Geographia Polonica (2017) vol. 90, iss. 2

Abstract

Romania has experienced considerable growth in agritourism able to meet the demand for sustainable tourism generated on both domestic and European markets. A picturesque landscape, other unique features and cultural heritage have all acted directly to increase agritourism in the country. Against this background, the work detailed in this paper sought to employ a quantitative approach in assessing if the above development of agritourism correlated directly with financial assistance allocated under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Findings in fact point to a direct impact of funding disbursed under the CAP, while payments disbursed under the so-called second pillar are not found to have impacted on the growth of agritourism. Outcomes with the Epanechnikov kernel method highlight a significant shift in the subsidies allocated under the Common Agricultural Policy via its first and second pillars, with an increase in the total fund disbursed in 2013 as compared with 2007. Subsidies allocated via the second pillar of the CAP can thus be said to havehad a pivotal role in supporting investment in on-farm diversification, in this way achieving a partial integrationof farmers’ incomes in Romania.

Keywords: panel data, rural development, rural tourism, fixed effect, countryside, multiple regression model, agritourism, Common Agricultural Policy, Romania

Nicola Galluzzo, Associazione Studi Geografico-Economici delle Aree Rurali Via Salaria per L’Aquila, 76 scala A, Rieti: Italy

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the dependence between the suburban development of housing estates and the transportation system. Relationships between the city and its surroundings depend on the road network and daily traffic. That is why in most cases cities ‘spread’ in a linear form – forming an ‘urban sprawl’ with a low density of development and long distances between housing and retail services. According to analyses, cities in Poland affect their outskirts in an ‘urban sprawl’ manner. The development of suburban housing dependent on communications leads to spatial conflicts. This article shows both the interdependence and consequences of this situation. The main methods used were statistical and spatial analyses and a case study.

Keywords: urban sprawl, transportation, land use, expansion, development, spatial conflicts

Ada Wolny, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Real Estate Resources ul. Oczapowskiego 2, 10- 720 Olsztyn: Poland
Ryszard Źróbek, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn Faculty of Geodesy, Geospatial and Civil Engineering Department of Real Estate Resources ul. Oczapowskiego 2, 10- 720 Olsztyn: Poland

Abstract

The process of residential suburbanisation may cause changes in the age structure of the population as the age composition of in-migrants is younger than long-term residents. However, the demographic change associated with the second demographic transition as well as the co-existence of suburbanisation and reurbanisation of inner city areas may have ambiguous impacts on the age composition. The aim of this paper is to show changes in the age structure of the population in a post-socialist city in the light of suburbanisation using the example of the Kraków Metropolitan Area. In particular, we sought to show whether the intensive development of this process results in the inhibition of population ageing due to the influx of people in suburban areas along with the outward diffusion of the behaviours associated with the second demographic transition.

Keywords: suburbanisation, age composition, population ageing, post-socialist city, Kraków, Poland

Sławomir Kurek [sgkurek@up.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography Pedagogical University of Kraków Podchorążych 2, 30‑084 Kraków: Poland
Mirosław Wójtowicz [miroslaw.wojtowicz@up.krakow.pl], Institute of Geography Pedagogical University of Kraków Podchorążych 2, 30‑084 Kraków: Poland
Jadwiga Gałka, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management Jagiellonian University Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Kraków: Poland

Abstract

Suburbanisation represents one of the most important contemporary problems facing large urban agglomerations. An analysis of the development of urban agglomerations in Central-Eastern Europe, and especially Poland, leads to the observation that this problem is not particularly advanced in any of them. The aim of this article has thus been to examine how relevant it might be to consider the suburbanisation stage in large Polish agglomerations, as a permanent feature of the Klaassen/Paelinck and van den Berg models. Specifically, the article focuses on Poland’s seven largest agglomerations, though there is a particular emphasis on the Katowice conurbation. The essence of the study lay in the identification of differences in the population balance between these agglomerations, and above all, between their cores and outer zones. The study also included data on the structure characterising out-migrations. A consequence of the study was to draw attention to the apparent diversity of the Katowice conurbation, the only one in Poland to record a population decline in both the core area and the outer zone. This specificity was explained mainly by the drivers of polycentricity and post-industrialism. In other agglomerations, these elements were either absent altogether or were involved in separate shaping of urban regional space.

Keywords: suburbanisation, urban agglomeration, postindustrial region, urban polycentrism, Central-Eastern Europe

Robert Krzysztofik, Departament of Economic Geography University of Silesia Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec: Poland

Abstract

The paper analyses two interrelated fields: residential differentiation in the Vilnius metropolitan area on the basis of socio-economic status and of political alignment. Data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses were used to investigate socio-economic and ethnic segregation and data from the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2012 were used for the analysis of political alignment. Indices of segregation and isolation were calculated, and the main occupational groups were used as a proxy for socio-economic status. GIS tools were used to visualise existing spatial differences. Though most indices indicated quite low levels of segregation, the situation was changing. The wealthiest and poorest groups tend to live more and more separately. The political preferences of the different social groups differ and differentiation of political field is increasing. The paper reveals socio-political spatial interrelations in the metropolitan area which have a unique ethnic structure. Our findings suggest that socio-economic structure is a major factor determining the degree of differentiation of electoral alignment in the metropolitan area. The different political preferences of the different ethnic groups could be related not simply to ethnicity but rather to socio-economic status.

Keywords: Vilnius, metropolitan area, social segregation, electoral segregation, electoral differentiation, postcommunist city, residential differentiation

Donatas Burneika [donatas.geo@gmail.com], Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Institute of Sociology
Aušra Baranauskaitė, Lithuanian Social Research Centre Institute of Human Geography and Demography A. Goštauto g. 11, LT-01108 Vilnius : Lithuania
Rūta Ubarevičienė, Institute of Human Geography and Demography Lithuanian social research center Goštauto 11, LT-01108 Vilnius: Lithuania

Abstract

Higher education has been perceived as a value, necessary for the process of societal development, as well as the development of individuals in post-socialist Europe. In this context, the paper aims to focus on Geography students and graduates to analyse their expectations for their futures in the discipline. Geography students are discussed here at Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, but implications can be applied broadly. In particular, gender-based differences were revealed in Geography students' ambitions related to their future careers. Not surprisingly, attitudes of students and Geography teaching staff differ substantially in some aspects, including labour-market orientation of Geography curriculum. Lack of practical and business-related skills in existing curriculum might be a limitation of the graduates' labour prospects.

Keywords: higher education, university, geography, professional carrier, expectations

Eva Polonyová, Department of Human Geography and Demography Comenius University Mlynská dolina Ilkovičova 6, 845 38 Bratislava: Slovakia
Marcel Horňák, Department of Human Geography and Demography Comenius University Mlynská dolina Ilkovičova 6, 845 38 Bratislava: Slovakia
Ivan Zelko, Institute of Chemistry Slovak Academy of Science Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 38 Bratislava: Slovakia
Alexander Lux, Department of Plant Physiology Comenius University Mlynská dolina Ilkovičova 6, 845 38 Bratislava: Slovakia
Thomas L. Rost, Department of Plant Biology University of California One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 Davis: USA

Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak [eko@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The study presents the delimitation of problem areas carried out at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of PAS on behalf of the Ministry of Development of Poland (2015-2016), first and foremost to meet the practical needs of the development policy being pursued at state, regional and local government levels. The study was elaborated for the 2479 Polish communes (gminas) by reference to 21 indicators mainly concerned with the state of the natural environment and socio-economic conditions, as well as features of spatial and local development. The three categories of area ultimately identified were the natural, the social and the economic aspects, the combination of which yielded several main types of problem area. A last stage then entailed a division into regions, i.e. the designation and naming of particular geographical areas.

Keywords: problem areas, delimitation, development policy, regional policy

Przemysław Śleszyński [psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN
Jerzy Bański [jbanski@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. S. Leszczyckiego PAN
Marek Degórski [m.degor@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Tomasz Komornicki [t.komorn@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland