Łódź: Transformation einer altindustriellen Stadt in der postsozialistischen Periode

In the 19th century, Łódź grew within a few decades from being an insignificant rural town to become the leading textile city in Eastern Europe. Until the present day, the Łódź region has remained the primary centre of the Polish textile industry. The transformation process in the city industry in Eastern Europe is connected with decisive changes in the organisation of the city centres. In comparison to western cities, the double problems of a simultaneous transformation become apparent: transformation from a planned economy to regional structures of a free market economy, as well as transformation from old industrial to post-industrial structures. The article examines the changes in the regional structures of the city centre of the old industrial city of Łódź in the course of the transformation process. If a temporal delay is given consideration, the location development of the industrial sector in Łódź corresponds in its basic structures to the western patterns. City centre production plants were given up at the start of the nineties in favour of suburban locations. A deviation from western patterns is the prevalence of small companies in city centre locations. In retail trade as well, development tendencies towards western European patterns can also be recognised. Large retail trade outlets are settling increasingly around the cities. The large open markets are one dissimilar element. The dynamic of the quaternary sector and the concentration of office use in the city centre, which goes hand in hand with this, reveal a clear convergence to the developments in western cities. In a summarised sense, we can state that the signs for a convergence to western European regional structure patterns are considerably more pronounced as those which would suggest the emergence of divergent regional structures. The revitalisation of Łódź has made considerable progress in the last few years. The successes are relative in comparison to other Polish cities. This reveals the problems of old industrial structures and the relative proximity of Łódź to the primate city Warsaw

European Union, globalisation and Poland

International economic integration, or globalisation, has a long history, dating from the Medieval period; the establishment and later extension of the European Union is part of this process. It is argued that EU membership has brought undoubted advantages, such as support for agriculture and for regions of high unemployment, and the removal of tariffs against Polish goods, but the huge changes experienced by Poland date from the introduction of the market economy in 1989, not from EU membership. The market economy is synonymous with globalisation, which is so powerful that countries are forced to adapt to it, and make changes within this framework. There have been changes since 2004, the most important of which is mass emigration to the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain, but it is thought that this movement is only short-term, since most Poles intend to return to Poland, having accumulated capital. It is too soon to be able to establish the full impact of EU membership. It seems that a much longer period must be allowed to elapse before it is possible to assess the value of EU membership to Poland. But in any case, it is clear that Poland has become part of the globalisation and economic integration process – something that will be emphasised owing to membership of the EU

The future organisation of the boundaries of the Łódź voivodship (The results of research in six gmina in the Sieradz region

Wywiady i kwerendę przeprowadzili w trakcie ćwiczeń terenowych z geografii społeczno- -ekonomicznej studenci II roku studiów stacjonarnych geografii w 1996 r. (T. Kos, K. Kowalczyk, M. Kowalczyk, M. Koźma, A. Krasowska, P. Krawczyk, R. Krysiak, K. Kubiak, A. Kuc, M. Kuchta, M. Lamprecht, A. Lasota, M. Lewandowska, M. Lorenczak, M. Michałus, C. Peda) pod kierunkiem A. Matczaka i A. M. Niżnik. Wyniki badań kwestionariuszowych opracował A. Matczak, natomiast materiały pozyskane poprzez kwerendę w szkołach i w gminnych urzędach ewidencji ludności opracowała A. M. Niżnik.This research presents the results of a questionnaire survey carried out in June 1996 concerning the perception of the local population regarding future changes in administrative boundaries in the western part of the Sieradz voivodship (county). The commune involved were: Goszczanów, Warta, Błaszki, Wróblew, Brąszewice and Klonowa. In addition, supporting information regarding the population’s use of services, education, shopping facilities, medical services, recreation and cultural facilities, together with employment and local migration patterns, were obtained from official sources. The survey interviewed 600 people in total in the six commune. In each of the latter the sample included 10 people from the local establishment, and 90 representing the remainder of the population. Findings relating to the perceived need for boundary change were similar for both establishment and other groups, the elderly seeing little need for change and the young and educated preferring a new situation. Unskilled non-establishment interviewees preferred the status quo. Equally, both groups preferred a two-tier system of local government involving commune and voivodship rather than a three-tier system involving commune, administrative district and voivodship. No less than 78% of the establishment group and 60% of the other group selected this strategy. Interviewees were asked their views concerning the size of Polish local government areas: whether there should be 12, 17 or 25 units, compared with the 49 voivodships at present. In the case of the first two options the majority preferred to be associated with the county of Łódź rather than Poznań. Łódź was also preferred in the case of the third option, the choice lying between Łódź, selected by 51%, and Kalisz, selected by 49% of those interviewed. Factors influencing preferences included ease of communication, established service and other links with centres and regions, and former local government boundaries. In conclusion, it seems class that people’s preferences regarding local government boundaries are heavily influenced by socio-economic considerations.Wyniki badań kwestionariuszowych przeprowadzonych wśród 600 osób oraz rzeczywiste powiązania ludności zamieszkującej sześć jednostek lokalnych zachodniej części województwa sieradzkiego stanowią treść artykułu. Badania podjęto w związku z przyszłymi zmianami podziału administracyjnego kraju.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 zostało dofinansowane ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę