Dear Colleagues,

                    You are kindly invited to take a look at the latest publications of the Members of the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The topics include mainly issues related to socio-economic development discussed in different spatial scales (international, national, regional, local). The publications are mostly the result of the research projects carried out at the Faculty and financed from domestic and international sources.

            Among numerous publications of the Faculty Staff, you are particularly welcome to get acquainted with the studies presented below:

Three Decades of Polish Socio-Economic Transformations. Geographical Perspectives, Churski P., Kaczmarek T. (eds.), 2022.

The publication entitled: “Three Decades of Polish Socio-Economic Transformations. Geographical Perspectives” edited by Prof. Paweł Churski and Prof. Tomasz Kaczmarek analyses and discusses the systematisation of Polish socio-economic changes of the last three decades with particular focus on their spatial consequences.

            The year 1989 saw the beginning of the systemic transformation in Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Poland’s transformation embraced the transition from a socialist system to parliamentary democracy and from a centrally planned to a market economy. Owing to the severe economic crisis culminating in 1988 and the peaceful model of changes developed and implemented in Poland, the scale and the way of introducing various initiatives was unprecedented and had specific implications. The transformation opened up Polish society and the country’s economy to the impact of global socio-economic changes, instigating further alterations, often overlapping in terms of cause and effect.

            The publication aims to show the course and consequences, especially territorial ones, of Poland’s socio-economic transformation in the years 1990–2020. The analysis covers its key aspects, illustrated with the references to development concepts and theories, domestic and foreign literature, own empirical studies, and the existing or newly developed model approaches to transformation from a territorial perspective. The book is addressed to researchers and students in the field of geography, spatial management, business and economics, sociology and political sciences, public and private research institutes, members of government bodies and corporations, public administration consultants, journalists and decision-makers.

More information about the publication can be found online at Springer.

Postsocialist Shrinking Cities, Chung-Tong W., Gunko M., Stryjakiewicz T., Zhou K., 2022.

The book entitled “Postsocialist Shrinking Cities”, one of the co-editors of which is Prof. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz, published as part of the series “Routledge Contemporary Perspectives on Urban Growth, Innovation & Change”, addresses an important problem of contemporary socio-economic development, which is urban shrinkage. This escalating process manifests itself mainly in a demographic aspect (decreasing urban population), but also in economic, social and spatial dimensions (e.g. degraded industrial areas, abandoned houses). Research on urban shrinkage was conducted before mostly in the USA (e.g. Detroit) and Western Europe (e.g. cities of the Ruhr District).

            The uniqueness of “Postsocialist Shrinking Cities” on a global publishing market resides in the fact that for the first time an attempt was made to compare experiences of so-called postsocialist cities situated in such distinct three megaregions as China, Russia and Central and Eastern Europe (which has been marginalised in international urban studies so far). The book summary is an endeavour to generalise those experiences and it contains recommendations for planning and decision-making practice.

            The Staff of the Department of Economic Geography (Prof. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz and Dr Emilia Jaroszewska) are authors or co-authors of six chapters in this comprehensive 372-page long monograph, which are the result of two EU projects with acronyms CIRES (Cities Regrowing Smaller. Fostering Knowledge on Regeneration Strategies in Shrinking Cities across Europe) and Re-City (Reviving Shrinking Cities – Innovative Paths and Perspectives Towards Livability for Shrinking Cities in Europe), carried out at the Faculty within COST and Horizon 2020 programmes.

The book can be found at Routledge.

The Economic Geography of the Car Market. The Automobile Revolution in an Emerging Economy, Stryjakiewicz T., Kołsut B. (eds.), 2022.

The book “The Economic Geography of the Car Market. The Automobile Revolution in an Emerging Economy” edited by Dr Bartłomiej Kołsut and Prof. Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz is a recapitulation of the results of the research project “Spatial dimension of car market (r)evolution in Poland” funded by the National Science Centre.

            The authors of particular chapters (Bartosz Doszczeczko, Wojciech Dyba, Bartłomiej Kołsut, Robert Kudłak, Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz, Bartosz Wojtyra and Wojciech Kisiała) carry out an in-depth socio-economic analysis of various aspects of the car market, such as a different level of car ownership, the new car market, used car imports, use of cars, electromobility, an impact on the natural environment. While many of those issues are the subject of global debate regarding the implementation of sustainable development goals, some of them indicate the specificity of car-related changes in Poland.

            The book combines the research based on large data sets (registration of 35 million vehicles) with the results of social studies (questionnaire interviews with about 4 thousand drivers). In the analysis of the dynamics of the automotive market changes, special attention is paid to the role of institutional factors (e.g. transport, tax and customs policy) and critical junctures, such as the collapse of a centrally controlled economy, accession to the European Union and the global financial crisis. The conclusions and recommendations formulated by the authors refer also to challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More information about the book can be found at Routledge.

European Regional Development. Contemporary Regional and Local Perspectives of Socio-Economic and Socio-Political Changes, Churski P., Herodowicz T., Konecka-Szydłowska B., Perdał R., 2021.

The monograph “European Regional Development. Contemporary Regional and Local Perspectives of Socio-Economic and Socio-Political Changes” presents the results of the research into the identification of the model pattern of socio-economic development factors of less developed regions in the context of new challenges of regional policy with the use of mathematical-statistical methods and spatial econometrics. What was taken into account was the research output in this field referring to more developed regions.

            The theoretical section shows in a comprehensive way the new challenges of regional policy related to the redefinition of socio-economic development factors, which takes place as a result of the impact of present-day megatrends. The empirical part, on the other hand, covers the analysis of differences in the level and the dynamics of socio-economic development changes in various spatial scales: European, national, regional and local. In the course of the in-depth field studies, the researchers also identified the level of local territorial capital and determined the degree of preparedness of test communes to challenges related to the diffusion of development processes and place-based policy implementation. The results obtained made it possible to formulate a number of recommendations for intervention measures.

            The publication recapitulates the research project: “New challenges of regional policy in shaping socio-economic development factors of less developed regions” funded by the National Science Centre (No. 2015/19/B/HS5/00012).

More information about the publication can be found at Springer.

Differentiation of social attitudes of students and academic teachers in Wielkopolska region during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tobolska A., Bogacka E., Hauke J., Weltrowska J., 2021.

The monograph “Differentiation of social attitudes of students and academic teachers in Wielkopolska region during the COVID-19 pandemic” by Prof. AMU Anna Tobolska, Dr Emilia Bogacka, Prof. AMU Jan Hauke and Dr Justyna Weltrowska presents the first results of the research project: “Differences in social attitudes in the realm of educational services during the COVID-19 pandemic”. The project tasks were funded as part of the competition announced by Rector of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań entitled “Research on COVID-19”, settled in September 2020.

            The idea of the project emerged from unprecedented events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had an impact on the daily lives of all people to a different degree. Educational services have been one of the spheres severely affected by the situation. In the study, the authors focus on higher education institutions, analysing the most important aspects of students’ attitudes, academic teachers and postgraduates to new challenges during the pandemic related to the reorganisation of the way the classes are run, from a direct contact in a university building to remote meetings held on various kinds of communication platforms. The research issues were studied from a regional perspective, i.e. they concern the entire Wielkopolskie Voivodeship.

The publication is available at the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning of AMU

            You are also welcome to get acquainted with other publications of the Members of the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

For more details go to the Faculty Website

Yours sincerely

Prof. Dr hab. Paweł Churski

Dean of the Faculty of Human Geography and Planning

of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań