Paths of Shrinkage in the Katowice Conurbation. Case Studies of Bytom and Sosnowiec Cities

Abstract

The Katowice Conurbation is the largest metropolitan region in Poland. In the core zone there are 16 cities, followed by another 17 in the peripheral region. It is important to underline that the Katowice Conurbation makes up the largest shrinking region in Central and Eastern Europe. The depopulation of the region has marked itself strongly in the 17% decrease of population, from 2 million 311.5 thousand in 1990 to 1 million 978.5 thousand in 2007. The fall was noticed in all cities of the Katowice Conurbation, including Katowice  the capital of the region, as well as the examined cities of Bytom and Sosnowiec. The shrinking cities of the Katowice Conurbation present the most spectacular example of socio-economic problems existing in the postindustrial area of the urban region. Both above mentioned cities  Bytom and Sosnowiec have been analysed in the report as partially different types of urban centres in the view of city shrinkage.