Role of Services in the Economies of Small Towns of Silesia Region and Wielkopolskie Voivodehip

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.

Analysis of Built-Up Areas of Small Polish Cities with the Use of Deep Learning and Geographically Weighted Regression

“…Variables allowing to describe the economic activity of inhabitants of small cities in Poland were also often used. Data on professional activity, unemployment level, working age population, number of enterprises, or employment in a specific sector of the economy, e.g., in services, were used to study the development of small cities and the role they play in the country's settlement system [1,57,64,92]. Variables related to the spatial development of small cities, such as changes in the administrative area of cities, share of urbanized area of the town, changes in the number of flats and houses, and infrastructure are used less frequently and mainly in the field of small town development [57,62].…”

“…The greatest differentiation occurs among the variables describing the living standards of small city residents. This issue can be described in various ways, often also through the subjective opinions of the inhabitants; however, the most frequently used in research are: the level of infrastructure development and access to services related to education, health, trade, and culture [1,16,92]. Positive associations with the share of built-up areas in small Polish cities have been detected for population density (Figure 8) and the number of new residential buildings (Figure 9).…”

“…Most of the cities studied have medieval origins, but there are also those established during the industrialization of Poland, as well as tourist and spa towns, and others [93]. They play different roles in the Polish settlement system [1,92,[94][95][96]. More and more towns in the suburban areas of large cities are growing rapidly in terms of population and built-up areas.…”

Population dynamics of the Hungarian small towns in the light of censuses

“…In CEE-countries, deindustrialization, the decline of industries inherited from socialism, and the ensuing economic crisis (Bole et al, 2020;Zuzańska-Żyśko, 2005), the objective limitations of tertiarization, and the question marks concerning re-industrialization (Czapiewski et al, 2016;Konecka-Szydłowska et al, 2010) have destabilized the economic role of small towns. Only a couple of small towns can act as significant commuting centres and provide employment for the population in the surrounding rural areas (Pénzes, 2013;Pénzes et al, 2015;Pirisi et al, 2016;Zuzańska-Żyśko & Sitek, 2014).…”

A kisvárosok szerepe a munkaerő-ingázásban

“…Akár az általunk megfogalmazott definíciót, mely szerint a városias jelleg több dimenzióban jelenik meg, akár egy konzervatívabb, a központi szerepkörök elsőbbségét hangsúlyozó megközelítést veszünk alapul, aligha vitatható, hogy a foglalkoztatás, a vonzáskörzet településeinek munkaerőpiacán megmutatkozó kínálati többlet felszívása jelentős eleme a kisvárosok hagyományos funkcióinak. Meglehetősen általános az a megállapítás, miszerint a kisvárosi gazdasági funkciók közül a foglalkoztatás a vidék fejlődésének egyik legfontosabb eleme (Elsasser 1998, Vaishar 2004, Zuzańska-Żyśko 2005, Konecka et al 2010, Ježek 2011, amely végső soron egy jól kifejezhető és "vállalható" kompromisszum eredménye. A településföldrajz klasszikus, Mendöl Tibor által megfogalmazott tétele -miszerint a település a lakó-és a munkahely térbeli egysége -a gazdasági és a lakófunkciók térbeliségét meghatározó tényezők változásának nem mindig egy irányba mutató tendenciáival és változó dinamizmu-Területi Statisztika, 2016, 56(4): 415-437; DOI: 10.15196/TS560404 sával összefüggésben ma már egyre kevésbé érvényes, éppen ezért a vidék XX.…”