Elżbieta Zuzańska-Żyśko

Abstract

This elaboration concerns small towns in the highly urbanized region of Upper Silesia. The character of the towns is presented against the background of the urban conurbation of the Upper Silesian Industrial Centre, as are demographic changes—such as the decline and ageing of the population—during the 1990s. The size structure of enterprises, including the smallest so important in the process of transformation, was shown. Moreover, a regionally differentiated labour market—characterized by a decrease in the number of persons employed in medium and large enterprises, and an increase in the number of small economic enterprises—was described.

Keywords: small town, economic transformation, demographic changes, Upper Silesia

Elżbieta Zuzańska-Żyśko, The Silesian University Faculty of Earth Sciences, Department of Economic Geography Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland