Przemysław Ciesiółka (p)

Giuseppe Roma

Urban regeneration is a policy strongly characterized by an integrated, holistic approach. It adopts a vision that comprehensively considers the relations between the different aspects of degradation in urban areas: social, economic, physical, and environmental. This vision has pointed to urban regeneration as an opportunity to solve the problems that lead to decline and vulnerability in deprived neighborhoods. The evolution of the regeneration approach shows the growing importance of environmental issues in the process. They are expected to dominate regeneration theory and practice in the near future. Green regeneration strategies, especially in medium-sized cities, make urban neighborhoods more attractive, improve the quality of life, and provide residents with recreational spaces and opportunities.
In this paper, I analyse data and opinions of various actors regarding the move towards sustainable local development through green regeneration strategies applied in Polish cities. Particular emphasis is on linking these policies with the former character and changes in cities' social, economic, environmental, and physical structure. The statistical data analysis covered the whole country, while the survey was conducted in medium-sized cities of the Wielkopolska region, representing case studies. The results show that regeneration contributes to sustainable development by:
- promoting compact urban forms and mixed-use development through regeneration projects on inner-city post-industrial and post-military sites,
- improving urban greenery in residential environments (parks, squares, green spaces),
- developing low-carbon and climate-friendly neighborhoods that generate and consume renewable energy, save natural resources by recycling waste and rainwater, and reduce the use of private vehicles,
- improving public transport systems, increasing opportunities for walking and cycling, and encouraging the use of public transport in cities.
However, the above activities are not universal, occurring in varying degrees of intensity in the case study cities.
Bennett, J., & Patel, R. (1995). Sustainable regeneration strategies. Local Economy, 10(2), 133-148.
Fawzy, S., Osman, A.I., Doran, J. (2020) . Strategies for mitigation of climate change: a review. Environ Chem Lett 18, 2069 - 2094.
Jabareen, Y. (2013) Planning the resilient city: Concepts and strategies for coping with climate change and environmental risk. Cities, 31, 220–229.
Lehmann, S. (2021) Growing Biodiverse Urban Futures: Renaturalization and Rewilding as Strategies to Strengthen Urban Resilience. Sustainability, 13, 2932
Roberts, P. (2000). The Evolution, Definition and Purpose of Urban Regeneration. In P. Roberts, H. Sykes (Eds.) Urban Regeneration. A Handbook, London: Sage.

Agnieszka Barczykowska, Emilia Bogacka (p), Katarzyna Kulczyńska, Maciej Muskała

Przemysław Ciesiółka

Juvenile delinquency is a severe issue discussed more and more often in various media. Recent years have proved a profound crisis in society, including children and youth, which is reflected in a significant increase in the number of juvenile delinquency acts.

The aim of the paper is to focus on the urban-rural context of juvenile delinquency and to determine the factors contributing to the criminal behavior of minors in the Wielkopolska region (Poland) in the years 2017-2021.

The settlement system of the Wielkopolska region consists of 115 cities (the highest number among Polish regions) and 4356 villages (as of 2021), located in 35 poviats. For the purpose of the study, cities were grouped into the following categories: small cities (up to 2 thousand inhabitants, 2-5, 5-10 and 10-20), medium cities (20-50, 50-100) and big cities (100-200 and above 200). The urbanization rate is 53,6% (as of 2021), and that balance makes it interesting to investigate the urban-rural context of juvenile delinquency.

The analysis concern changes in the number of juvenile delinquency acts committed, paying spatial attention to crimes in the category of narcotics offenses, which are characterized by the highest crime rates. The analysis is supplemented by determining the interdependency between the level of juvenile delinquency and factors of crime using Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient.

The study attempts to answer the research questions based on the data from 2017-2021 obtained from the Police.

Stephan Goetz (p), Luyi Han, Zheng Tian, Tim Wojan

Emilia Bogacka

Our previous work identifies the association between innovation and exports based on US firm-level data. However, the question of whether rural businesses are keeping pace with their urban peers regarding exporting performance remains unanswered, as does the question of whether innovation contributes equally to exports in rural and urban areas. This paper contributes to our understanding of innovation and rural exports and discusses potential policy implications that could enhance rural exports. With an approved proposal to access confidential firm-level data in the US Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC), we merge firm-level international trade data from the Longitudinal Firm Trade Transactions Database (LFTTD) with Rural Establishment Innovation Survey (REIS) data to answer our research question. The LFTTD data links individual trade transactions to US firms that report the trade value, date, and quantity, among other variables. The REIS data collect information on firm innovation, such as marketing, product, and process innovation. We also merge with the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD), which provides basic firm information to identify if firms remain located in rural or urban areas for the duration of the study interval. The REIS-LFTTD-LBD linkage will first allow us to investigate whether exporting correlates with firms’ innovation behaviors for all US firms. We then run the analysis separately for rural and urban firms to compare correlation strength. The simple exercise provides descriptive evidence of the differences between rural and urban firms. We also use the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to provide more formal statistical evidence of rural-urban differences. Specifically, the decomposition will allow us to investigate the extent to which firm characteristics contribute to rural-urban differences. In addition to a variable that measures firms’ rurality, we also consider other firm-level variables in the decomposition equation, including industry, firm size, and firm age, among others. The implications of the findings for trade policy and rural innovation policy are discussed.

Giuseppe Roma (p)

Stephan Goetz

The small towns, the "borghi" in the most widespread Italian denomination, participate fully to the geo-diversity of the urban and rural terriory. In recent years, the enhancement of the peripheral material and intangible culture has entered the political-institutional agenda.The borghi capture the interest of travelers because, as James Hillman reported, they preserve a beauty capable of feeding our soul. In other words, they represent an anima mundi. Moreover, the demand for tourism has increased strongly also as a result of the restrictions of the pandemic, modifying, at the root, the models of life and use of time. Travelers are becoming more and more anxious to conceive of the holiday as a period for outdoor activities or even as a time to detoxify from the pressure of metropolitan life.In addition to tourism, new conditions are being recreated in the villages to develop phenomena of neo-residency, thanks to digital connections and the practice of smart working.
Urban regeneration real estate operations show positive examples of sustainable architecture but also improper forms of intervention.
The paper is divided in 3 sections:
-defining the characteristics of small and rural towns with high cultural value;
-the role of digital technologies to increase their actractiveness - Examples and study cases
- strategies for developing relationships between urban and rural terriotories