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.
During centuries, capital cities of many countries were moved to new locations, either as a result of economic or political processes or of a specific national project. The best known examples of the phenomenon are Ankara and Brasilia, but one might quote many others too. Frequently, the new capital was expected to become an ideal city, a kind of a paradise - which was a utopian dream, because a city is a man-made project and therefore never perfect.
There are almost a thousand cities in Poland, including many riverside cities, which in scientific works are most often described and analysed separately, as an individual subject of research. The aim of the article is to highlight the features and compare all cities located by the longest Polish rivers, i.e. those that are over 250 km long. There are 188 of such cities. They include the largest Polish cities, led by Warsaw, and small towns, including the smallest one, namely Opatowiec. Some of these towns were built in ancient times (Racibórz), many emerged in the 13th century, while the youngest one, Łomianki by the Vistula River, became a city only in 1989. Over 480 road and railway bridges were built there, which enable efficient connections between the banks. They also include most of Poland’s capitals of the regions, although as many as 105 of them are the capitals of urban-rural communes. They were researched using data available on the Google Maps geoportal, data from the Local Data Bank, the official websites of municipal offices, and the results of several interviews. The effects provide structured knowledge about the functioning of the most important Polish riverside cities.
Researchers do not study territorial origins of students very often. However, it is a very important determinant of connections between universities and their social surroundings. A regional character of a university may be an essential value for local communities, who need well-educated employees capable of working in local administration, economy, education, social care, security, culture, research etc. In the article, territorial and social origins of the Szczecin University students were analysed and it was proved that several regional ranges of recruitment existed. A range is determined by distances between students’ houses and the university, although evidences of local loyalty can be also seen.
