Socio-economic transformation of Poland’s largest cities over the years 1998–2008: A multivariate approach

This article seeks to show changes in the socio-economic structure of the thirty largest Polish cities, in topological relations, and in the type of socio-economic differences among them. The research was carried out at three analytical levels: of the unitary variables chosen, principal components, and in a synthetic approach (cluster analysis). To assess structural changes, use was made of comparative statics involving an analysis of the 1998 and 2008 situations. The period analysed was one of dynamic changes in the determinants of the socio-economic development of Polish cities, with four reforms of key significance being introduced, not all of them crowned with success, but also a period marking the start of a decline in demographic dynamics and of suburbanisation processes. It is also treated as a time of transition from a quantitative to a qualitative type of urban development, as indicated by improving services in the sphere of municipal infrastructure. Those processes are connected with the restructuring of the economy, in particular with its distinctly post-industrial orientation, which is especially readily visible in the case of the Upper Silesian Industrial District (a mining and heavy-industry region). The research corroborated the highly specific type of development of the towns of this region as well as the unique position of the Polish capital city. It also showed that the changes which determined the tendencies of transformation of the Polish cities were mainly those in demography, housing situation, level of health care, and level of entrepreneurship

Recreational area trends in the rural-urban fringe: case study of Kórnik gmina (commune)

notatka naukowa, tekst równol. pol., ang

Safety of Poznań residents after 1989 (selected aspects)

Safety is one of the fundamental human needs which greatly affects the quality of people’s lives. It is also a collective need the satisfaction of which is a task of public authority. That is why this authority takes many measures intended to protect society and individuals as well as their property against threats posed by violent acts of people and violent natural forces. According to the Polish legal regulations, ensuring safety and public order is a task of a commune, also an urban one. To this end towns set up such services as the police, the fire brigade, emergency medical teams, city guards, etc., intended to serve their inhabitants. Their feeling of safety and a low crime rate are indicative of a town’s high level of civilisational and cultural development, but also make the town attractive as a place of residence for both, current and future inhabitants as well as to potential investors. The aim of this paper is to examine selected aspects of the safety of Poznań residents and changes that have taken place in this respect since 1989, the year when the systemic transformation started in Poland. A detailed analysis will be made of interventions by the Poznań police, fire service and ambulance service as factors that contribute the most to the safety of the city residents and their property

Analysis of translated tropes: metaphors, similes & analogies in a case study of the English & Dutch translations of the Russian poet Alexander Galich

Since Even-Zohar and Toury introduced a target-culture approach in translation studies, research focus turned to the effect of the target text on the reader. Consequently, it is, among other things, important to study the translation of typical elements of literary texts and their potential effect. This paper concentrates on the translation of a certain types of tropes dealing with comparison: metaphors, similes & analogies. Three categories of these tropes were selected for this paper: (i) lexicalized, (ii) conventional and (iii) private, because each of them requires a different strategy from linguistic and literary points of view in translation. This paper contains an analysis of the metaphors, similes and analogies used by a Russian poet Alexander Galich, which were translated from Russian into English and Dutch. The aim of the paper is twofold: (i) on the one hand, to look how the above-mentioned tropes were rendered in existing translations and (ii) on the other hand, to explore how they could have been rendered in a potential translation and to compare both versions. Besides, since tropes can be creative and decorative, the analyzed tropes are examined in order to establish which of them are truly relevant for translation and which are not in order to avoid possible overtranslating. Finally, conditions that favour or hamper trope translation are discussed