The Central Functions of Cities in Poland in Light of Administrative Reform

Katarzyna Przybyła (), Maria Hełdak, Marian Kachniarz, David Ramsey, Alina Kulczyk-Dynowska and Katarzyna Szara
Additional contact information
Katarzyna Przybyła: Department of Spatial Economy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Maria Hełdak: Department of Spatial Economy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Marian Kachniarz: Department of Spatial Economy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
David Ramsey: Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Alina Kulczyk-Dynowska: Department of Spatial Economy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Katarzyna Szara: College of Social Sciences, University of Rzeszow, ul. M. Ćwiklińskiej 2, 35-601 Rzeszow, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-29

Abstract: The aim of this article is to determine and assess the changes in the central functions of major Polish cities in the context of Poland’s 1999 administrative reform. This study covers a period of twenty-two years (1998–2019), which provides a solid perspective for evaluating the functional changes occurring within the current territorial division of the country. The conclusions indicate that the dynamics of changes in central functions in former provincial capitals differed from those in cities that retained this status. At the same time, it was found that the administrative reform sanctioned the scope and scale of earlier socio-economic dependencies in the present regional centers. The research results suggest that administrative reforms in Poland solidified existing socio-economic development paths in cities, but were not the sole catalyst for change. They point to a complex interaction of factors influencing urban evolution. By utilizing indicators that measure the centrality of cities in relation to their demographic potential, this research offers a quantitative assessment of the level of development of central functions, which is crucial for monitoring progress towards sustainable urbanization. By providing this information, this research also contributes to a broader discussion on the advancement and dynamics of sustainable urban development.

Keywords: administrative reform; central function of cities; functional transformation; Polish cities; sustainable urban development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8097/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8097/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8097-:d:1479296

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().