Genesis and development of the spatial structures in former border railway centres Mysłowice – Szczakowa – Granica (Maczki), Poland

Abstract

The article addresses the question of the emergence of urban centres with a gateway function in the area of contemporary Poland. The work concentrates on three urban centres -Mysłowice, Szczakowa and Granica (Maczki) -which gateway function was conditioned by the existence of railway border crossings in the past that provided services for international transport. The interpretation of settlements and their transformations followed the town plan analysis includes method of Conzen. The article indicates spatial consequences of this kind of function which influenced a significant part of the urban area in the indicated towns. The study highlights the dynamics of spatial changes contemporarily conditioned by the loss of the former gateway function and a fact that role of the border has been marginalized. From the other point of view the decreasing role of the political borders which have become in Europe in most cases barely a symbolic meaning. In the presented case studies the key aspect determining the marginalization of their role in the rail transport system and also their urban development was the change of the political borders and their negative consequences (demolition post-rail areas, formation of functionally derelict areas or depopulation). Former glory and role of these three towns are the still existing railway stations. Fortunately, presented railway stations -their potential and heritage give new possibilities for ideas of functional changes and future development.

Between History, Politics and Economy: The Problematic Heritage of Former Border Railway Stations in Poland

“…3) The second railway line ran towards Cracow from the junction station at Szczakowa (in 1847), with an offshoot towards the Russian border station Granica on the Warsaw -Vienna Railway (now Maczki, within the city of Sosnowiec) (Berger 1980). This line provided since 1856 a connection with Vienna (Krzysztofik et al 2014). Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), an important Baltic port, also received a connection to the port of Odessa on the Black Sea via the Russian border stations at Grajewo (1873) and Brest ( Fig.…”

“…Jerczyński 2015). The issue of preserving objects of material culture connected to the history of the railway is a global point of interest (Burman 1997;Coulls 1999;Tiry 1999;Halsall 2001;Ito and Chiba 2001;Kido 2005;Köşgeroğlu 2005;Erkan 2012;Gaczkowska 2012;Krzysztofik et al 2014;Stevanović and Stevanović 2014;Taylor and Landorf 2015).…”

The influence of railways on spatial layouts of settlements in North-Eastern Poland

“…A station's location, therefore, became the impetus for the development of a village or town, and the impact on spatial arrangement could have taken two directions -radial or zoneoriented. In addition, the railway was a causative factor, both for the emergence of new urban space, as well as entire towns (MUMFORD, 1966;RODRIGUE ET AL., 2006;KRZYSZTOFIK ET AL., 2014).…”