Environmental and Economic Factors of Migration from Urban to Rural Areas: Evidence from Poland

Romuald Jończy, Przemysław Śleszyński, Alicja Dolińska, Michał Ptak, Justyna Rokitowska-Malcher and Diana Rokita-Poskart
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Romuald Jończy: Department of Economics and Research on Development, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Przemysław Śleszyński: Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland
Alicja Dolińska: Department of Economics and Research on Development, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Michał Ptak: Department of Economics and Research on Development, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Justyna Rokitowska-Malcher: Department of Economics and Research on Development, Faculty of Economics and Finance, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, 53-345 Wroclaw, Poland
Diana Rokita-Poskart: Department of Regional Policy and Labour Market, Faculty of Economics and Management, Opole University of Technology, 45-758 Opole, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-25

Abstract: The net migration rate is highly diversified and noticeable chiefly in municipalities directly adjacent to large cities. This trend is still maintained in Poland and is now becoming even more visible than previously. Most of the studies conducted to date have not focused on extracting economic and environmental factors or determining the role of individual factors in those decisions. Furthermore, they have not analysed the issue of differences in motives and directions of migration. Thus, the aim of the research was to establish the factors that determine contemporary migrations from the city to suburban areas and to outline the role of economic and environmental factors. For this purpose, 164 interviews were conducted with individuals who had migrated from the city to the countryside surrounding one of the most important urban centres in Central Europe—Wrocław. In the research, the multiple snowball sampling technique was used. It was found that the factors with the most significant impact on the decision to move from the city to the countryside were those of an environmental nature, whereas the selection of a specific location (village) was to a greater extent determined by economic factors. Compared to their previous place of residence, the respondents most positively rated the environmental benefits of living in the countryside, whereas economic factors, especially insufficient sewage and energy infrastructure, in addition to poor services and transport, were downvoted. The results therefore imply the need for better planning of suburban settlement patterns that takes account of the availability and development of the infrastructure network. The settlement dispersion, as shown through spatial studies, leads to higher unit costs, which generate higher public services costs and thus increasing local expenditures.

Keywords: migrations; determinants of migration; migrations from the city to the countryside; economic factors of migration; environmental factors of migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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