Selected Factors of Socio-Economic Activity in Medium-Sized Citieswith Powiat Status in Poland in 2018-2023

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the paper is to understand the changes taking place in medium-sized cities with powiat status in Poland in terms of selected variables from the area of ​​socio-economic activity against the background of population changes.

Methodology: The analysis was conducted based on statistical data from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office and a critical review of the literature. The paper uses the methods of historical analysis and comparative analysis of statistical data. Then, a matrix approach was used to present the relationships between the variables studied. It was assumed that a medium-sized city is one in which the number of residents is greater than 20 thousand and does not exceed 100 thousand people.

Results: All the studied cities faced problems related to socio-economic activity, which affected their investment and housing attractiveness. The most common problem was the decline in population, both in the longer term 2023/2018 and year to year 2023/2022. Some cities also had problems with the number of long-term unemployed and the size of investment outlays of enterprises. In the case of long-term unemployed, certain trends can be indicated, while in the case of investment outlays were more random.

Implications and recommendations: Medium-sized cities are often trapped in a vicious circle of decreasing investment and residential attractiveness; negative or low natural increase is detrimental. The key factor is to stop the population decline, through the inflow of new residents or stopping the outflow of existing ones. The basic elements that should be influenced in order to increase the socio-economic activity of medium-sized cities are attractive jobs for people with various qualifications and industrial and residential investments.

Originality/value: The author examined the relationships between long-term unemployment and investment activity of enterprises against the background of population changes in medium-sized cities with powiat status in Poland in the period 2018-2023. It is worth emphasizing that the adopted research period, covering years of atypical events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, high inflation, etc., also proves the originality.