Three Decades of Polish Socio-Economic Transformations Geographical Perspectives

This edited volume analyses and discusses the systematisation of Polish socio-economic transformations of the last three decades using selected examples of the most important changes.  1989 marked the onset of the political transformation process in Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The transition involved a shift from a socialist system to a parliamentary democracy and from a command economy to a market one. Due to the deep economic crisis that culminated in 1988 and the peaceful model of change developed and implemented in Poland, the magnitude and manner of implementing various initiatives was unprecedented and had specific implications. This transformation opened Polish society and the Polish economy to the impact of global social and economic changes, triggering successive transformations, often overlapping in terms of their causes and consequences. This publication aims to present the course and effects, in particular territorial, of Poland's socio-economic transformation in the years 1990–2020. The analysis covers the key aspects of this transformation, illustrated with references to the concepts and theories of development, domestic and foreign literature, own empirical research and existing or newly developed model approaches to transformation in the territorial dimension. The book appeals to researchers and student in the fields of geography, spatial management, economics and business, sociology and political sciences, public and private economic research institutes, employees of governmental bodies and corporations, consultants in public administration, journalists and policymakers.

Introduction.- Part I: The context of Polish post-communist transformation.- Chapter 1. Poland: Economic reforms in extraordinary and normal politics: An insider’s view.- Chapter 2. Regional patterns of transformation and policy responses.- Chapter 3. Geographical and historical background of the transformation: Politics, and society.- Chapter 4. Axes of political rivalry in a territorial pattern: Geography of electoral behaviour.- Chapter 5. Territorial division: Administrative reforms and the look to the future.- Part II: Transformation of society, the economy and environment.- Chapter 6. Dynamic of economic and social development.- Chapter 7. Car market transformation.- Chapter 8. Changes in ownership and production structure of agriculture.- Chapter 9. Tertiarisation of the economy: Restructuring of the service sector.- Chapter 10. Population changes during the demographic transition.- Part III: Transformation of the country's space.- Chapter 11. Changes in the spatial planning system.- Chapter 12. Transformation of the urban and rural System.- Chapter 13 Modernisation of transport infrastructure and changes in spatial accessibility.- Chapter 14. Development of tourism: Growth and evolution of the leisure industry.- Chapter 15. Environmental change and management.- Chapter 16. Landscape and spatial management: Changes, principles and directions of measures.- Part IV: Poland in Europe and in the world.- Chapter 17. Poland's position in the global economy.- Chapter 18 Changes in the spatial and commodity structure of Poland's foreign trade.- Chapter 19. The ins and outs of the labour market.- Chapter 20. EU regional policy and its implications for the development of Polish regions.- Part V: Poland's development in the face of global challenges.- Chapter 21. Spatial-economic prosilience: A signpost framework for Poland.- Chapter 22. Polish cities: The search for development concepts.- Epilogue: COVID-19 pandemic in Poland: The course, effects and challenges.

Pawel Churski Professor of social science. Habilitation Earth Sciences in Economic Geography, specialisms: Socio-Economic Geography, Spatial Management, Regional Growth, Regional Policy, PhD Earth Sciences in Economic Geography, specialisms: Socio-Economic Geography, Spatial Management, Regional Growth, Regional Policy, is an economic geographer working at the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan (POLAND), Now holds a position a Dean of Faculty, since 2009 Head of Regional and Local Studies Department. His research interests include: the problems of local and regional development in Poland including climate change challenges, factors of development and regional policy in Poland and in the European Union, the challenges of responsible research and innovation and the role of a university in their implementation, the application of econometrics and geographic information systems for spatial analysis, the level and standard of living, the state and changes in the labor market in the period of socio-economic transformation in Poland and Europe.

Tomasz Kaczmarek Professor at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan. Director of the Metropolitan Research Center, Head of the Department of Urban Systems and Territorial Governance. Member of the Steering Committee of the Commission on Geography of Governance - International Geographical Union. Member of the national scientific bodies: the Committee for the Spatial Development of the Country of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Committee on Geographical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Council of Scientific Excellence. Fields of research: local governance in Europe, strategic management and spatial planning in metropolitan areas, social participation in decision making processes in the public sector. Author of 200 publications, 10 books, including "Territorial and administrative structures and their reforms in European countries"," Territorial and administrative systems of metropolitan areas in Europe". Laureate, with a research team, of the Prime Minister's Award for scientific and technical achievements.