Significance of small towns in the process of urbanisation of the Wielkopolska region (Poland)

Abstract

A study is made of the significance of small towns in the process of urbanisation of Wielkopolska, a region situated in the western part of Poland. The analysis is conducted in both, a dynamic and a static approach, and covers two aspects of urbanisation: demographic and spatial. The basic period examined embraces the years 2000-2015. What is visible in the set of Wielkopolska towns is the depopulation of its core city, Poznan, accompanied by an increase in the population of small units located in its suburban zone. There is an upward tendency in the population number also in selected size classes of small Wielkopolska towns, which demonstrates that in this case we cannot speak of a crisis of small towns since they play an important role in the process of urbanisation of the region. In the recent years, increasingly important in this process, especially at the local level, has been the appearance of new towns set up as a result of the restitution of municipal rights.