Rafał Wiśniewski
Articles
Old wine in new bottles: A pan-European regional dataset of population and GDP since 1960
Geographia Polonica (2026) vol. 99, iss. 3, pp. 333-357 | 
Full text | 
Supplementary file
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0330
Abstract
This article presents a harmonised procedural framework for constructing a new open-access pan-European regional database covering population, GDP, and derived GDP per capita for 1546 regions over the period1960-2021; the empirical illustrations presented in the article cover the period 1960-2020. The resulting resource is distributed in three supplementary Excel workbooks, one for each variable. Drawing on national and regional sources, including the Maddison Project Database as the main GDP anchor, ARDECO, the Rosés–Wolfregional GDP database, database.earth, and country-specific sources, it provides continuous annual time-series coverage and broad cross-country comparability. Its main contribution lies in combining pan-European spatial coverage, a six-decade temporal span, and the systematic harmonisation of heterogeneous national and regional data sources. The resource enables analyses of regional income convergence, spatial dynamics,and long-term demographic and economic polarisation across Europe. By extending beyond the European Union, it fills major spatial and temporal gaps in existing resources and creates new opportunities for spatial economic and regional research.
Keywords: Pan-European spatial coverage, regional population, GDP per capita, NUTS3, GDP retropolation, Maddison Project Database, ARDECO
[rosik@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
[m.mazur@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
[rafwis@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
[p.duma@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
Geographia Polonica (2018) vol. 91, iss. 3, pp. 317-334 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0123
Abstract
The article presents the main topics and evolution of scholars' views on the impact of demographic phenomena and processes on broadly understood local development in Poland. The seventy-year post-war period (1946‑2016) was examined. First, three categories of demographic changes were identified and analysed: (1) demographic development and population concentration (2) depopulation processes and (3) population ageing. Next, the impact of these changes on socio-economic development, mainly on a local scale, was established. The following topics were taken into account: social insurance system, labour markets, consumer demand, demand for public services, impact of population change on local spatial development and planning,and local government public finance.
Keywords: demographic processes, local development, urbanisation, depopulation, population ageing
[psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania im. S. Leszczyckiego PAN
[rafwis@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland
[b.szejgiec@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Sciences Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw: Poland