The article was published in Polish in "Studia Regionalne i Lokalne", 4/2009
Human capital stock affects economic growth by raising the productivity of labour in a given area or by enhancing the ability of the regional economy to create and absorb innovations. From the perspective of an academic city, this process can be reinforced by attracting students and researchers to study and work at the local universities. To do this successfully, the city needs not only high quality academic institutions but also a wider labour market for educated individuals and, more generally, the ability to attract the creative class to settle down. The article provides a comparative analysis of the capacity of the largest Polish cities to attract and absorb human capital. The research is based on a unique dataset coming from the nasza-klasa.pl website (which allows users to contact their former classmates). The research concludes with the typology of Polish cities with respect to benefits from performing the academic function.
The article was published in Polish in "Studia Regionalne i Lokalne", 3/2009
The article provides a comparison of the dynamic increase in the number of enterprises relative to the working-age population in the private sector in the years 2001–2004 (the immediate pre-accession period) and 2004–2007 (the immediate post-accession period). The study was conducted with regard to the main sectors of economic activity (agriculture, industry, lower-order services and higher-order services), as well as the functional diversity of municipalities, or gminas (urban and suburban categories, transportation corridors, tourism, etc., for a total of 16 categories). The study indicates a decline, inertia, spatial polarisation and tessellated spatial structure of the development dynamic of private enterprises.
The motivation for this paper comes from the recognition that our understanding of specialisation might be too simplistic and that the dichotomy of specialisation and diversification could be outdated not reflecting the richness of real complex economic and technological relations among industries. Drawing on a qualitative study of the Hamburg Aviation (HAv) cluster, this paper discusses the peculiarities of a cluster profile in the digital time – the age of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), touching upon the issues of cluster structure and the complexity of production, synchronising specialisation with diversification, branching, and bridging, and the I4.0 attributes facilitating complementarity. The final research proposal, which is empirically embedded in the studied context, states that related variety encompassing both ‘specialisation in diversification’ and ‘diversification within specialisation’ can be further developed by a blending process. This can lead to branching and is modulated by the universal character of the I4.0 and a problem-solving attitude. It takes the form of an additive (new entries) or multiplicative (spinoffs) evolution, and, ultimately, owing to the complementarity, it can provide sustainable competitive advantages.
Globalisation has led to the dominance and geographical expansion of urban areas. Companies consider a complex set of criteria when deciding on their locations, including the agglomeration area and the presence of similar companies or related businesses. This study examines the spatial distribution and industrial clustering of companies within the agglomeration of Győr, Hungary’s sixth-largest city. The sample comprises 256 companies across 68 settlements, with data processed through map, quadrat and industry analysis. The analyses identified six settlements within the agglomeration where nearly half of the companies are located, five factors that seem to facilitate company location, and five main industrial sectors, four of which are closely related. The article concludes that the agglomeration area of Győr is characterised by a high degree of spatial concentration of companies, industrial clustering and the emergence of industry sub-centres.
The authors have suggested analytical tools to evaluate levels of internal social responsibility by developing an aggregate set of indicators. The reference indicators values were substantiated on the basis of average industry ones, which provided an opportunity to determine the multiple coefficients. The suggested tools provide the opportunity to define enterprises’ tendency for change in the level of responsibility level by years. This research can have important practical impacts due to its quantitative assessment having been based on published financial statements. The study creates additional opportunities for stakeholders to evaluate current internal corporate social responsibility levels and predict their own development direction.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges. Comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic experiences led to the re-evaluation of the role of festivities and their associated traditions. Through semi-structured interviews, people’s perceptions of festivities during the two-year-long period of repetitive social restrictions were investigated in Latvia (Latgale region). Data analysis revealed that the quality of festivities related to otherworldliness decreased. Celebration as a powerful practice for developing a sense of togetherness and experiencing collective joy was commonly acknowledged. Festivities were primarily perceived as a tool of socialization and collective identification, as well as an opportunity for entertainment and creative expression.
Postindustrial agglomerations struggling with image deficits and environmental problems are looking for new development paths to take. One of these paths can bring about the development of business tourism, including the industry of the organisation of meetings and events. The unique and attractive character of the place can favour taking such a direction. The business tourism sector can therefore become an instrument contributing to the sustainable metropolisation of the city by building up its position in the global network of flows. The development of the meetings and events sector allows, therefore, for a change of image, for a re-evaluation of endogenous resources, including those relating to the industrial past, and for tapping into the unlimited resources of the global network. Increased attention in this network may lead to an influx of more events, and of investors as well. Replacing heavy industry with an enlarged service sector and modern industry based on flexible and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises fosters sustainable development. The meetings and events industry can become a tool for sustainable development and the promotion of its ideas, related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The trajectory outlined above seems very promising. However, to some extent, it is just a hypothesis. The author undertakes to test it on the example of Katowice, a former industrial city which has decided to follow the route outlined above to become a city that hosts many events, including the COP24 summit in 2018. In the article, the author presents empirical research studies whose authors tried to determine whether the path the city has chosen has a real impact on its image and development. The author also deals with the question of the sustainability of such a development path and the conditions for its self-support in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The paper aims to discuss the major trends in changes of regional differences of economic wellbeing and the resulting spatial mobility of population as well as some regional consequences of these processes. The research is based on an empirical methodology, and visual analysis of mapped data is the main research method. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, fast decrease of employment in industry and agriculture has damaged, first of all, peripheral regions and, later, resulted in mass emigration, which is still evident in most Lithuanian municipalities. The decrease of the number of jobs in these sectors and its increase in those located in different places meant that most residents of non-metropolitan regions had to find new jobs outside the localities in which they resided. This resulted in growing mobility of the population, expressed by growing foreign emigration, inner migrations, and commuting, which continue to shape the social structure of the country to the present day, as spatial structures change more slowly than modes of production. Differences in wellbeing, which appeared at the end of the 20th century, played a role in accelerating emigration processes, which are still damaging local labour supply and economic development in many regions.
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie ewolucji przestrzeni gospodarczej współczesnej metropolii. Podjęto tu próbę usystematyzowania najważniejszych przemian tej przestrzeni, w szczególności wyrażających się powstawaniem nowych obszarów i obiektów aktywności gospodarczej. Do przedstawienia tej ewolucji wykorzystano trzy osie ilustrujące różne typy działalności, stanowiące współczesne filary rozwoju metropolii: produkcyjno-technologiczną, kontrolno-informacyjną i konsumpcyjno-kulturalną. Zachodzącą transformację ukazano w kontekście tendencji odśrodkowych i dośrodkowych występujących w układzie: centrum miasta – pozostała część jego obszaru metropolitalnego. Na tej podstawie sformułowano scenariusze zmian struktury przestrzennej metropolii oraz kierunki badań nad transformacją jej przestrzeni gospodarczej wynikające z przeobrażeń technologicznych i społecznych.
Artykuł poświęcony jest klastrom w sektorze kreatywnym zlokalizowanym w Polsce. Celem pracy jest przedstawienie czynników motywujących do zakładania tego typu klastrów oraz ukazanie czynników hamujących ich działalność. Badanie przeprowadzono wśród koordynatorów klastrów, wykorzystując przy tym metody CAWI oraz CATI. Badanie wykazało, że czynnikami mającymi kluczowy wpływ na tworzenie badanych klastrów było dążenie do zawiązania współpracy wśród podmiotów, które miały ze sobą kontakt w przeszłości, oraz chęć wzmocnienia pozycji rynkowej i zasięgu oddziaływania klastrów – a zatem głównie czynniki wewnętrzne. Natomiast wśród barier wyróżniono zarówno czynniki wewnętrzne, m.in. niechęć do dzielenia się wiedzą, przewagę rywalizacji nad współpracą, źle odbierany przepływ pracowników w klastrze, jak i czynniki zewnętrzne, np. uzależnienie od zewnętrznych środków finansowania oraz brak zainteresowania ze strony jednostek samorządowych.
Celem artykułu jest przestrzenna i tematyczna identyfikacja tzw. obszarów specjalnych w dokumentach strategicznych i planistycznych szczebla krajowego i regionalnego, a następnie ilościowa i jakościowa charakterystyka wydzieleń przestrzennych (składających się z gmin zaklasyfikowanych do poszczególnych obszarów specjalnych). Analizie poddano dokumenty szczebla krajowego, ponadregionalnego i regionalnego, tj. 10 strategii ogólnokrajowych (w tym 7 branżowych), 5 strategii ponadregionalnych oraz po 16 strategii wojewódzkich i planów zagospodarowania przestrzennego województw. Wszystkie obszary specjalne zwektoryzowano lub przyporządkowano do odpowiednich gmin, dzięki czemu możliwe było szczegółowe zbadanie m.in. liczby występujących w nich obszarów specjalnych. Analiza dowiodła silnego przeregulowania planowania strategicznego (w jednej z gmin zidentyfikowano występowanie 87 różnych kategorii obszarów specjalnych szczebla krajowego lub wojewódzkiego). Niniejszy artykuł poszerza wątki badane w projekcie realizowanym w latach 2015–2016 w Instytucie Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN dla Ministerstwa Rozwoju pt. „Zidentyfikowanie obszarów strategicznej interwencji państwa, w tym obszarów problemowych” (Śleszyński i in. 2017a, 2017b).
This article presents the opinions of residents of the immediate surroundings of three Brownfield Site Urban Regeneration Projects completed in Łódź (Poland) in the years 2006–2016, i.e. Manufaktura (textile industry facilities transformed into a mall), “Lofts at Scheibler” (a former spinning plant transformed into residential buildings with accompanying services) and EC1 (adaptation of a former EC1 power plant for cultural and educational purposes), and their impact on their immediate environment. The article presents the results of questionnaire surveys conducted by the author in 2017 on 587 respondents residing within a walking distance, i.e. up to 500 m from the above-mentioned investment projects.