Oddziaływanie centrów handlowych na przekształcenia strefy zewnętrznej metropolii w województwie śląskim
The impact of shopping malls on the transformations of the metropolitan outer zone in the Śląskie Voivodeship

Summary/Abstract: In the outer metropolitan zones in Poland the processes of permanent structural and spatial changes are taking place and they are connected with both urbanization and the creation and operation of large-scale shopping centers. Their development in specific locations in urban space results in a number of changes, ranging from architectural, through urban planning, transport, economic and those on the labor market. It also affects spatial development and patterns of shopping services. These processes are particularly evident in the outer areas of metropolises and big cities. They also decline the traditional base of small towns’ functions, including previous trade and service functions, to be carried to rural areas in surroundings’ of the urban agglomerations. The rise of shopping centers transforms the spatial and social structure of outer metropolitan areas, changing gravity directions and the traffic flows. Classic location and central places theories do not include specifics of functioning of modern shopping centers and their determinants and impacts in space. Spatial development of these zones is becoming increasingly monofunctional and dispersed. A direct study was carried out to recognize the functional and spatial changes taking place in the outer zone of the Upper Silesian agglomeration influenced by many shopping centers. Functional and spatial changes in the surveyed small towns and rural areas were assessed by the representatives of local authorities and local residents.

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