Assessment of the Living Conditions in Polish and German Transborder Regions in the Context of Strengthening Territorial Cohesion in the European Union: Competitiveness or Complementation?

Abstract

The European Union's regional policy aims to strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion and equal space development opportunities. It is an action linking UE that emphasises the problem of cohesion in the interregional context. The essence of territorial cohesion is the necessity to eliminate inequalities between the living conditions of the population. The concept of quality of life is ambiguous, multidimensional and interdisciplinary. This problem is of particular importance concerning border areas, i.e. the periphery of countries, which often adversely affects the population's standard of living. The article aimed to assess the living conditions and the direction of changes in those terms on the Polish-German border, an internal border of the EU (former Eastern Bloc countries). The analysis covered the years 2004–2019. The impact of the EU's regional development and cohesion policies for border areas (INTERREG) in improving the analysed regions' living conditions was also determined. The method of aggregation, standardised sums, was used in the analysis. The research showed that the level of living conditions of these border regions' population was spatially diversified, being more favourable on the German side. The analysed border regions had less favourable material and non-material living conditions than the countries' average value. Significant changes in the living conditions of border regions in the years 2004–2019 were established towards equalising the quality of life, which was influenced by the spatial policy of territorial cohesion.

Quality of Life in Rural Areas: A Set of Indicators for Improving Wellbeing

“…It is necessary to say that at a local level, quality of life is often only one of many factors to consider when making decisions in a context of limited available resources [62]. European policies can have significant impacts on improving quality of life, especially in marginal areas [46].…”

“…It is necessary to relate the quality of life to territorial development, especially in rural areas. In fact, for example, in the EU, they represent more than 91% of the territory, and 56% of the entire population are no longer characterised by a productive system based exclusively on agriculture, nor are they necessarily affected by socio-economic problems [45,46]. However, many rural areas have long faced significant challenges: depopulation, lower average per capita income generally in rural regions compared to that of cities; the consistency of local skills is significantly more limited, and the tertiary sector is less developed; the smartening of rural areas; and sustainable economic development [47][48][49][50].…”

Characterisation of Hungary's regional tourism and economic performance between 2004 and 2022 in the light of EU funding

“…The European Union has recognised the positive economic and social effects of integration, such as job creation, development of peripheral regions, strengthening of transnational cooperation, social cohesion, etc. (Abbott & Wallace, 2014;Gwiaździńska-Goraj et al, 2022;Popa, 2012). The recognition of these positive effects is demonstrated by the fact that the European Union has launched several international programmes for the general development of the sector, such as the European Year of Tourism, Philoxenia, and Calypso.…”

The Potential of GIS Tools for Diagnosing the SFS of Multi-Family Housing towards Friendly Cities—A Case Study of the EU Member State of Poland

“…A review of the literature [44][45][46][47] revealed that not all new housing estates in Poland are designed in a planned and rational manner. Many MFREs, in particular in suburban areas, are characterized by chaotic development.…”