political attitudes and behaviour in Poland, and the problem of meeting the requirements of social justice in relation to territorial systems that are in a particularly difficult situation, mainly due to their depopulation.
Update from 25/07/2024: Parts of this article in the form of literal quotes without providing the source were used in a subsequent article by the same author entitled "Implementation of the partnership principle in the process of implementing regional operational programs in Poland" published in "Opinie i Komentarze Fundacji Rozwoju Demokracji Lokalnej" 3/2023.
The aim of the paper is to examine the level of application of the partnership rule in the process of implementing regional operational programmes (ROP) in Poland in 2014–2019. It has been assumed that the Monitoring Committees (MC) operate as the institutional manifestation of the partnership principle. The scope of comparative analysis includes practical aspects of the functioning of MCs within ROPs in three voivodships: Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie and Świętokrzyskie. The analysis focused on five institutional factors: number of Committee meetings in the financial perspective 2014–2020, number of circular voting events, percentage of socio-economic partners in the total number of Committee members, number of working groups within the MCs, as well as the number of meetings of working groups. The research hypothesis adopted in this article assumes that the regulatory activities expressed in the preparation of guidelines for the application of the partnership principle under the regional operational programs in the 2014–2020 financial perspective turned out to be insufficient for disseminating developed partnerships under ROPs.
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.
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.
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 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.
Competitive advantage of a region, beside its natural resources, is determined to a large extent by the quality and competence of local and regional authorities. In order to benefit from region`s full potential, it is essential to involve the authorities into efficient information policy. It is reflected by the results of a Poland-wide research, where 67% of respondents perceived that it was the creation of an information system enabling fast and accurate decision-making that was the key factor determining efficient management of a company. It is therefore important to analyse how the Western Pomeranian companies see the role and activities of local authorities in this aspect. Local governments play a unique part in information delivery as they represent a group of entities which should actively affect development conditions for companies in the region, within existing legal and administrative system. The paper presents results of the research on information policy in local governments in Western Pomerania.
The tourism sector plays an important role in regional economies. Its growth could become a driver of socio-economic development of different areas in Poland. The increasing number of visiting tourists has a positive impact on the labour market, and it stimulates entrepreneurship in other regions’ service sectors. Even though some Polish regions have great potential, there persist some substantial barriers to development of tourism: poor state of technical infrastructure, especially transport, significant dispersion of the sector, lack of tourism products, and poor promotion. As no separate policy dedicated to tourism is provided at the European Union level, the development of this sector can be financed from cohesion policy funds. The paper focuses on the use of EU funds for the development of tourism in the Warmia-Mazury region. The results of the analysis show a positive – albeit limited – impact of implemented projects on tourist attractiveness and on competitiveness of tourism sector firms. The effectiveness of the projects is limited due to low interest in cooperation in creating tourism products and to over-investment effects in some projects.
Endogenous growth theories presume knowledge plays the key role in economic growth (1). Yet, new economic geography along with empirical findings suggest the possibility of divergence occurring in development processes (2). Combining (1) and (2) indicates the importance of studying knowledge factors’ distribution. To obtain the fully fledged picture of a given economy one shall go beyond simply analyzing knowledge factors but include also their spatial location. The article touches upon this issue. It is devoted to Germany and examines three territorial and administrative levels: one referring to former country division (DDR & BRD), the second relating to NUTS 1 (16 Bundesländer) and third represented by 41 Regierungsbezirke (NUTS 2). Results are obtained by investigating 5 factors (e.g. expenditure on R&D, human resources in S&T, patent applications) and applying 4 measures (Gini, Rosenbluth, Ellison–Glaeser and Herfindahl–Hirschman Coefficients). This paper is meant to supplement earlier studies as well as a good starting point for further research devoted to country’s knowledge landscape.
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.
Revitalisation, which is defined as a planned process of restoring deprived areas, entails the difficult challenge of achieving long-lasting spatial, economic and social effects. In Poland, the accompanying inflow of European Union funds not only fosters a wide range of activities for entities involved in urban renewal, but also raises a question about the potential dysfunction of investments in deprived areas. Based on the experiences of Kraków, the paper presents some undesirable effects of projects implemented under the Local Revitalisation Programmes (LRP) in the years 2007-2013. The goal of the LRP projects was to promote the rehabilitation of deprived housing areas. The initial results, however, indicate that these projects are characterised by specific pitfalls, which include touristification, uniformisation, gentrification and social polarisation.
Along with time-related changes in the migration of Poles to Germany, the invisibility that has been ascribed to them has also evolved: from intentional hiding to deliberate merging into local social and spatial structures. The city of Berlin, perceived as an open, modern and multicultural metropolis, is an exceptional laboratory of transformations and diversity of social behaviours shown by Polish migrants. It attracts new citizens who not only want to make a living here, but also – and more frequently – to achieve self-fulfilment. While the invisibility of the economic migrants is mainly a result of their alienation in a new country, the representatives of lifestyle migration deliberately merge into the culturally diverse society of Berlin and they try to identify with other social groups. The aim of this article is to identify the existence and forms of every-day functioning of Polish migrants in Berlin in the context of invisibility.
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 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.
The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of innovation of enterprises in the Regional Innovation System context. We analyse factors that determine regional innovation in a less developed region, taking the Podkarpackie region in Poland as our empirical counterpart. We examine how the EU economic policy instruments influence the innovation of enterprises within the context of the Regional Innovation Systems. We propose a model for the implementation of innovations and test our hypotheses based on the data drawn from the period of 2011–2014. The paper provides insights on a rather successful story from Poland. We posit that enterprises use only specific public policy instruments and that companies’ demand for innovation-supporting instruments changes, reacting to the business cycle phase and to financial incentives.
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.
A representative sample of 1328 participants, coming from three historically different regions of Poland (Western and Northern Lands, Eastern Wall and former Galicia), and an analogous sample of 900 participants, recruited from two different regions of Ukraine (western and eastern Ukraine) were compared with respect to different aspects of identity (place identity, place attachment, psychological rootedness, neighbourhood ties, regional and national identity, etc.). In line with the predictions, Poland turned out more homogeneous than Ukraine. Western Ukrainians showed more similarity to inhabitants of the eastern and the southern regions of Poland than to the eastern parts of Ukraine.
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.
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 paper aims to identify the scope and propose a systematisation of the contemporary redefinition of regional development factors, influenced by global conditions. The research process comprised three stages: (1) a brief review of the theoretical foundations and changes in the understanding of regional development factors; (2) presentation of the findings relating to the directions and impact of contemporary socio-economic megatrends on changes of regional development factors, and (3) the main body of the analysis, which identifies and describes the nature of changes in the perception of regional development factors as a consequence of contemporary global conditions.
Małopolska (Lesser Poland) and Śląsk (Silesia) are historical regions which only partly overlap with the present-day borders of the Małopolskie and Śląskie voivodeships. In spite of their geographical proximity, they are historically and culturally dissimilar. A survey has been carried out in order to verify the perception of the regional identity of these voivodeships by their inhabitants. It was found that although old cultural and historical divisions are still important for the people, possible economic advantages seem to prevail. In addition, the Śląsk region as compared to the previous surveys is no longer identified with air pollution and environmental degradation.
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).
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.
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 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 paper gives an appraisal of Polish cities in the context of processes and problems observed in cities of highly developed European countries. These last cities, in particular those situated in the hard core of EU, enter a new development stadium. Interconnected by networks of multifarious links, they create an integrated urbanised space of the highest ability to compete in the global economy but lose at the same time the character of relatively closed and spatially distinguished socio-economic systems. The paper, pointing at the processes that lead to this phenomenon, stresses that they are already visible in Poland but not advanced. Poland is a country of a delayed urbanisation and cities the economic base of which is not competitive in Europe. These cities possess a not bad human but rather weak social capital and the urban space is of a low quality. The paper outlines the main challenges Polish cities are facing in the era of European integration and presents also the most frequently discussed visions of XXI century European city described through development goals and strategies.
The aim of the article is to present the process of changes which occurred from the 1970s until 2012 in the areas of urban agglomerations in Poland. In contemporary agglomerations in Poland, their socio-economic function is centralized while land use and building development become progressively decentralized, which results in dynamic growth of the central metropolitan area, and in simultaneous deurbanization of its zone of influence. The described problem is typical of the Warsaw Urban Agglomeration (Warszawski Zespół Miejski, WZM), where the population of the metropolitan zone increases while the importance of the surrounding towns, particularly in their central areas, decreases. The objective of this paper is to present these contemporary trends in the communes of the northern zone of WZM. The analysis involves three towns: Legionowo, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, and Zakroczym, and two communes – Jabłonna and Wieliszew. The results are compared with relevant changes occurring in the communes of the Piaseczno district. The examined processes are also confronted with the proposals and arrangements included in planning concepts prepared in different periods for the agglomeration. The escalating suburbanization, characterized by deurbanization visible in spatial planning, affects the effectiveness of newly created building developments and their rank of service centres, and also shows the failure of long-term planning, which is not supported by detailed analysis and research.
The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the development of European peripheries can be strengthened by cooperative clusters, viewed as loose business organizations where cooperation of partners results in a synergy effect. The existence of clusters in peripheral areas may give efficient solutions to many problems, such as unemployment or the need of restructuring regional economy. Partnership of clusters may add up to their competitiveness thanks to the home demand. The present paper presents an example of the Lubelskie Region, the most neglected region in Poland. It is argued here that cooperation among local clusters provides a chance for an increase in the region’s social activity and for its economic growth.
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.
Cross-border economic relations are analysed by many researchers. However, the concepts of cross-border cooperation illustrated in the literature of regional studies do not present the EU market as a factor of cross-border economic relations. In consequence, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth analysis of the literature on cross-border cooperation and economic integration in order to capture the impact of the single market on cross-border relations. The aim of this study is to describe cross-border cooperation in the Polish-German border area, taking into account the economics of the single market.
The article attempts to identify and analyze the actions undertaken in the cities of the Wielkopolska Voivodeship in the area of urban renewal in the 1999–2005 period as well as the direct and indirect effects of these actions. In order to reach this objective, we analyze the local renewal programmes as well as other strategic documents launched in the investigated cities. In addition, we employ the survey technique and conduct numerous in-depth interviews with the local actors of the renewal process in order to get better insights into the economic, societal and spatial context of the renewal process. As a result, we show that the actions undertaken by the cities of the Wielkopolska Voivodeship in the realm of urban renewal are hardly integrated (they are not comprehensive and do not complement each other in a given area) and dominated by infrastructural investments. In contrast, the economic and social projects remain rare and their consequences ambiguous. We also identify some unexpected, positive as well as negative, consequences of the renewal process, such as increasing engagement of local property owners, entrepreneurs and associations in the renewal actions as well as the problem of profiteering on the renewed areas.
The aim of this paper is to identify the character of transborder cooperation on the local level in the Polish-Czech borderland with a special focus on the transborder relations network. To this end, the author analyzes cooperation co-financed under Poland-Czech Republic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007–2013 in the framework of ETC and examines all realized Project and all beneficiaries, i.e. 250 projects and 350 Polish and Czech institutions. Due to the mountainous character of the Polish-Czech borderland, special attention is paid to projects concerning tourism. The research reveals that the cooperation network is poorly developed. However, the most import ant nodes in this network are clearly visible and they are the most active institutions that shape the relations of transborder cooperation.
The aim of the paper is to analyze the processes of localization and globalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas in Wielkopolska. The author discusses the problem of rural economy as the place of localization of internationalized and globally active enterprises. First, she analyzes the potential factors of enterprises’ localization in the condition of open economy. Then, she focuses on shares of foreign capital and foreign exchange of enterprises operating in urban and non-urban environments and in agricultural and non-agricultural areas. The author analyzes the data reported in the years 2008?2011 by the Polish Statistical Office GUS concerning entities with foreign capital and firms with capital abroad. She shows that the pace and advancement of the globalization processes in the investigated enterprises differ according to the level of urbanization and the economic structure of different localizations. The results show that globalization leads to polarization of the development of regional and local economy.
The aim of the research was to identify and measure the level of economic freedom across the EU at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Special attention was paid to the changes in (i.e. liberalization of) the Polish economy. The basis of the comparative analysis between the 25 EU countries (excluding Malta and Cyprus) was provided by data acquired from the annual economic freedom study conducted by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal in the years 1996–2008. The overall economic freedom index consisted of the average from marks for 10 different features – more detailed criteria. The average index acquired from all 10 features was the basis of a country’s mark for the level of liberalism (economic freedom) or statism. The proposed methodological approach, in which the two main currents of statism and liberalism are exposed, was especially useful in evaluating the processes occurring in the Polish economy. The results of the research show that, in the group of 15 countries of the “old” EU, 10 can be considered more liberal. This group includes, as the most liberal EU state of all, Ireland. The second group is formed of 5 countries apparently less liberal, i.e. Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Greece. Poland is found to be the most statist country anywhere in the EU, notwithstanding its status (along with the Czech Republic and Estonia) as one of the three leaders of liberalism in the first years of transformation. In this situation it is hard to identify the Polish economy with advanced or even excessive liberalism. It is – according to the present standards – a rather state-controlled economy, albeit with certain but scarce elements of liberalism. The research shows that the economic crisis which occurred from mid 2007 cannot be identified only with the liberal economy, even though the implemented methods of dealing with the crisis seem to point to such a source. Statist solutions prevail here, but some liberal methods appear as well. A solution to this dilemma can only be anticipated after several years have passed.
