Duże miasta Polski – wyzwania rozwojowe a interwencja w ramach polityki spójności 2004–2006
Large Polish cities – development challenges in the context of public intervention of EU Cohesion Policy 2004−2006

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold: to demonstrate development challenges of large Polish cities and to assess the extent to which Cohesion Policy in the 2004−2006 programming addresses these issues. The analysis covers different aspects of EU intervention: sums assigned for particular categories, types of beneficiaries as well as types of large cities. The results allow us to formulate the following observations. The thematic structure of the intervention only partially addresses challenges related to contemporary informational economy, which is due to the cities’ relatively low support for innovativeness and their metropolitan functions. In the analyzed period, the bulk of EU Cohesion Policy funds was devoted to the development of basic technical infrastructure (transport and water management), which was the result of huge underdevelopment in these fields in former years. However, EU intervention had some successes: thematic fields were well adapted to types of cities. Furthermore, most funding was allocated to the largest cities because of the strong involvement of their authorities in EU funds projects, while in smaller cities a significant share of the funds was given to large industrial plants.

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