The analysis aims to identify spatial variations of socio-economic development in Poland at the local level and to determine their correlation with conditions resulting from the historical political divisions of today’s areas of the country. The research procedure helps to verify the hypothesis that spatial differentiation of socio-economic development in Poland is permanent and does not show significant changes during periods of economic growth and crisis. We can emphasize at the same time the persisting differences between cities and their functional areas on the one hand and rural areas on the other. The study applied an innovative procedure of determining the synthetic index. The procedure of classifying local units presented in the text was based on the original random forest method. The outcomes confirm that contemporary spatial diversification at the level of socio-economic development in Poland is still strongly conditioned by history, especially by the socio-economic consequences of the partition of Poland between the three superpowers (Russia, Prussia and Austria). This is evident in the synthetic presentation of the level of socio-economic development. However, in the case of certain socio-economic phenomena, the values of indicators describing them no longer directly relate in their diversity to historical borders, particularly the former partition borders.

No abstract

The article aims to analyse the influence on socio-economic development of contemporary socio-economic changes, or – using terminology after John Naisbitt (1982) – main megatrends, primarily from the point of view of the situation and changes characterising the EU’s Member States. The specifics of these processes in the capitalist countries of Western Europe and in the former countries of so-called “people’s democracy” in East-Central Europe are the key element of this discussion. In the context of the spatial patterns identified, discussion centres around trends of: (1) transformation, (2) economic integration, (3) globalisation, and (4) postmodernisation. The first part presents a synthetic characterisation of megatrends distinguished, including as regards specific definitions and reasons for them to arise. The second, most important part of the work addresses the impacts of megatrends n socio-economic development and the specific nature of the process ongoing with the two spatial European patterns. The analysis conducted supports the contention that the megatrends described have played a key role in the shaping contemporary processes of socio-economic development. However, it is difficult to analyse the separate influences of each, given the way they interact in one bundle (external in relation to endogenous ocesses), permeating one another, and ensuring an influence exerted that is diversified both temporally and spatially. It is not easy to state that any specific social or economic changes result solely from one or other of the processes iscussed. Thus, the influence of these megatrends should be perceived synergically. More or less intensive processes of transformation are strengthened by economic integration and globalisation and give rise to a diversified range of postmodernisation changes. This perception is needed even more, as many researchers often consider these processes in a slightly different configuration (Dicken, 2015).

No abstract

No abstract

ABSTRACT. The main aim of the article is to determine the role of services in the economies of small towns of Silesia and Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) regions. It will be achieved through the following steps: (A) characteristic of the set of towns under study, (B) determination of the share of services in their economies, and (C) description of their level of service development. The analysis rests on two criteria employed at each stage of the research: (a) that of location, which embraces the voivodships: Dolnośląskie, Opolskie, Śląskie (Silesia region) and Wielkopolskie voivodship and (b) that of size, with three classes of small towns distinguished: up to 5 thousand, 5-10 thousand, and 10-20 thousand population.

A study is made of the significance of small towns in the process of urbanisation of Wielkopolska, a region situated in the western part of Poland. The analysis is conducted in both, a dynamic and a static approach, and covers two aspects of urbanisation: demographic and spatial. The basic period examined embraces the years 2000-2015. What is visible in the set of Wielkopolska towns is the depopulation of its core city, Poznań, accompanied by an increase in the population of small units located in its suburban zone. There is an upward tendency in the population number also in selected size classes of small Wielkopolska towns, which demonstrates that in this case we cannot speak of a crisis of small towns since they play an important role in the process of urbanisation of the region. In the recent years, increasingly important in this process, especially at the local level, has been the appearance of new towns set up as a result of the restitution of municipal rights.

Głównym celem opracowania jest określenie roli najmniejszych miast w układach regionalnych oraz zbadanie stopnia ich zróżnicowania na skali kontinuum miejsko-wiejskiego na podstawie wybranych wskaźników miejskości. Przedmiotem badań jest 16 najmniejszych miast, zlokalizowanych po jednym w każdym z województw. Zakres czasowy opracowania zasadniczo obejmuje rok 2015. Postępowanie badawcze służące realizacji głównego celu pracy składa się z kilku etapów. W etapie pierwszym omówiono w sposób syntetyczny podstawowe założenia teoretyczne koncepcji kontinuum miejsko-wiejskiego. W etapie drugim przeprowadzono ogólną charakterystykę najmniejszych miast w układach regionalnych. W zasadniczym, trzecim etapie pracy wykonano klasyfikację miast na skali kontinuum miejsko-wiejskiego na podstawie przyjętych wskaźników miejskości. W etapie czwartym zaprezentowano studium przypadku i opisano poziom miejskości najmniejszego i zarazem nowego miasta Kołaczyce. Klasyfikacja ośrodków na podstawie syntetycznego wskaźnika miejskości pozwala stwierdzić, że najmniejsze miasta w układach regionalnych wykazują niezbyt silne zróżnicowanie na skali kontinuum miejsko-wiejskiego i charakteryzują się przeciętnym natężeniem cech miejskich.