The COVID-19 pandemic led to a suspension of the Schengen Agreement within the European Union: national borders were partially controlled or closed. Especially in European border regions, where the idea of European integration is most evident, this led to limitations of cross-border linkages, putting the question of border-regional resilience into the focus of border studies. Based on the case study of German border regions, we operationalize the various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the German border. Particularly interesting with regard to the concept of border-regional resilience are the results of a two-stage Delphi survey with border-regional experts. Even if the border closures as such were a political crisis, some of the long-term effects might be considered positive.
{"title":"The COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst of cross-border cooperation? Lessons learnt for border-regional resilience","authors":"Stefan Hippe, Dominik Bertram, T. Chilla","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2022.43.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2022.43.1","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic led to a suspension of the Schengen Agreement within the European Union: national borders were partially controlled or closed. Especially in European border regions, where the idea of European integration is most evident, this led to limitations of cross-border linkages, putting the question of border-regional resilience into the focus of border studies. Based on the case study of German border regions, we operationalize the various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the German border. Particularly interesting with regard to the concept of border-regional resilience are the results of a two-stage Delphi survey with border-regional experts. Even if the border closures as such were a political crisis, some of the long-term effects might be considered positive.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127135408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While a gradual increase in the permeability of the boundaries present in Europe was long seen as a linear process irreversible in nature, that situation in fact started to change around 2015. The process that then ensued reflected crises associated with influxes of refugees, the geopolitical situation in Ukraine, and then, from 2020 onwards, the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes might further be set against the two facts that there are, on the one hand, numerous locations in which cross-border or transboundary functional connections have become so strong that mechanisms hitherto acting in support of their development simply fail to suffice; as well as, on the other hand, many near-border areas that remain entirely peripheral. Pandemic circumstances made plain the inadequate level of institutional support extended to the development and functioning of transboundary functional areas, including as regards, their labour markets. And so to the articles brought together in the present edition of ‘Europa XXI’, which seek to address the above issues and derived research questions. They do this by way of both general reflection and the concrete results of research carried out on the situations in border areas, as well as the conditioning, level and structure of border traffic. Taken together, the texts presented here incline the reader to conclude that EU support for cross-border or transboundary cooperation needs redefining even in the present, and all the more so as we arrive at further programming periods. The support in question ought to be coordinated more effectively with Cohesion Policy as a whole, while also taking the global geopolitical context into account. It should also address matters of cross-border or transboundary public services, resilience in the face of crisis, and the natural heritage present in or constituted by border zones.
{"title":"Editorial: New challenges for European cross-border and transboundary cooperation","authors":"T. Komornicki","doi":"10.7163/272093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/272093","url":null,"abstract":"While a gradual increase in the permeability of the boundaries present in Europe was long seen as a linear process irreversible in nature, that situation in fact started to change around 2015. The process that then ensued reflected crises associated with influxes of refugees, the geopolitical situation in Ukraine, and then, from 2020 onwards, the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes might further be set against the two facts that there are, on the one hand, numerous locations in which cross-border or transboundary functional connections have become so strong that mechanisms hitherto acting in support of their development simply fail to suffice; as well as, on the other hand, many near-border areas that remain entirely peripheral. Pandemic circumstances made plain the inadequate level of institutional support extended to the development and functioning of transboundary functional areas, including as regards, their labour markets. And so to the articles brought together in the present edition of ‘Europa XXI’, which seek to address the above issues and derived research questions. They do this by way of both general reflection and the concrete results of research carried out on the situations in border areas, as well as the conditioning, level and structure of border traffic. Taken together, the texts presented here incline the reader to conclude that EU support for cross-border or transboundary cooperation needs redefining even in the present, and all the more so as we arrive at further programming periods. The support in question ought to be coordinated more effectively with Cohesion Policy as a whole, while also taking the global geopolitical context into account. It should also address matters of cross-border or transboundary public services, resilience in the face of crisis, and the natural heritage present in or constituted by border zones.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126245418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nathalie Tent, Alexandru Brad, Juliane Klöden, Alistair Adam Hernández, Jörn Bannert, Alice Gebauer
In many of Europe’s rural regions, sociodemographic changes, the transformation of the labour market, and the advent of digitalisation pose significant challenges in safeguarding services of general interest (SGI). This paper draws on a broad literature review to identify the key challenges and potential adaptation strategies in three SGIs in four European countries. Our analysis explores potentials for redesigning the accessibility of these SGIs, restructuring their human and physical assets, and improving the coordination of their delivery. We argue that in the context of a fading welfare state, there is scope for improving the local coordination of state, private, and civil society actors in delivering SGIs in rural areas.
{"title":"A review of the challenges and strategies of delivering services of general interest in European rural areas","authors":"Nathalie Tent, Alexandru Brad, Juliane Klöden, Alistair Adam Hernández, Jörn Bannert, Alice Gebauer","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2021.41.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2021.41.4","url":null,"abstract":"In many of Europe’s rural regions, sociodemographic changes, the transformation of the labour market, and the advent of digitalisation pose significant challenges in safeguarding services of general interest (SGI). This paper draws on a broad literature review to identify the key challenges and potential adaptation strategies in three SGIs in four European countries. Our analysis explores potentials for redesigning the accessibility of these SGIs, restructuring their human and physical assets, and improving the coordination of their delivery. We argue that in the context of a fading welfare state, there is scope for improving the local coordination of state, private, and civil society actors in delivering SGIs in rural areas.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114629555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The interactions between land and sea are fundamental to human wellbeing. Within Europe, the 2014 Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSP Directive), which requires EU coastal member states to have marine spatial plans in place by 2021, also requires that MSP authorities should explicitly take into account land-sea interactions. This has stimulated a new phase of investigation into land-sea interactions in Europe. This paper aims to contribute to marine and coastal planning debates by reflecting on one of these investigations, the Maritime Spatial Planning and Land Sea Interactions (MSP-LSI) project. The paper starts by providing a historical overview of the growing attention being paid to LSI within the context of European policy making. This sets the context for the MSP-LSI project and the approach to exploring land-sea interactions it developed is outlined. The paper then uses examples from the project’s case study investigations to highlight and illustrate some of the wider insights the project revealed, both in relation to the extensive spatial footprint associated with selected maritime sectors and how marine space is being shaped by, and contributing to landward activity and governance agendas. It concludes by presenting a case not only for adopting a ‘one space’ perspective in MSP, but in territorial spatial planning and management regimes more generally.
{"title":"Exploring land-sea interactions: Insights for shaping territorial space","authors":"S. Kidd, David Shaw, H. Janssen","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2019.36.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2019.36.5","url":null,"abstract":"The interactions between land and sea are fundamental to human wellbeing. Within Europe, the 2014 Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSP Directive), which requires EU coastal member states to have marine spatial plans in place by 2021, also requires that MSP authorities should explicitly take into account land-sea interactions. This has stimulated a new phase of investigation into land-sea interactions in Europe. This paper aims to contribute to marine and coastal planning debates by reflecting on one of these investigations, the Maritime Spatial Planning and Land Sea Interactions (MSP-LSI) project. The paper starts by providing a historical overview of the growing attention being paid to LSI within the context of European policy making. This sets the context for the MSP-LSI project and the approach to exploring land-sea interactions it developed is outlined. The paper then uses examples from the project’s case study investigations to highlight and illustrate some of the wider insights the project revealed, both in relation to the extensive spatial footprint associated with selected maritime sectors and how marine space is being shaped by, and contributing to landward activity and governance agendas. It concludes by presenting a case not only for adopting a ‘one space’ perspective in MSP, but in territorial spatial planning and management regimes more generally.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123057159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
One of the social groups particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic is people experiencing homelessness, as they are especially vulnerable to infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2). Still, the pandemic also drastically affected their livelihoods, as parts of municipal emergency assistance services have broken away. This article aims to highlight emergency responses of the Berlin Senate to people experiencing homelessness regarding COVID-19. The Senate is responding to the issue, among other things, by expanding and refiguring the existing contingent of shelters run by municipal emergency assistance services, preventing transmission of COVID-19 and treating those infected, and establishing mechanisms of tenant protection. The paper discusses to what extent Senate measures and interventions at the onset of the pandemic can address the emergent need for homeless assistance services in Berlin.
{"title":"Homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategies and action plans of the Berlin Senate","authors":"S. Meier","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2021.41.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2021.41.7","url":null,"abstract":"One of the social groups particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic is people experiencing homelessness, as they are especially vulnerable to infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV‑2). Still, the pandemic also drastically affected their livelihoods, as parts of municipal emergency assistance services have broken away. This article aims to highlight emergency responses of the Berlin Senate to people experiencing homelessness regarding COVID-19. The Senate is responding to the issue, among other things, by expanding and refiguring the existing contingent of shelters run by municipal emergency assistance services, preventing transmission of COVID-19 and treating those infected, and establishing mechanisms of tenant protection. The paper discusses to what extent Senate measures and interventions at the onset of the pandemic can address the emergent need for homeless assistance services in Berlin.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130923927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The discussion surrounding the impact of territorial cohesion policy, and the territorial prioritization of cohesion policy, can offer significant insights by problematizing spatial justice. The notions of territoriality, mobility and peripherality are presented and analyzed due to their relevance to territorial cohesion, but also because they may strengthen the concept of spatial justice. The main objective of this paper, and by extension of this issue, is to stress the relevance of spatial justice as a concept created to address socio-spatial and territorial inequalities and useful when framing policy strategies, articulating policy goals, implementing policies, or taking actions to mitigate socio-spatial inequalities. The paper is organized in four sections. The introductory section presents social and economic inequalities as signifiers of the (un)sustainability of the European project and stresses the challenges facing territorial cohesion policy. The second section includes a conceptualization of spatial justice which plays to both the analytical strength and normative rigour of the concept. Third, there is a brief discussion of the notions of territoriality, mobility and peripherality. The final section is dedicated to a description of the basic features of the six papers included in this issue.
{"title":"Editorial: Spatial Justice in Europe. Territoriality, Mobility and Peripherality","authors":"Apostolos G. Papadopoulos","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2019.37.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2019.37.1","url":null,"abstract":"The discussion surrounding the impact of territorial cohesion policy, and the territorial prioritization of cohesion policy, can offer significant insights by problematizing spatial justice. The notions of territoriality, mobility and peripherality are presented and analyzed due to their relevance to territorial cohesion, but also because they may strengthen the concept of spatial justice. The main objective of this paper, and by extension of this issue, is to stress the relevance of spatial justice as a concept created to address socio-spatial and territorial inequalities and useful when framing policy strategies, articulating policy goals, implementing policies, or taking actions to mitigate socio-spatial inequalities. The paper is organized in four sections. The introductory section presents social and economic inequalities as signifiers of the (un)sustainability of the European project and stresses the challenges facing territorial cohesion policy. The second section includes a conceptualization of spatial justice which plays to both the analytical strength and normative rigour of the concept. Third, there is a brief discussion of the notions of territoriality, mobility and peripherality. The final section is dedicated to a description of the basic features of the six papers included in this issue.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125397107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Offshore wind installation targets of EU Member States were considered. The analysis of the national plans showed that EU target can be exceeded, provided the appropriate resources are committed: offshore space, capital and supply chain. Spatial plans were analyzed and the need for the number of installed turbines was determined. The capital needs to cover the costs of investment outlays were analyzed. A projection for the number of wind turbines installed in Europe up to 2030 was presented. The analysis identified how the resources committed to the targets will contribute to: the generation of electricity, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and contribution to improving Europe’s energy independence.
{"title":"Offshore wind energy potential in Europe: a forecast of installed capacities and costs","authors":"Tomasz Laskowicz","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2022.42.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2022.42.5","url":null,"abstract":"Offshore wind installation targets of EU Member States were considered. The analysis of the national plans showed that EU target can be exceeded, provided the appropriate resources are committed: offshore space, capital and supply chain. Spatial plans were analyzed and the need for the number of installed turbines was determined. The capital needs to cover the costs of investment outlays were analyzed. A projection for the number of wind turbines installed in Europe up to 2030 was presented. The analysis identified how the resources committed to the targets will contribute to: the generation of electricity, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and contribution to improving Europe’s energy independence.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126475691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper provides new insights into the main pillars of the territorial universe of EU policies, by undertaking a systematic overview of European Union (EU) key territorial development reports, agendas and programmes. These include the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the three Territorial Agendas, and the European Territorial Observatory Network (ESPON) reports. The evidence shows widespread territorialicy, understood as a process of incorporating a territorial driven policy design, implementation and evaluation paradigm, still largely dominated by territorial development and territorial cohesion policy rationales. However, the socioeconomic policy prism continues to dominate the design and analysis of EU policies by EU entities.
{"title":"Fake or real EU Territorialicy? Debating the territorial universe of EU policies","authors":"Eduardo Medeiros","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2020.38.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2020.38.4","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides new insights into the main pillars of the territorial universe of EU policies, by undertaking a systematic overview of European Union (EU) key territorial development reports, agendas and programmes. These include the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the three Territorial Agendas, and the European Territorial Observatory Network (ESPON) reports. The evidence shows widespread territorialicy, understood as a process of incorporating a territorial driven policy design, implementation and evaluation paradigm, still largely dominated by territorial development and territorial cohesion policy rationales. However, the socioeconomic policy prism continues to dominate the design and analysis of EU policies by EU entities.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131260540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Border regions are commonly perceived as peripheral in terms of transport accessibility and socio-economic development. The peripherality has meant that they have been and continue to be beneficiaries of a traditionally understood – i.e. compensatory – paradigm of regional development. To a large extent, this has been the character of the European Union Cohesion Policy to date. However, a new paradigm of regional development, manifested by the Territorial Agenda 2030, is becoming more and more popular. The article debates possible actions to be taken in regions along national borders to achieve their strategic objectives using the multi-level governance and territorial capital concepts and referring to the six priorities of the Territorial Agenda 2030.
{"title":"New approach towards border regions in the Territorial Agenda 2030","authors":"Andrzej Jakubowski, A. Miszczuk","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2021.40.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2021.40.1","url":null,"abstract":"Border regions are commonly perceived as peripheral in terms of transport accessibility and socio-economic development. The peripherality has meant that they have been and continue to be beneficiaries of a traditionally understood – i.e. compensatory – paradigm of regional development. To a large extent, this has been the character of the European Union Cohesion Policy to date. However, a new paradigm of regional development, manifested by the Territorial Agenda 2030, is becoming more and more popular. The article debates possible actions to be taken in regions along national borders to achieve their strategic objectives using the multi-level governance and territorial capital concepts and referring to the six priorities of the Territorial Agenda 2030.","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123810739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The old 19th century industrial districts and basins played an essential role in shaping the growth processes in individual national economies of European countries as early as the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. The formation of the foundations of the new economy, in which knowledge begins to play the fundamental role, and the innovation closely related to it, at a fairly rapid pace, causes these areas to lose their importance. A large population with a predominance of traditional education, outdated and often worn-out infrastructure are the sources of their socio-economic problems. This situation also applied to the Lower Silesian Coal Basin, which operated in the vicinity of Wałbrzych and Nowa Ruda. The basin was characterised not only by obsolete and decapitalised components of fixed assets but also to its disadvantage was the peripheral location and an underdeveloped production and technological chain. In addition, the lack of an effective connection with the country (which, unfortunately, still applies today) and the borderland, as well as the location in a mountainous area, negatively affected the economic efficiency of this area. Even in the 1980s, a failed attempt was made to save the hard coal mining sector by merging the mines and the costly construction of the Copernicus collecting shaft. Along with the political and systemic transformation, a decision was automatically made to close the basin, and this process was euphemistically called restructuring. But in practice, it was reduced to the closure of mines and most of the coking plants (one is still operating today), which resulted in the collapse of many companies that operated for the mining industry. In mid-1998, coal mining was stopped, and in the following year, the mines located in the Lower Silesia Coal Basin were finally closed. It was the first closure of such a large area of economic activity in the realities of Polish economy. The activities that were undertaken during the closure of the basin were characterised by low effectiveness, fragmentation, and high variability of activities (even chaotic). After the closure, the area was left to fend for itself with overwhelming problems across all socio-economic dimensions. Currently, after more than thirty years, when characterising the effects of these activities, they should be clearly assessed as even tragic, in terms of society (enormous unemployment, pauperisation, community regression – this is where old coal pits were created on a massive scale), environment (secondary emission and spontaneous combustion of heaps, rising water levels or the penetration of gases from workings into basements of buildings) and economy (low entrepreneurship rate, an outflow of people to other cities, low level of productivity of the subregion, etc.). In recent years, positive phenomena have been observed in the region. However, both the pace and the scale are small, and, more importantly, their location is punctual and prima
{"title":"Transformation of the Lower Silesian Coal Basin - a failed experiment","authors":"Piotr Hajduga, Stanisław Korenik, Alicja Kozak","doi":"10.7163/eu21.2022.42.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7163/eu21.2022.42.3","url":null,"abstract":"The old 19th century industrial districts and basins played an essential role in shaping the growth processes in individual national economies of European countries as early as the beginning of the second half of the 20th century. The formation of the foundations of the new economy, in which knowledge begins to play the fundamental role, and the innovation closely related to it, at a fairly rapid pace, causes these areas to lose their importance. A large population with a predominance of traditional education, outdated and often worn-out infrastructure are the sources of their socio-economic problems. This situation also applied to the Lower Silesian Coal Basin, which operated in the vicinity of Wałbrzych and Nowa Ruda. The basin was characterised not only by obsolete and decapitalised components of fixed assets but also to its disadvantage was the peripheral location and an underdeveloped production and technological chain. In addition, the lack of an effective connection with the country (which, unfortunately, still applies today) and the borderland, as well as the location in a mountainous area, negatively affected the economic efficiency of this area. Even in the 1980s, a failed attempt was made to save the hard coal mining sector by merging the mines and the costly construction of the Copernicus collecting shaft. Along with the political and systemic transformation, a decision was automatically made to close the basin, and this process was euphemistically called restructuring. But in practice, it was reduced to the closure of mines and most of the coking plants (one is still operating today), which resulted in the collapse of many companies that operated for the mining industry. In mid-1998, coal mining was stopped, and in the following year, the mines located in the Lower Silesia Coal Basin were finally closed. It was the first closure of such a large area of economic activity in the realities of Polish economy. The activities that were undertaken during the closure of the basin were characterised by low effectiveness, fragmentation, and high variability of activities (even chaotic). After the closure, the area was left to fend for itself with overwhelming problems across all socio-economic dimensions. Currently, after more than thirty years, when characterising the effects of these activities, they should be clearly assessed as even tragic, in terms of society (enormous unemployment, pauperisation, community regression – this is where old coal pits were created on a massive scale), environment (secondary emission and spontaneous combustion of heaps, rising water levels or the penetration of gases from workings into basements of buildings) and economy (low entrepreneurship rate, an outflow of people to other cities, low level of productivity of the subregion, etc.). In recent years, positive phenomena have been observed in the region. However, both the pace and the scale are small, and, more importantly, their location is punctual and prima","PeriodicalId":120225,"journal":{"name":"Europa XXI","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123136242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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