Living conditions and functional structure of rural communes in Poland

Year, pages: 2005, 23 - 42

The paper presents relations between living conditions in rural areas and functions of communes in Poland. The first part describes spatial diversification of the aforementioned characteristics as well as of the infra-structural outfit and economic potential defined by the WWZ index. The examined features stay in close mutual relation. The lowest values of the WWZ index appear in communes with domination or co-domination of agricultural functions, whereas the highest ones occur in areas with a great importance of various non-agricultural functions such as housing, industry, service or tourism. The other part focuses on rural inhabitants’ subjective assessments of changes of living conditions and their effects. The results of the survey, done in four intentionally chosen communes, are presented. A high unemployment rate and bad condition of roads were pointed out as the most important problems. Predominance of negative assessments of own financial status and living conditions is more significant in communes with bioproductive functions than in areas with a prevalence of services. Finally, directions of changes are suggested.

Czapiewski, K. 2005. Living conditions and functional structure of rural communes in Poland. In Geografický časopis, vol. 57, no.1, pp. 23-42. 0016-7193.

Czapiewski, K. (2005). Living conditions and functional structure of rural communes in Poland. Geografický časopis, 57(1), 23-42. 0016-7193.