Trajectories of depopulation and urban shrinkage in the Katowice Conurbation, Poland

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on trajectories of urban shrinkage in the Katowice conurbation (after 1990), which is an example of a traditional old industrial region in Central and Eastern Europe. The process of urban shrinkage and its effects, due to the restructuring of the economy of the region since 1989, has been presented in a broader depiction, using the example of the Katowice conurbation and in a narrower depiction, based on two cities: Sosnowiec and Bytom. Bytom and Sosnowiec are models that explains majority of typical path of shrinkage in the Katowice Conurbation. Cities represent urban centers of historical both Upper Silesia (Bytom) and The Dabrowa Basin Region (Sosnowiec). The shrinking cities of the Katowice Conurbation present the most spectacular example of socio-economic problems existing in the post-industrial area of the urban region. One of the signs of urban shrinkage in the Katowice conurbation is the loss of population in the period 1991–2013 in the number of 370 thousand people. In addition, the cities are facing numerous social, economic and spatial issues. It is well known that the Katowice Conurbation as post-industrial region has gone through specific and complicated – economic as well as social transformation. This fact is a key point of view on shrinkage process in described region.