Geographia Polonica (1995) vol. 66

Polish core and periphery under economic transformation

Zbigniew Rykiel

Geographia Polonica (1995) vol. 66, pp. 111-124 | Full text

Core-periphery concept is discussed in the paper and the invalidity of the simple dichotomy is stressed. This concept is applied to the Polish economic space on the national scale. Changes in the Polish spatial-economic system are analysed during the changes in the political-economic transformation in Poland. Three periods are analysed: (1) the top of the developmental potential of "realistic socialism" in the late 1970s; (2) that of the system's transformation and the development of the basic market mechanisms in the early 1990s; and (3) that of the developed market economy in the early 2000s.

Keywords: Core, sub-core, periphery, semi-periphery, core region, frontier region, depressed region, underdeveloped region, development axis, economic transformation.

Zbigniew Rykiel, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland