Bożena Degórska

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to recognize the spatial regularities of the urbanised land development, as well as todetermine the impact of the distance from the city center of Warsaw on the ongoing transformations. Research performedin the Warsaw Metropolitan Area (WMA) refers to the period of 2000-2010. Special stress was put on changes thathad been taking place in rural areas, since Poland entered the EU. It was determined that there is ever greater relationbetween the distance from Warsaw and the development of urbanised areas. The study showed, that the most urbanisedrural areas (gminas) are still those to the South-West of Warsaw, within the distance of up to 40 km. Performed actionsdetermined that since 2004, there had been changes in the geographical directions of intense urbanisation of the WMAarea. While the southern and western parts of the city seemed to have lost their importance, the northern and easternones, on the other hand, seemed to had been gaining in significance.

Keywords: urban growth, urban sprawl, urbanisation, suburbanisation, land use, Warsaw Metropolitan Area, Poland

Bożena Degórska [bodego@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland