Geographia Polonica (2002) vol. 75, iss. 1

Abstract

The article analyses regional differences in Poland within the framework of the core-periphery concept. The method employed in the study is that of the ratio of income potential to population potential, which is a systemic measure of the level of socio-economic development of regions.

Keywords: regional structure, core regions and peripheral areas, potential ratio, Poland

Teresa Czyż [tczyz@amu.edu.pl], Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Space Economy, Adam Mickiewicz University, Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznań, Poland

Abstract

Metropolitanisation is one of the processes observed in the contempo-rary world that has an ever increasing influence on its economic and social development and that is an object of various types of scientific inquiry, including geographical. However, as this complex and multi-faceted process is perceived and interpreted in a variety of ways, it might be useful to resolve it more fully. The article therefore seeks to elucidate the terms metropolis and metropolitanisation in such a way that, by focusing on the functions and spatial structures characteristic of metropolises, the process of metro-politanisation is described in the context of urbanisation and globalisation. A classification of metropolises is also proposed and carried out, and European and Polish metropolises are described. In regard to Polish metropolises, which are still rather metropolises-to-be, attention is centred on the progress of metropolitanisation and prospects for the develop-ment of metropolitan functions within the next few years.

Keywords: metropolis, metropolitanisation processes, metropolitan functions, spatial-functional structures, globalisation, cities, global cities

Jerzy J. Parysek [parys@amu.edu.pl], Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Space Economy, Adam Mickiewicz University, Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznań, Poland

Abstract

The present paper includes a characterization of the environment in the extremely humid Cherrapunji region (with annual rainfalls from 8 000 to 24 000 mm), as well as a description of a new project and preliminary observations on runoff and soil erosion. Due to deforestation, soils are degraded. The investigation is based on existing meteorological records, measurements of rainfall intensity by way of pluviometers, and observations of selected geomorphological and hydrological processes conducted in an experimental catchment. Heavy rains mainly occur during late evening and continue till morning. The runoff follows the heavy rains immediately, even if the soil profiles may absorb 100 mm of rainfall over 3-4 hours. Deeper layers of the soil profile are still satura-ted during the first half of the dry season. During the rainy season, saturated sheet flow also prevails in the valley bottoms. The present-day rate of soil erosion is very low due to heavy overland How continuing for centuries, and the formation of a stony pavement on slope surfaces as well as of river channels cut in resistant rocks with iron crusts. This has been documented by measurement of ,rCs contents in soil profiles.

Keywords: rainstorm, overland flow, soil erosion, Cherrapunji plateau, '7Cs

Leszek Starkel [starkel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland
Surendra Singh, epartment of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793014, India
Roman Soja [soja@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland
Wojciech Froehlich, Homerka Laboratory of Fluvial Processes, Institute of Geography, Polish Academy of Sciences, Frycowa, Poland
Hiambok Syiemlieh, department of Geography, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong-793014, India
Paweł Prokop [pawel@zg.pan.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Św. Jana 22, 31-018 Kraków, Poland

Abstract

The results of an investigation of land use in the Odra River catchment in various historical periods have been presented. Analysis of monographs and archival cartographic material points to the area of the Odra Valley having been managed by humankind since around the end of the first millennium. It was in this period that settled lands developed, and around them agriculture. Colonisation of the area and the spread of agriculture has been achieved at the expense of forests, such that, in the middle of the 18'h century these occupied only about 30% of the area. This situation remained almost unchanged till the end of the 19'" century. Analysis of land use based on informa-tion obtained from historical maps and satellite images suggests that the distribution of the six main types of land use (forests, arable lands, meadows, built-up areas, waters and marshes), in the Odra River catchment have not undergone major change. This confirms the supposition that land use in the area has an exceptionally stable configuration.

Keywords: Odra River catchment, Sudety Mts., Silesian Lowland, flooding, topographical maps, satellite images, land use changes

Elżbieta Bielecka, Institute of Geodesy and Cartography Jasna 2/4, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Andrzej Ciołkosz, Institute of Geodesy and Cartography Jasna 2/4, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The present paper investigates the quantitative development of higher education in Poland in the 1990s and the distribution of higher educational institutions by urban size classes. It refers also to the recent studies on the impact of a higher school on various aspects of a city's economic and social life. It emerged that private higher schools, first organized in 1991, have been the most dynamic element of Poland's higher education system in the last decade and will certainly mark the future educational landscape as well. Private schools are also mainly responsible for a trickling-down of the higher schools thro-ugh the urban hierarchy. Nevertheless, it remains the big cities that concentrate the hi-ghest proportion of schools and students, though their relative position in the urban sys-tem is weakening. The impact of a higher school upon a city has emerged as multifaceted and not as entirely positive as is commonly believed or expressed in official circles.

Keywords: higher education, state and private schools, locational trends, impact of a higher school upon a city, Poland

Ewa Nowosielska, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

A database of Polish towns and historical landscapes including town layouts, churches, and castles has been compiled and made available on the Internet. Lists of towns and historical landscapes, photographs of landscapes, and basic map components have been loaded to a map server system with GIS software which can be used to create web pages with maps, attribute tables, and photographs. Users can change the geographi-cal area of the map, the map components, and the contents of the data table displayed. This system permits easy on-line browsing of the information in the database from anywhere in the world.

Keywords: Poland, towns, historical landscapes, GIS, Internet map server

Takashi Oguchi, Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, c/o Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Kyoji Saito, Center for Spatial Information Science, University of Tokyo, c/o Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Midori Hara, epartment of Geography, Faculty of Education, Saitama University, Shimo-Okubo, Saitama City 338-8570, Japan
Michael Grossman, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 234 Science Hall, Madison, WI 53706-1491. USA
Shigeru Yamamoto, Department of Geography, Faculty of Letters, Hosei University, 2-17-1, Fujimi, Chiyoda, Tokyo