Special Demographic Zone in Poland – in search for the gist of the phenomenon

Abstract

1.IntroductionNotwithstanding the fact that ageing Europe is the sole continent whose society, as a whole, undergoes an ongoing depopulation process, the European Union (EU) is still expected to increase the number of its population by 2% until 2030 [Eurostat 2016]. However, at regional and local taxonomic levels of the UE-28 the consequences of both before mentioned demographic processes - namely population ageing and population decline - are distributed unequally, leading to the substantial differences in the demographic situation of particular areas within the EU. In view of the fact that the number, structure, and quality of population on a given territory constitute prerequisite for any development strategy and the precondition for sustainable local and regional growth [Rauzinski & Szczygielski 2014; Szczygielski 2015], the changes in demographic characteristics at different levels of taxonomic analysis call for a tailored socio-economic policy at consecutive levels with the ultimate goal of alleviating the negative effects of both negative demographic processes. Thus, European and national policies require flexibility to allow regional and local implementation [OECD 2013].In the Polish context, there are also substantial regional differences in the population structure and dynamics to be noticed. There are some mesoregions and microregions in an urgent need for extraordinary political intervention. Nevertheless, the long-term demographic projections clearly show that almost all Polish regions and municipalities will have to embark on strategies to face depopulation problem, and all of them will face the population ageing problem.In 2012 one of 16 Polish voivodeships (NUTS-2 level regions in Poland) - namely Opolskie voivodeship - embarked on special policy programme, called Special Demographic Zone, which has been set up in order to fight against savage region's population demise, and to take measures to countervail the ageing process. Special Demographic Zone is to be perceived as a complex development and socio-economic policy programme that aims at alleviating the negative effect of both demographic processes in question.The objective of this paper is to place the concept of the Special Demographic Zone established in the Polish Opolskie mesoregion in the broad context of local and regional strategies of tackling demographic challenges that have been already applied in other declining and (or) ageing areas worldwide. In particular, it is in our interest to build a theoretical bridge between the consequences of ageing and depopulation processes and challenges steaming from the need to create sustainable local and regional economies.We would like to note that, if not specified otherwise, all statistical data quoted in this paper were sourced from the Eurostat database [Eurostat 2016].In the Literature review section we present a review of international literature that covers: importance of demographic issue in EU-28 member states, context, details and causes of demographic issue at country and regional level in Poland. In Methods section we describe our approach toward research sample selection and Boolean keyword and subject term research performed between 1st - 30th of September 2016. In Research findings section we provide synthesis of research performed presented in form of typology of strategies implemented to tackle negative trends at different regional levels. Our paper concludes with implications of the study for the economic and research practice.2.Literature review2.1.Demography as a strategic policy issue at country level in the EU-28Population ageing, due to successively increasing life expectancy of individuals, is the major demographic threat to be tackled throughout the EU-28 member states. However, there are some countries (and regions) within the EU equally threatened by the depopulation process and its negative consequences. Demographic issue stimulates debate on impact of income and consumption taxes, subsidies and other fiscal instruments on fertility patterns [Kudla 2013]. …