Jan Frankowski

Regional diversity of new urban partnerships in Poland

The aim of this article is the analyze of the shape of urban partnerships in the functional areas for which the regional authorities have allocated funds in projects of regional operational programs for 2014–2020 submitted to the European Commission. Our method was desk research of press articles and strategic documents. The effect is the map of the new urban partnerships. In comparison to the output delimitation of the functional urban areas around Polish voivodeship capital cities, Warsaw and Cracow decreased their functional area, in opposite to the most other regional capitals. In case of the cities that has experienced metropolitan partnership, functional areas were developed on the basis of existing associations. In some cases, functional areas were formed according to the Ministry of Regional Development’s recommendations.
In some cases, regional authorities declared support for urban functional areas also beyond the capital city. It was specific especially for large, strongly polarized regions with included big subregional towns (often old voivodeship capitals).
In a few cases, the density of those functional areas was lower than country’s average. It suggests that subregional towns would rather created their urban partnership especially for increas­ing the negotiation advantage than to finance well-thought integrated investments.
 

Energiewende in a Polish commune. Consequences of local policy based on renewable energy sources, on the example of Kisielice

The increasing role of renewable energy sources implies significant socio-economic changes at the local level. In Poland, a great importance in that area is attached to wind turbines and biofuel-based combined heat and power stations. Localization of these investments often leads to social conflicts. The aim of this study is to assess the consequences of local policy in Kisielice, which in the years 1998 to 2015 gave priority to RES development. Considering this problem from the perspective of the energy justice framework and the law on wind energy investments, a case study has been investigated. The case study consists of: (1) literature review, including nine interviews with the local authorities (2) statistical and spatial analysis (3) fieldwork in five villages located in the direct neighbourhood of wind energy turbines. The results show that long-term local energy policy in Kisielice, implemented with an intensity comparable to the German Energiewende, has met the most of social acceptance conditions. Support for RES in the villages susceptible to anthropogenic influence displays similar patterns to trends at the national level. However, the inhabitants have a sense of injustice resulting from the fact that only a small group obtains benefits from the use of wind turbines. According to the author’s opinion, a compromise between restrictive provisions of the law on wind energy investments and local community’s interests can only be based on creating the atmosphere of trust and partnership, as well as implementing mechanisms of direct compensations for negative external effects created by renewable installations.