Obszary intensywnych powiązań funkcjonalnych miast na prawach powiatu w Polsce – autorska metoda delimitacji = Areas of strong functional linkage of Polish cities granted county status – the authors’ own method of delimitation

Abstract

Spatial mobility of the population is a key factor allowing for the delimitation of functional areas and the identification of ranges of impact of given spatial units. The work detailed here has built on this idea by seeking to identify areas of strong functional linkage in the cities in Poland that have been granted the status of powiat (i.e. unit at the “county” level of administration). In this context, the paper also offers a critical analysis of other, best-known approaches to the delimitation of towns and cities in Poland. The identification of areas characterised by strong functional linkage is achieved by reference to generally-available data, i.e. statistics relating to commutes to work, as well as internal migration leading to permanent residency status. Overall, areas of srong functional linkage are here delimited by reference to: (1) areas of emigration or immigration relating to thecities granted county status, where these are the source and/or destination when it comes to internal migration leading to permanent residency; (2) areas of departure and arrival where commutes to and from the aforesaid cities granted county status are concerned, with account taken of additional relations relating to volumes of flows in a ‘city–rural area’ configuration. Our analysis was performed at NUTS-5 level, hence the exclusion of cities not enjoying county status. It is against the background of existing literature reports on means of identifying areas of functional linkage for Polish cities that the work detailed here may establish a basis for discussing alternative approaches. Here the authors offer their own method of identifying areas of strong functional linkage, from the point of view of people’s spatial mobility. This approach takes account of specifically Polish aspects of the phenomenon’s development. Indeed, analyses confirm that the approach proposed is very much linked to the functional urban areas of regional centres. However, complete objectivisation (i.e. a lack of subjectivity or even arbitrary decisions) represents a significant attribute of the approach in question, with this being desirable when it comes to research being replicated.