Migration Processes to Rural Areas in Polish Metropolises

The research problem addressed in this paper includes the progress of suburbanization in selected Polish metropolises. The following core question was formulated: when did today’s suburbanization processes start, and what are the migration trends and targets of the population living at the dividing line between urban and suburban areas in Polish metropolises. Defined as such, the study field enabled to formulate the objective of this research, which is to present the formation of new suburbanization processes in the largest metropolises in Poland. Considering the research problem and the defined objective, the authors analyzed the differences in demographic changes across the territory and placed these findings in the context of suburbanization and its stages. This allowed to determine the dynamics and targets of migration in the metropolises surveyed. Also, the changes were compared between the units covered, providing a basis for further considerations on suburbanization and for concluding whether these processes are cyclical in nature. The analyses relied on descriptive statistics methods and on graphical data presentation methods. The selected metropolises were delimited using QGIS Desktop 2.4.0 and adequate geometry (centroid) and geoprocessing (buffer) tools. This paper relies on source data in the form of shapefile vector layers presenting the boundaries of the administrative units considered (http://www.gugik.gov.pl/pzgik). Source materials included public statistical data and program documents developed at a regional and sub-regional level. The study period is 1995-2018. In geographic terms, the study focuses on the selected metropolises of Poznań, Warsaw, Łódź, Wrocław, Kraków, Gdańsk and Szczecin.