Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
Andrzej STASIAK
THE ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION AND THE SETTLEMENT
SYSTEM IN POLAND
1, Preliminary remarks
In 1975, radical changes were introduced in
Poland's administrative division, when the model
of three subdivisions /gmina - powiat - voivodship/
was substituted by the model of two subdivisions
/gmina - voivodship/, Over 300 rural and about 80
urban powiats were eliminated and thus the inter-
mediate administrative division was abolished, The
17 large voivodships and 5 incorporated urban set-
tlements with the status of voivodship /Warsaw, LOdz,
Cracow, Poznan, Wroclaw/ were replaced by 49 voivod-
ships, spatially and demographically smaller, The
aim of this change was to improve the functioning
of local administration, The number of rural gminas
/also called communes/ remained almost the same at
over 2000 units_
The new administrative division was discussed
vigorously in the early 1980s; its expedience and the
supremacy of the former system of three subdivisions
were analysed, Acting on public opinion, the State
Council and the then-existing Ministry of Administra-
tion, Local Economy, and Environmental Protection
commissioned the Polish Academy of Sciences to pre-
pare an expert report on this subject, The task was
entrused to the Academy's Committee for Space Economy
and Regional Planning, The study was directed up to
15 October 1984 by Professor Stanislaw Leszczycki and
subsequently by the present author, The secretary was
Dr Marek Potrykowski,
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
2
The expert group carried out extensive enquiries
among specialists, undertook a number of studies, and
held seminars and discussions. The results obtained
served as a basis for the final report prepared by
myself as the chairman of the group with the coop-
eration of Professor Jerzy Kolodziejski. The materi-
als were published in two bulletins of the Committee
including the final report approved by the Academy's
Praesidium in the autumn of 1985 /Stasiek 1984, 1986/
Though my paper is based upon the materials
mentioned above, the opinions presented here are
entirely my own. Since the length of the paper is
limited, I was bound to introduce necessary abridgements,
2. General problems of the administrative division
In developed communities, the problem of the
administrative division of the country was always of
great interest to different groups. These include
the political and administrative authorities, society,
representatives of various scientific disciplines,
the legal and social sciences, as well as geography
/the factor of space/ in particular, since it refers
to the basic relations between state - society as
regards the exercise of power on a specific territory.
The competence of central authorities and organs on
the regional and local scale is largely determined
by the administrative division; it outlines the
scope of the participation of society in the admin-
istration of a concrete geographical space, and thus
it establishes foundations for a lesser or greater
autonomy of territorial communities on the regional
and local scale. Moreover, it sets up the spatial
framework of contacts between the community and
individual persons with the central and local authori-
ties as well as a number of institutions of an obliga-
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
3
tory or general character.
It should be remembered that with the progress
of civilization, increased urbanization processes
and a transfer from an economy based upon agricul-
tural production to an industrial economy occurs,
which finds its reflection, i.e., in a steady in-
crease of non-agricultural population living mostly
in towns. Furthermore, the network of necessary con-
tacts between the individual and a social group with
the local government weakens and socialized institu-
tions concerned with education, culture, health ser-
vice, services, and infrastructural equipment become
denser and denser in an impressive manner. Thus, the
significance of those spatial relations, largely
shaped by the country's administrative division into
basic units of management and spatial organization
that constitute legal links of the hierarchy of ad-
ministrative and political authorities, cannot be
indifferent to individual citizens or to formal and
informal social groups or to the state authorities.
Of course, the organization of space cannot,
or rather should not, run from the existing reali-
ties, that is from the country's settlement system
developed throughout the historical process, from
the existing links between the elements of the sys-
tem, nor from the conditions of the geographical
environment. Therefore, when analysing proposed
changes or transformations in the existing system
of the country's administrative division, one should
take into consideration; a/ the premises of politi-
cal nature, and particularly those referring to the
relation between authorities - society; b/ ques-
tions resulting from the existing settlement system
and its links, as well as possible tendencies in
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
4
the future development; c/ the influence of the ge-
ographical environment.
On the operational scale, three elements or
factors should be considered when the basic units
of the administrative division are established:
a/ the human factor - that is, the approxi-
mate number of inhabitants per given unit; here
approximate minimum and maximum values for, i.e.,
economic existence of a given unit are estimated;
b/ the space factor - that is, the surface
in square kilometers; here also marginal parameters
are estimated, which depend, i.e., on the size of
the given country, the level of communications links,
and obstructions caused by the geographical environ-
ment;
c/ the organization factor promoting efficient
management and the flow of information /upwards and
downwards/; this factor limits the number of subor-
dinate units, especially in the system of central-
ized government characterized by the method of is-
sued commands.
We should realize that those elements - objec-
tivized factors - are supplemented by a whole gamut
of additional factors when the administrative divi-
sion is introduced. They are a consequence of the
historical past, cultural or ethnic cooperation,
conditions laid down by the geographical environ-
ment, the state of investment into the technical
and social infrastructure, and above all from polit-
ical decisions, which I have already mentioned at
the very beginning. The political factors may
consciously attempt to create certain territorial
communities or break-up existing communities. They
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
5
may actually make it easy for the territorial and
local communities to participate in the management
and administration of those units or to make their
participation a difficult task.
The survey provided above makes it clear that
decisions concerned with the administrative division
of the country should be made in all consciousness
and awareness of results that they will bring about
in the short and long ron. This kind of conscious-
ness requires many-sided studies both on a macro
scale as well as on regional and local scales. Re-
sults gained should come under public discussion
and be implemented, in a rational way, but only af-
ter a profound analysis of remarks expressed during
the discussions.
3. Short description of Poland's settlement system
Poland's settlement system is a product of his-
tory; it is characterized by strong subdivision, both
in villages as in towns. The estimated number of vil-
lages in Poland is about 43 thousand; their inhab-
itants number about 15 million people, that is,
about 40% of the total population. The average
size is about 360 people per village, which means
that villages are generally small. Villages de-
scribed in Poland as medium sized - 200 to 500 peo-
ple - dominate /about 40%/; they contain over one-
third of Poland's rural population. Large villages
/1-2 thous. people/ and very large villages /2 thous.
and over people/ total merely about 2.4 thous. or
slightly over 5% of the total number of villages in
Poland; they are inhabited by about one-fourth of
the rural population, and are potential or actual
local centres. However, regional differences in
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
6
their distribution are striking. Large and very
large villages are mainly situated in the south-
ern voivodships or near large towns. In north-
eastern and central Poland, the centres of gminas
/communes/ are of necessity medium villages with
a population of 200-500 inhabitants, as there are
no larger ones. We may therefore speak of a so-
called "deficit" of large and very large villages.
Altogether in 1984 there were 1439 gmina villages
in Poland, that is, site centres of gminas; as many
as 242 centres of gminas were situated in villages
with a population of under 500 inhabitants.
/Polish Town Planning Association 1986/
In principle, only the numerous small towns - up to
10 thous. inhabitants
have close links with the
rural areas.
The current number of towns in Poland is 812,
of which 44o, over half, are small towns with a
population of under 10 thousand. Altogether, they
total about 2.1 million people, about 5.5% of Poland's
population. Most of the small towns date from the
Middle Ages; at the end of the 16th century on the
territory of present-day Poland there were about
950 towns. Many of them were affected by a socio-
economic crisis in the 19th century when - due to
the development of capitalist industry - they lost
their traditional economic basis. Similarly, in the
years following World War II under socialist economy,
it has not been easy to determine their economic
function. In 1970-78 in many of them - about 100 -
there was a tendency for a decrease in the number
of their inhabitants, which points to some disturb-
ances in socio-economic development. Now, many of
those small towns constitute an important link in
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
7
the local settlement system while numerous ser-
vices rendered in common to the rural and small
town population are localized there. In 1984, out
of 2119 gminas, 551 had a joint People's Council
and a chief executive officer /naczelnik/ for the
town and the gmina; a further 126 centres of gminas
were Iocalized in the town but had separate People's
Councils and offices for the town and the rural
gminas. However, as I have already mentioned, two-
thirds of gminas centres over 1400 are localized
in the villages. Regional differences are also
great here. Most gmina's centres localized in towns
are in a part of western Poland, which is closely
connected with the history of the development of
Poland's settlement network since the majority of
small towns in the Middle Ages /up to the 16th cen-
tury/ were set up in those parts of our country,
Thus, where there is a shortage of small towns, cen-
tres of gminas are out of necessity located in vil-
lages, wich often are not prepared to fulfil such
functions
The urban network. As I have pointed out in
connection with the links of the rural settlement
with small towns, in Poland there are relatively
many /over 800/ towns, half of which are small with
a population of under 10 thousand inhabitants.
However, we should remember that some essential
changes have taken place in the distribution of
the population in towns and villages following 1945.
These can be summarized in the following tablet
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
8
Population in Poland as well as in towns and
villages
Years:
Changes in the years
1946 1985
1946-85
in millions
in millions
Poland, total 23.6
37.3
+ 13.7
Towns
8.0 22.4
+ 14.4
Villages
15.6 14.9
- 0,7
The whole increase in the number of inhabitants,
that is, about 13.7 million people, was absorbed by
the towns; the rural population oscillated at an
almost unchanged level, amounting to about 15 mil-
lion people. Moreover, the process of the concen-
tration of urban population in large towns /with
over 100 thous. inhabitants, and particularly with
over 200 thous. inhabitants/ started to develop then.
For example, in 1970 Poland's total urban population
amounted to about 52%, with about 22.6% of the total
and about 43% of the urban population inhabiting
large towns /with a population of 100 thousand in-
habitants and over/. In 1985, about 60% of the pop-
ulation lived in towns, and about 30% - that is
about half of the urban population - inhabited larger
towns.
Detailed data for 1985 can be found in Table 1.
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Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
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Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
Table 1 shows that about one-fourth of the
total number of towns /208/ had a relatively high
population /over 20 thous./ though part of them
were included in the groups of urban agglomerations,
which means that in principle they could not play an
independent role in the hierarchy of the settlement
system.
According to Polish spatial thought /i.e., K.
Dziewonski, A. WrObel, J. Kolodziejski/, towns able
to fulfil the role of a regional centre should have
a minimum of 50 thousand inhabitants. /KPZK PAN
Bulletin 1982/ Taking this point of view into
consideration, we can see that in Poland there is
an advantageous phenomenon of a polycentric set-
tlement system. Contrary to the situation in, for
example, Hungary or Austria, there is no single big
centre /Budapest, Vienna/ bearing influence upon
the country's whole settlement system.
Besides the largest agglomerations - Upper-Silesian
and Warsaw - there are also large urban centres like
Lodz, Cracow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk-Gdynia, Byd-
goszcz, and Szczecin. However, an evident lack of
large and medium towns is felt - using a simplified
definition - eastwards of the Vistula, where there
are only two towns with 250-300 thousand inhabitants
/Lublin and Bialystok/ and two towns with up to 150
thousand inhabitants /Olsztyn and RzeszOw/. Medium
towns with a population of over 50 thousand people
are also rare; therefore, the new administrative
division of 1975 has played a positive role in the
transformation of the network of urban settlement
in eastern Poland. New voivodship capitals have been
given an evident impulse to develop. Their new func-
tions have made it necessary to build infrastructural
facilities of the type comensurate with their regio-
nal significance /e.g., hospitals, administration
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
11
offices, cultural and educational centres/ and
also of the type of urban infrastructure /urban
engineering, housing constructions, services,
etc./. These processes were partly curbed by the
crisis of the 1980's, but not in all centres.
Another feature is also the increased number of
inhabitants in those towns, Therefore, we may now
give some thought to whether or not their number
is too great when we take into consideration the
proper distribution of voivodship centres in space
and chances of getting investment outlays for them,
In principle, however, I believe that the concep-
tion of the two subdivisions has passed the exam-
ination quite successfully and contributed to a
proper development of Poland's settlement system.
Differences in the sizes of voivodship capitals are
shown in Table 2.
Still in 1985 there were 7 voivodship capitals
with populations under 50 thousand inhabitants. But
we should remember that in 1975, that is, in the
year of the introduction of the new division, such
capitals amounted to 16, Out of those 7 relatively
small voivodship capitals, two towns - Sieradz and
Skierniewice - are in the shadow of large cities -
Lodz and Warsaw - and their chances to develop are
poor, The remaining, however, bridge in principle
the gaps in the existing settlement system,
4. Final remarks
I, personally, am in favour of the present
model of the administrative division with two sub-
divisions, though a few modifications seem to be
advisable. This opinion, which I share with Profes-
sor J. Kolodziejski, is described broadly in our
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
12
publication /Kolodziejski-Stasiak 1986/.
Moreover, our views comply with the 1983 Act on
the system of People's Councils and the territorial
self-government. Our motivation is as follows:
a/ the polycentric settlement system and a
moderate concentration of population, which is
associated with it, are advantageous and provide
easy access to infrastructural facilities at the
regional level;
b/ there is an evident tendency for nodal re-
gions to crystallize;
c/ there is a strong tendency to a greater
decentralization of political and economic powers
and to the development of territorial self-govern-
ment;
d/ following the development of mass transport
means, the powiat /district/ becomes an unnecessary
link in the country's administrative system. Chances
to reach the voivodship capital and return home in
the same day by mass transport means are nowadays
much greater. Thus, what was earlier the basis for
contacts of the powiat capital with its area, today
is a feature of links between the voivodship capital
and its hinterland.
What are our suggestions for changes? On the
basis of our studies, we have come to the conclusion
that the network of gminas /communes/ should be sta-
bilized at the level of about 2000 units. In Poland's
situation of the dispersion of the settlement pattern
a tendency towards an excessive concentration of lo-
cal centres would make it difficult for the popula-
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
1 3
tion to make use of basic services and for local
self-government to develop, Of course, no change
covering a few scores of units would spoil the ba-
sic model. As regards the number of voivodships,
we suggest that they be reduced to about 40 on the
basis of analysis of the nodal systems and natural
conditions. For example, it seems advisable, even
on the basis of these first premises, to liquidate
inter allia the Sieradz and the Skierniewice voivod-
ships, situated in the shadow of the large agglomer-
ations of LOdz and Warsaw, Furthermore, to incorpo-
rate, for example,most of the territory of the voi-
vodship of Biala Podlaska into the Siedlce voivod-
ship; thus, this weak center would disappear.
Because of the natural conditions, we suggest merging
the whole Vistula Delta, which will bring about the
liquidation of the Elblag voivodship, and to carry
out the unification of the Sudety region, which will
again require certain changes in the division/Fig. 1/.
Of course, here as well as in our expert opinion, I
express the concern that it is necessary to carry
out broad public discussion and make some supple-
mentary studies before making the final dicision.
Decisions lie in the hands of politicians.
At the end of my paper I would like to empha-
size that we are slightly handicapped now as regards
the solution of the problem how to administer big
urban agglomerations. This settlement system is sub-
divisions, and requires further profound detailed
studies.
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
References
KOLODZIEJSKI, J, - STASIAK, A. /1986/
Koncepcja podzialu dwustopniowego - wariant
podstawowy /The conception of two level sub-
divisions - the basic variant/ KPZK PAN Bul-
letin, vol. 128, Warsaw
Podstawowe problemy rozwoju malych miast i
osadnictwa wiejskiego /Basic problems in the
development of small towns and rural settlement/
Polish Town Planning Association and the
Ministry of Building, Spatial Organization
and Communal Economy, Warsaw 1986
Przeksztalcenie miast na przemian urbaniza-
cy'nych /Transformation of towns against the
background of urbanization changes/. KPZK PAN
Bulletin, vol.121, Warsaw, 1982.
STASIEK, A /ed./ /1984/
Podzial administracyjny kraju. Poglady i
opinie. /The country's administrative division.
Views and opinion./ Biuletyn KPZK PAN No 126,
Warsaw, 167 pp.
STASIEK, A /ed./ /1986/
Podzial administracyjny kraju. Studia. Mate-
rialy. Dyskusja. /The country's administrative
division. Studies. Materials. Discussion./
Biuletyn KPZK PAN No 128, Warsaw, 270 pp.
Andrzej Stasiak : The Administrative Division and the Settlement System in Poland
Discussion Papers 1988. Spatial Organization and Regional Development
15
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-----1= boundary of State
2= prQposed voivodships boundaries
3= present voivodships boundaries
FIGURE 1 The model of two-levels administrative
state's division. Basic version.