Ku nowej definicji peryferyjności
Towards a new definition of peripherality

Summary/Abstract: The concept of peripherality is widely used in both academic debate and regional policy. However, there is no consensus on the definition of this concept, moreover, one can notice a conceptual convergence of peripherality with related concepts (marginality and exclusion). The aim of this article is to develop a new definition of peripherality covering this phenomenon at different spatial scales. A literature review was adopted as the research method – the material analysed was selected on the basis of key words (peripherality, exclusion, marginality, urban peripherality) in the following databases: Google Schoolar, Elsevier, ReaserchGate and Springer. The literature search juxtaposed different approaches to peripherality (social, economic, network and geographic) and the ways in which it has been described in historical and current theories of regional development – the change in understanding of the phenomenon of peripherality over time was also described. Looking for factors that distinguish peripherality from other concepts a comparison between peripherality and related phenomena was made. Great emphasis was placed on differentiating regional and urban phenomena and the phenomenon of internal peripherality, as well as on the tendency to reduce the importance of transport factors in the concept of peripherality (the socalled aspatial peripherality). Finally, six key characteristics of peripherality that distinguish it from related phenomena were selected: (1) relativity, (2) multiscale, (3) complexity of the phenomenon (4) diversity of causes of peripherality, (5) self-perpetuating factors of peripherality, and (6) emphasis on process rather than state. Based on these, a definition of peripherality was created.

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