One of the principal objectives of the Human Settlement Systems Research Task is to delineate functional urban regions within the industrially-advanced nations. These regions, which exhaust the respective national territories, usually each contain an urban core and its functionally-related hinterland area. The organization of small-area data in terms of these areas provides the basis for comparative analyses of demographic and economic structure and development. These studies are intended to enhance our knowledge concerning the nature and significance of geographic differences in the structure and evolution of human settlement systems, and thus to aid policy makers concerned with these phenomena.
This paper explores some of the conceptual dimensions of the notion of functional urban regions and presents a relevant delineation for Poland. Summary population, employment, and housing stock data are presented and evaluated
