Sustainable Environmental Development from the Regional Perspective—The Interesting Case of Poland

Eva-Luz Tejada-Gutiérrez, Zofia Koloszko-Chomentowska, Mariantonietta Fiore and Alessia Spada ()
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Eva-Luz Tejada-Gutiérrez: Department Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, 25003 Lleida, Spain
Zofia Koloszko-Chomentowska: Department of Management Economy and Finance, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland
Alessia Spada: Department of Economics, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The EU regional development policy aims to reduce through its cohesion policy the socio-economic development disparities between its most developed regions and peripheral regions. Research shows that despite this strategy, the economic development of EU countries in the spatial system is not homogeneous. In addition, contemporary strategies take into account economic development with respect to environmental protection. The goal of this paper was to assess sustainable regional development in Poland, taking into account environmental and innovative activity indicators, as well as mobility and accessibility in remote areas. To recognize the effects of supporting sustainable development, the evaluation was carried out considering the indicators from the Statistics Poland platform, concerning 2011 and 2021, and related them to economic development, the environment, mobility and accessibility of 16 regions. Comparing results obtained with the K-means clustering method with those obtained with the partitioning around medoids method, it was possible to verify, with greater reliability, the migration of regions into different clusters. Results showed that development of all the regions was significant yet highly disproportionate, thus highlighting the consolidated presence of dynamically growing regions versus peripheries, which means further regional polarization. An educational cross-sectorial approach can play a crucial role in promoting green pro-innovative development.

Keywords: sustainable-economic-social development; Poland; partitioning around medoids (PAM) method; K-means clustering; center-periphery polarization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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