The Impact of Infrastructure, Industrial and Housing Investments on the Development of Local Systems Based on the Example of the Uniejów Commune in the Łódź Voivodeship (Poland) Cover Image

Wpływ inwestycji infrastrukturalnych, przemysłowych i mieszkaniowych na rozwój układów lokalnych na przykładzie gminy Uniejów w województwie łódzkim
The Impact of Infrastructure, Industrial and Housing Investments on the Development of Local Systems Based on the Example of the Uniejów Commune in the Łódź Voivodeship (Poland)

Author(s): Karolina Smętkiewicz, Tomasz Rachwał, Anita Kulawiak
Subject(s): Economic development, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), Tourism, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
Keywords: entrepreneurs; geothermal water; investments; local development; location factors; socio-economic development; Uniejów commune;

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article are investments in the development of tourist, recreational, sports and health infrastructure, as well as production and housing investments that were implemented in 2007–2017 in the area of the urban-rural commune of Uniejów in the Lódź voivodeship and their impact on local development. The starting point in the conducted research was the identification of investment location factors in Uniejów in order to learn the mechanisms of location decisions and motives of entrepreneurs’ activities. The main objective of the research is to determine the impact of investments on local development in the socio-economic and spatial-functional dimension. In order to achieve the above-mentioned research objectives, in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and an analysis of information and source data obtained from statistical databases, directly from entrepreneurs and from the Local Government Office were carried out. The research results indicate that the socio-economic changes observed in the Uniejów commune have been initiated since 2001 thanks to the use of geothermal water for heating, balneotherapy and recreation purposes. This activity once led to a poor urban-rural commune of mainly agricultural character with a small town of Uniejów for visible development of tourist infrastructure and for the city and surrounding villages to achieve the status of a health resort, which affected changes in the share of employment in the agricultural sector for the benefit of the services sector. The obtained research results indicate that the dynamic development of the Uniejów commune, lasting for the last decade, has its source in the increase in the number of investments, and is the result of the activity of self-government authorities and various social groups operating in the commune. At the same time, a multiplier effect is observed, as a result of which local government investments and the related development of enterprises generate new investments.

  • Issue Year: 32/2018
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 69-97
  • Page Count: 29
  • Language: Polish