Abstract
Abstract Białystok, Lublin, and Rzeszów are the three largest cities in eastern Poland, and the capitals of their provinces. They each have metropolitan ambitions, and based on partner agreements with the authorities of their neighbouring districts they initiated the establishment of metropolitan areas where they became the main centres. This article undertakes an analysis of a number of elements of each of these metropolitan areas in order to compare their position, and to give an assessment of the development of their metropolitan functions. The analysis concerned their demographic, social, economic and cultural parameters. Results of this research show that none of these analysed cities has yet developed sufficient functions coherent with the European metropolitan network. Each of them is a strong regional centre of national importance. Statistical analysis of the data shows no strong leader among these three metropolitan areas. The weak position of the Białystok Metropolitan Area is evident due to its particularly disturbing demographic processes which offer no chance for population development in the area or growth of its social potential. The Rzeszów Metropolitan Area maintains the best social-demographic and economic indices and it is also the most compact, coherent area with the least distance to its metropolitan centre.
Highlights
It comes as no surprise that cities strive to develop functionality in order to make them metropolisesAccording to CASTELLS (1998), metropolises and to be formally awarded the status
The highest numbers of foreign tourists are attracted to the Białystok Metropolitan Area, far exceeding the numbers for the Rzeszów and Lublin Metropolitan Areas
It is undeniable that none of the cities in this study has currently developed sufficiently in accordance with those of the European metropolitan network
Summary
According to CASTELLS (1998), metropolises and to be formally awarded the status. According constitute the highest form of space organisation to this research Poland has only one metropolis in the modern society and their function is based included in the European network In the Białystok to the Union of Polish Metropolises (UMP) which Metropolitan Area, such a situation concerns a includes the 12 largest cities in Poland and to the considerable majority of communities. In the Białystok Metropolitan Area, natural population growth is negative in the majority of the area, whereas it should be emphasised that over the entire eastern zone along the border with Belarus, it reaches values of -5- -15% (Fig. 2) Such a situation occurs in several communities in the western part of the country. In Białystok and Lublin, the balance for each year of the last decade was negative and in Rzeszów from 2007 – positive It is the only one of the three analysed cities showing prevalence of immigration over emigration in the study period. In the two remaining cities, the proportions are similar, the difference between the categories mentioned is lower
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