Population changes as litmus paper of the socio-economic development level of small towns in Poland

Less important space? Spatial planning in small towns in Poland

Idea miast partnerskich jest koncepcją rozwijaną od czasu zakończenia II wojny światowej. W jej ramach miasta realizują wspólne cele gospodarcze, społeczne czy kulturowe. Do tej pory współpraca partnerska między miastami opisywana była głównie w kontekście miast dużych i średnich. W niniejszym artykule wypełniono lukę w badaniach współpracy międzynarodowej miast małych. Celem opracowania jest określenie ilościowego i przestrzennego wymiaru partnerstw zawartych przez wybrane małe miasta (od 10 000 do 15 000 mieszkańców) w Polsce. Ponadto dokonano oceny znaczenia współpracy partnerskiej oraz zakresu oddziaływania idei miast partnerskich na funkcjonowanie i rozwój małego miasta na przykładzie Nowego Miasta Lubawskiego. Wykazano, że analizowane małe miasta różnicują się pod względem liczby zawartych umów partnerskich, a najczęstszymi partnerami są miasta z najbliższej przestrzeni geograficznej – Niemiec, Czech i Ukrainy. Analiza treści umów partnerskich wskazuje, że cele nawiązywanej współpracy świadczą o bardzo dużym znaczeniu partnerstw dla małych miast w Polsce.

The development of small towns and towns of well-being: Current trends, 30 years after the change in the political system, based on the Warsaw suburban area

Purpose:The study aims to determine the level of investment attractiveness of small towns in Poland in terms of labour resources.Design/Methodology/Approach: The study spanned over period 2017-2019, and relied on the Hellwig method which allowed to structure a synthetic metric for small towns and order them linearly.The research covered 705 small towns in Poland.Quantitative data retrieved from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office was used in structuring the metric.Findings: It was proved that from the perspective of investors small towns in Poland are diverse areas in terms of labour resources and the size of small urban centres has no influence on their attractiveness.Spatial analysis conducted as part of the research showed, i.a., that the most attractive labour resources were found in small towns in the central part of the country (the Wielkopolskie and Mazowieckie voivodships).Practical Implications: The above studies may provide some guidance for local governments and public aid managers in Poland.This allows to draw an important conclusion on future measures to be taken in small towns.If they are supposed to fully perform their key functions, a dedicated development policy for the smallest Polish towns must be put in place.This is of particular importance in view of the situation of small towns in Eastern Poland and of small towns located far away from large cities.Originality/Value: The results of the analysis and theoretical considerations in the article complement previous research in the field of small towns.

Small towns in Poland - barriers and factors of growth

Historical sites may be found in nearly all small towns in Poland. Some are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the role of these resources in the broader set of elements shaping the tourism potential of towns, and also to illustrate the regional differences among small towns in Poland in terms of their potential to develop a local or regional tourism sector. The study provides a typology of towns based on local natural and landscape elements, cultural heritage resources as well as hotels and other tourist accommodations. The statistical data discussed in this paper was obtained from the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland for the period 2012–2014, while historical sites were chosen from the National Heritage Board of Poland. The study covers all small towns in Poland and has shown unequivocally that the presence of a historical site is not necessarily a factor in the overall development of a local tourism sector. The cultural resources appear to be an undervalued asset, which can be used to develop a local tourism sector, especially in towns which are searching for new development paths.

The aim of this paper is to determine changes in the structure of demographic types of small towns in Poland between 2004 and 2013. It is assumed in the paper, following the Central Statistical Office of Poland, that small towns are urban settlements having less than 20,000 inhabitants. The time period covered in this study is the time of Poland’s accession to the EU, which brought reduction of many barriers on the labour market and in migration movement. Demographic types of small towns were determined using Webb’s typology. Natural increase and migration indicators constitute its base. It was found that the share of towns of progressive character decreased and the share of those of regressive character increased in the analyzed period. A negative migration balance had the greatest effect on the number of inhabitants of the analyzed settlement units. The described demographic changes in small towns in Poland were connected with the second stage of demographic transition.

Стаття присвячена вивченню зарубіжного досвіду щодо проблематики розвитку малих міст. Метою статті є вивчення досвіду Польщі щодо розвитку малих міських поселень. В статті окреслено основні проблеми розвитку малих міст Польщі. Визначено головні напрями політики уряду для підтримки польських муніципалітетів. Окреслено головні цілі та результати розвитку малих міст в Польщі. Проаналізовано програми розвитку польських міських поселень. Визначено, що головною метою програм розвитку малих міст в Польщі є вирішення низки економічних, соціальних, інституціональних проблем, а також питань охорони довкілля. Зроблено висновок про те, що характерною особливістю здійснення програм розвитку муніципалітетів в Польщі є розвиток внутрішнього потенціалу міст, залучення до даного процесу місцевого населення, розвиток цифрових технологій, сприяння використанню інструментарію державно-приватного партнерства, а також збереження навколишнього середовища. Практична цінність даного дослідження полягає у можливості використання отриманих результатів для розробки вітчизняної стратегії щодо підтримки та розвитку малих міст.

Competitiveness is now considered one of the basic economic mechanisms. The phenomenon, which is originally associated with enterprises, has evolved beyond the initial research framework for many years. Currently, the competitiveness of regions or cities is considered a natural law of the modern economy. This phenomenon is primarily compared to the largest cities in terms of urban competitiveness. Competitiveness rankings identify the competitive position of capital cities, metropolises or global cities. It is less common for the scope of research to focus on the competitiveness of medium-sized and small towns. These entities also play a socioeconomic role in the local and regional systems, which should be considered in the context of competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of general competitiveness of small towns. The territorial scope covered 112 small towns in Poland. The time scope of the research included three research periods: 2004-2006, 2011-2013 and 2017-2019. To achieve the research objective, an approach was proposed that is based on the constructed Local Competitiveness Index (LCI). The results presented in this article provide a general approach to small towns’ competitiveness. It aims to identify the types of competitiveness of small towns based on sub-competitiveness scores. Based on the degree of integration of the social, economic and environmental aspects of competitiveness, eight types of competitiveness of small towns were identified. The results of the study indicated an improvement in the competitiveness of small towns and an increase in their integration. During the first adopted research period (2004–2006), there was a clear predominance of small towns in types representing partial or complete non-integration. In small urban centers, low integration was observed, regardless of their location in a particular part of the country. Between the years 2011–2013 and 2017–2019, favorable shifts were observed towards the types of partially integrated competitiveness (Types II, III, and IV) and integrated competitiveness (Type I).

The demographic changes that have been occurring in Poland for several decades concern all cities and towns, including those with the lowest population number – up to 20 thousand inhabitants. The article proposes a quantitative analysis of selected phenomena related to population and society in small Polish towns. The two most crucial demographic issues of Polish urban units, depopulation and population ageing, were analysed with the use of simple typological methods. The analysis was conducted on the basis of available statistical data. Additionally, a spatial perspective on the issue was presented.

The approach to the issue of shrinking cities is undergoing constant changes. Originally, this process was referred primarily to the progressing depopulation connected with a deteriorating economic situation. Presently, works on shrinking cities mainly focus on the challenges posed by the problem rather than the delimitation questions. Do the shrinking also apply to the situation of small towns, and if so, to what extent may small towns shrink? Being conscious of the multidimensional nature of the topic discussed, the authors took measures aimed at singling out a group of shrinking towns from the whole set of small towns in Poland. The identification of depopulating centres consisted in pointing to those shrinking both in terms of their demography and economy. This type of research gives rise to all types of methodological problems such as which tools should be used to measure town shrinking or which data should be selected for the research, an issue particularly important for small towns where the range of indicators available is rather limited. What conclusions may be drawn from the conducted analysis? Do small towns in Poland shrink? On the basis of the conducted research the answer is no. With regard to demography, the process of shrinking concerns only 30 towns (4.5%). And this group includes only four which additionally shrink in economic terms.

ObjectivesThe aim of the work was to assess among pregnant women from small towns and villages in Poland: the prevalence of smoking, credibility of smoking, and influence of socioeconomic factors on smoking status.MethodsThe data came from 4512 interviews with women in different trimesters of pregnancy. The interviews were collected in 2007 and 2008 year in towns up to 8000 citizens in 12 voivodeships.ResultsPrevalence of smoking in the beginning of pregnancy was confirmed by 34.6 % of women. During the pregnancy 14.7 % of women declared quitting smoking and 19.9 % continued smoking. Cigarette smoking was most frequent in those with a primary education, unemployed, very low incomes in household, and having both smoking parents. In multifactorial analysis, risk of smoking was highest (95 % CI 1.74–6.06) for women that were divorced or not living with a partner compared with married.ConclusionsRates of active smoking among a population of pregnant women living in small towns in Poland are very high. Since the correlates of smoking during pregnancy are a low education level and a low economic status of the pregnant woman, these socioeconomic groups should be first priority targets.

During the time of centrally controlled economy Polish cities were shaped by processes and structures typical of a socialist state. When changes in the economic, social and political system in Poland begun, Polish cities and towns entered a transformation process. The aim of the paper is to answer the question whether and to what extent spatial transformations of small towns in Poland show symptoms of gentrification. Authors analyse the problems of towns genesis, population changes, changes in the spatial and functional structures of towns as well as the modernization of the central districts of small towns in Malopolska Province. In view of present changes that take place in the structures of small towns in Europe and the widely undertaken actions towards the revitalization of small towns’ centres in Poland, the authors attempted to analyse spatial, economic and social transformations in the light of wider processes of gentrification, however at the present stage of development of small towns it is difficult to speak of gentrification processes itself.

Social perception of the need and efficiency of ecological sewage treatment plants in small towns in Poland

Purpose – Assessing the level of and differences in own revenue potential of small cities having the status of urban municipalities. The study intended to answer the following research question: do the cities having the status of urban municipalities lag far behind greater towns in terms of own revenue potential, and has the gap between them grown over the years? – Is there a wide diversity in the level of own revenue potential of small towns depending on their level of development and functions? – What are the most important internal determinants affecting the level of own revenue potential of small towns with urban municipality status? Research method – The empirical research was conducted based on secondary data from the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland, processed using basic descriptive statistics and taxonomic methods. The focus of the study was on small towns (with less than 20 thousand inhabitants) with urban municipality status (116 entities in 2020). The time span of the study was 2007–2020. Results – The potential for own revenue of cities having the status of urban municipalities varies strongly between them, but is on average only slightly smaller than that of other urban municipalities. Also, the fact that it is growing should be viewed as a positive development. While its level is impacted by internal conditions, external ones were the reason why in 2020 it stopped growing as fast as in the previous years. Originality / value / implications / recommendations – Monitoring the level of small cities’ own revenue potential due to their importance (77% of all cities, “rural growth poles”, “local development centres”) is aimed, among other things, at identifying financially disadvantaged units that may require state intervention in accordance with the implementation of the subsidiarity principle.