Jastrzębie Zdrój. Od wsi uzdrowiskowej do miasta-blokowiska

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on City of Jastrzębie Zdrój development (the southern part of Silesian Province). A key question has been an evolution of urban structures: spatial, functional and also partly demographic, which determined a fact that some small settlement (about 3 thousands inhabitants; the sixties of the last century) with spa functions changed on demographically big city and one of the greatest mining-centre in Europe (the seventies of the last century). Economic development and changes of urban functions determined the suddenness of the urbanization processes both demographic and spatial issues. Jastrzębie Zdrój was already the greatest Polish city of prefabricated blocks in the eighties of the last century. It should be underline that estates of prefabricated blocks completely dominated ownscape in presented city. It is interesting that local companies that were specialized on prefabricated blocks “took city (spatial) hostage”. Former, spatial plans of urban development for city intended that Jastrzębie Zdrój could be a centre of new urban agglomeration with population about 400 thousands inhabitants, too. Only embryonic form of the urban agglomeration has been created in the end. Contemporary Jastrzębie Zdrój tries to find new possibilities of development, that can be complements of coalmining and partly slow down process of demographic shrinkage. Jastrzębie Zdrój is the one of the most characteristic Polish examples of diametrically functional changes of city in the short period of time and very seldom short-time dynamics of urban population growth (1961−1976 – 2 815,2%).