Geographia Polonica (2014) vol. 87, iss. 1
Distribution of population density in Polish towns and cities
Geographia Polonica (2014) vol. 87, iss. 1, pp. 61-75 | 
Full text
doi: https://doi.org/GPol.2014.4
Abstract
This article presents an analysis of the population-density distributions present in 147 Polish towns and cities of 30,000 inhabitants or more, as of 2002. The determination of these distributions was by reference to concentric rings 1 km across, with numbers of inhabitants being determined on the basis of aggregate data for 14,000 statistical districts, the numbers per centre ranging from 16 in the case of Łuków to 1346 in Warsaw. The districtsin question cover a total area of 9800 km2 and account overall for some 16.8 million inhabitants of Poland. This makes this the most exhaustive analysis of population-density distributions ever carried out for the country. The results of the analyses point to the wide spread presence of function-related distributions of population density in the largest Polish cities, albeit irrespective of their size as referred to more precisely. A clear majority (88%) of centres are characterised by a distribution model in line with either the exponential or power functions, or derivatives. The ‘crater effect’ indicative of depopulation in city centres is met with only rarely, in just a very few towns and cities, this perhaps reflecting the relative youthfulness of Poland’s urban areas.
Keywords: population density distribution, population density profile, population density model, urban population, Poland’s cities
[psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland