Geographia Polonica (2026) vol. 99, iss. 1

Abstract

The aim of this article is to empirically identify and measure economic suburbanisation in the Wrocław agglomerationarea between 2008 and 2024. The analysis, based on REGON data, captured the physical relocation of business headquarters from the city of Wrocław to the suburban zone and examined the scale and structure of this migration. During the study period, 24.1% of the increase in the number of firms in the suburban zone resulted from migration from the city, with a total of 4096 such cases identified (11.4% of allentities in the zone). The process primarily involved micro-enterprises (94.9%) owned by private individuals,with a predominance of the service sector (90.0%), particularly professional, scientific and technical activities, trade, and construction. The study confirms that economic suburbanisation constitutes a significant component of the contemporary spatial and economic transformation of Central and Eastern European metropolitan areas, exemplified by Wrocław and its suburban zone.

Keywords: economic suburbanization, business relocation, Wrocław agglomeration area, REGON data, descriptive statistics, Poland

Dominik Sikorski [dominik.sikorski@uwr.edu.pl], Institute of Geography and Regional Development University of Wrocław Pl. Uniwersytecki 1, 50-137 Wrocław: Poland
Dariusz Ilnicki [dariusz.ilnicki@uwr.edu.pl], Institute of Geography and Regional Development University of Wrocław Pl. Uniwersytecki 1, 50-137 Wrocław: Poland

Abstract

The paper aims mostly at a qualitative analysis of the passenger railway connections between Poland and Ukraine offered since the collapse of the USSR. To this end, a four-item periodisation was proposed, based on breakthrough changes in this offer that were referred to a set of selected categories from the scope of border(lands) studies, mainly corelates of the concepts of debordering and rebordering. The analysis was based on railway schedules, expert materials, statistics of the Border Guard and the author’s own field observations. Historically, the paper finds that there have been cycles (periods) of debordering and reborderingon the studied area, driven by ups and downs in both nations’ mutual interest (shopping, smuggling, labour and war migration); as for the presence, it showcases that intensification of the train links between both states can be observed only at the national level, totally ignoring the borderland dimension. Consequently,the Polish-Ukrainian direction, as compared with Poland’s remaining neighbourhoods, is quite advanced as forlong-distance connections (macro level) and totally undeveloped as for local-regional ones (mezzo level).

Keywords: Poland, Ukraine, railway connections, neighbourhood, (re/de)bordering

Marcin Dębicki [marcin.debicki@uwr.edu.pl], Institute of Sociology University of Wrocław Koszarowa 3/20, 51-149 Wrocław: Poland

Abstract

This paper examines riparian forest fragmentation to assess how protection status influences the preservation of critical habitats of the Iori River’s downstream riparian zone in Georgia. It also explores external threats impacting protected forests. Using remote sensing, landscape ecology, and spatial autocorrelation methods,10-meter-resolution Sentinel-2 MSI data were analysed, and landscape- and class-level metrics were computed. The results showed that the fragmentation has decreased, mainly within protected areas, while non-protected zones remained highly fragmented. Besides, parts of the protected areas also showed an increased fragmentation.The research output, on the one hand, highlights the importance of protection but also emphasises the need for broader, integrated forest management and restoration efforts.

Keywords: landscape fragmentation, riparian forest, landscape metrics, landscape ecology, protected area, IoriRiver, Georgia

Tamar Khardziani [tamar.khardziani@tsu.ge], Department of Geography, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University 3 Ilia Tchavtchavadze Avenue, Academic Building II, 0179 Tbilisi: Georgia
Zurab Seperteladze [zurab.seperteladze@tsu.ge], Department of Geography, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University 3 Ilia Tchavtchavadze Avenue, Academic Building II, 0179 Tbilisi: Georgia

Abstract

The main research aim was to determine changes in synoptic conditions during rainfall incidents that led to catastrophic flood events in south-western Poland in 1997, 2010 and 2024. The synoptic analysis was based on data from the ERA5 (ECMWF – European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) reanalysis containing information on such variables as atmospheric pressure, geopotential, moisture content or direction and speed of air flow in the lower troposphere. The study also includes information on hydrological conditions on the rivers covered by the gauge stations (IMGW-PIB), specifying the height of the exceedance of the alarmcondition and the number of days. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the spatial distribution and accumulation of precipitation caused by the migration of the low-pressure system from over the Gulf of Genoa was significantly influenced by the blocking high. The presence of a jet stream and atmospheric fronts associated with forming shallow lows within the main low baric center was also a supporting factor. In addition, the elevated sum of accumulated precipitation associated with the 2024 rainfall incident again signals a problem related to the rapid warming of the Mediterranean Sea, affecting the overall sum and distribution of precipitation in Europe.

Keywords: flood, precipitation, severe weather, climate change, Poland

Sławomir Sulik [sulik@umk.pl], Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management Nicolaus Copernicus University Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń: Poland; Skywarn Poland Warsaw: Poland
Szymon Walczakiewicz [szymon.walczakiewicz@usz.edu.pl], Institute of Marine and Environmental Science University of Szczecin Mickiewicza 16, 70-383 Szczecin: Poland; Skywarn Poland Warsaw: Poland
Małgorzata Świątek [malgorzata.swiatek@usz.edu.pl], Institute of Marine and Environmental Science University of Szczecin Mickiewicza 16, 70-383 Szczecin: Poland
Oliwier Sahm [319581@stud.umk.pl], Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management Nicolaus Copernicus University Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń: Poland