Striving for a restitution of the former splendor? Reasons for municipal splits in Poland

Łukomska, Julita

Striving for a restitution of the former splendor? Reasons for municipal splits in Poland

Miscellanea Geographica

Volume 25 (2021): Issue 1 (January 2021)

By:

Julita Łukomska

Open Access

|Jan 2021

Figures & Tables

Timing and type of municipal divorces in Poland (1995–2019)Note: U – urban municipality, R – rural municipality, UR – urban–rural municipality; e.g. U = U + U means the division of an urban municipality into two urban local government unitsSource: own calculation based on Main Statistical Office (2020) and Ministry of Interior and Administration data (2020).

Population size of new municipalities in Poland (data from the year of municipal splits; mean and median from 1995)Source: own calculation based on Main Statistical Office (2020) and Ministry of Interior and Administration data (2020).

Ratio of population size of the 22 new (initiator) to abandoned municipalitiesSource: own calculation based on Main Statistical Office (2020) and Ministry of Interior and Administration data (2020).

Ratio of the affluence of local budget of the 22 new (initiator) to abandoned municipalitiesSource: own calculation based on Ministry of Finance (2020) and Ministry of Interior and Administration data (2020).

Historical past of newly created municipalities after 1995 regarding their functioning as separate administrative units

	Separate municipality in 1954–1972	Amalgamated in 1973	Amalgamated in 1975 (separate municipality in 1973–1975)	Amalgamated after 1975 (when?)
Izabelin	+	+
Jaśliska	+		+
Kościelisko	+		+
Krościenko Wyżne	+	+
Ksawerów	+		+
Łączna	+	+
Poronin	+		+
Powidz	+		+
Regnów	+	+
Rytro	+	+
Skarżysko Kościelne	+		+
Słopnice	+	+
Spytkowice	+		+
Stoczek Łukowski	+			1992
Trzciana	+	+
Chełm Śląski	+	+
Imielin	+		+
Marklowice	+		+
Miasteczko Śląskie	+		+
Pszów	+		+
Radlin	+		+
Radzionków	+		+

Comparison between the number of inhabitants of the population centres in initiator and abandoned municipalities (data from 2009Due to data unavailability, analysis is based on data from 2009_)

	Number of inhabitants of the population centre (initiator municipality)		Number of inhabitants of the population centre (abandoned municipality)	Ratio of the population centre of initiator to abandoned^*
Izabelin (R)	3 550	Stare Babice (R)	2 000	1.77
Krościenko Wyżne (R)	5 398	Korczyna (R)	6 047	0.89
Ksawerów (R)	6 550	Pabianice (R)	5 270	1.24
Regnów (R)	332	Cielądz (R)	806	0.41
Skarżysko Kościelne (R)	2 339	Mirzec (R)	2 121	1.10
Słopnice (R)	6 189	Tymbark (R)	2 840	2.18
Spytkowice (R)	4 262	Raba Wyżna (R)	4 243	1.00
Trzciana (R)	1 510	Żegocina (R)	1 685	0.90
Jaśliska (R)	413	Dukla (UR)	2 212	0.19
Kościelisko (R)	4 403	Gmina Tatrzańska (UR)	28 337	0.16
Poronin (R)	4 195	Gmina Tatrzańska (UR)	28 337	0.15
Łączna (R)	903	Suchedniów (UR)	9 117	0.10
Powidz (R)	1 313	Witkowo (UR)	8 151	0.16
Rytro (R)	2 273	Piwniczna-Zdrój (UR)	6 088	0.37
Stoczek Łukowski (U)	2 806	Stoczek Łukowski (UR)	2 806	1.00

Unsuccessful attempts for municipal divorce

Municipality: initiator (name and population)	‘Mother’ municipality (name and population size, excluding initiator)	Local referendum (date, result)	Other activities to create new local government and the dates of the initiatives	Historical past of being a separate unit
Łagiewniki c.2,000	Łódź c.758,250	No referendum	Social initiative and the collection of 300 signatures of residents for the creation of a new municipality but no formal proposal to the City Hall of Łódź – March 2006.	Until 1946, separate municipality
Chełmsko Śląskie c.3,124	Lubawka c.8,717 and Kamienna Góra c.8,424	No referendum	Formal proposal for the creation of a new municipality submitted to the municipal council – 2007.	1945–1972, separate municipality
Komorów c.5,670	Michałowice c.10,760	No referendum	Establishment of a social initiative to create the municipality of Komorów; written support from over 1,000 inhabitants – March 2009. Petition of known central level politicians to the Ministry of Interior and Administration – July 2009.	Until 1972, separate municipality
Miasto Śląskie c.24,000	Mysłowice c.51,300	No referendum	Social initiative coming from the inhabitants of 8 southern districts of the city of Mysłowice – October 2012. Referendum proposal (January 2013): rejected.
Szczawa c.2,000	Kamienica c.5,750	22.09.2013 Invalid: turnout 13.5%	Approval of the Ministry for the creation of the new municipality but the new parliament repealed the regulation prepared by the previous government – second half of 2015.	1954–1961, separate municipality
Grabówka c.7,600	Supraśl c.7,500	24.05.2015 Turnout 62% (combined with presidential election) (45% for the division)	Approval of the Ministry for the creation of the new municipality but the new parliament repealed the regulation prepared by the previous government – second half of 2015.	1954–1972, separate municipality
Jankowice c.4,000	Świerklany c.8,000	06.01.2013 Invalid: turnout 27.1%	In January 2012, the municipal council of Świerklany received a formal proposal to take statutory actions regarding the separation of a new municipality.	1946–1972, separate municipality
Majdan Stary c.2,600	Księżpol c.4,300	13.01.2013 Invalid: turnout 28.3%	In October 2011, a formal proposal submitted to the municipal council of Księżpol.
Kamyk c.3,700	Kłobuck c.17,000	19.01.2014 Invalid: turnout 15.7%	On 5 March 2013, a representative of the referendum initiators submitted an official request to the mayor of Kłobuck for a referendum.The date of the referendum was set for 14 July 2013; however, the referendum did not take place due to the lack of the timely opinion of the regional office.In December 2013, after an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court, the electoral commissioner announced a new date for the referendum.	Until 1976, separate municipality
Huta-Dąbrowa c.1,300	Krzywda c.9,400	No referendum	Establishing an association for the new municipality of Huta-Dąbrowa (2012).