by
M. D O B R O W O L S K A
The object of th is paper is a synthetic com prehension of b asic processes going on a t p re sen t in Polish industrialized regions, w ith special a tte n tio n to five so uthern voivodships (Cracow, Opole, K atow ice, Rzeszów a n d Kielce). The in fo rm atio n in it is derived from m y personal observations, a n d also from in d i
vidual and te a m investigations by the scientific workers of th e H igher P e d a gogical School in Cracow.
The c e n tra l problem is th e gradual tra n s itio n from a g ric u ltu re to in d u stry , th e change of rural p o p u latio n into in d u stria l workers, a n d of villages in to tow ns an d urbanized areas.
1. The process of d isin te g ratio n of village com m unities, w h ich h a d been held to g eth er b y local ties w elding th em into in te g ra te d hom ogeneous u n its in b o th a socio-econom ic and c u ltu ra l sense, h ad b eg u n in cap italistic tim e s u n d er th e influence of industry. As a resu lt, a m ark e d discord developed betw een th e disoriented urbanized areas of industrialized regions and th e villages w ith th e ir historical social bonds.1 The tran sfo rm atio n s of th e village co m m u n ity in P eo ple’s P o land took place a t different ra te s a n d varied in s p a tia l ex ten t.
The n atio n alizatio n of in d u s try and of o th e r branches of th e n atio n al econom y, a purposeful in v e stm e n t policy, th e progress of h e a v y in d u stry , including h ith e rto neglected branches, an d a t th e same tim e th e tendency to search for new technical solutions all com bined to bring a b o u t ra p id economic developm ent.
The basic socialistic prin cip le of uniform distribution of p ro d u c tiv e forces finds su p p o rt in th e discoveries of considerable new raw m a te ria l deposits an d sources of energy: copper, su lp h u r, gas, oil a n d lignite. G re at in v estm en ts h av e been m ade in th e m etallurgic, chemical, su lp h u r, alum inium , oil and m achine in d u stry in Nowa H u ta , L ub lin , T arnobrzeg, Plock, P u la w y , Turoszów an d K onin; and in d u stry has been developed in Czestochowa, Oswiecim , K edzie- rzyn and a n u m b er of o th e r new regions. These developm ents m ake possible th e p lanned direction of th e outflow of ru ra l population, th e purposeful d istrib u tio n of th e la b o u r surplus and th e governing of th e u rb an izatio n processes.
The p lan n ed economy, o w in g to the co ncentration in its h a n d s of th e m eans of in v estm en t and the p ossibility of final decision, has an im p o r ta n t effect on
1 D obrow olska, M. (1967) C zynniki integracji i dezintegracji sp o leczn o tery to rialn y ch S tru k tu r osadniczych wsi (In te g ra tio n a l and d isin teg ratio n al factors influencing th e areal stru c tu re of th e ru ra l settlem en ts). R ocznihi Socjologii W si. W arsaw — R ajm an , J . (1962) Rozw ój uérodków przem yslow ych n ad Malq, Panwiq, (The developm ent o f in d u strial centres on th e Mala P anw ia). I n s ty tu t S lq sk i w Opolu. K atow ice.
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th e course, th e d irec tio n an d th e im p o rtan ce of change. T his relates no t only to th e localization of n e w in d u stria l estab lish m en ts, b u t also to em ploym ent policy, wages, salaries a n d th e raising of stan d ard s.
2. The social consequence of these processes is th e e v e r increasing r a te of urbanization. I t finds ex p ressio n in th e g ro w th of u rb a n p o p u latio n from 40 p e r cent of th e to ta l in 1950 to 50 p er cent in 1965 (in 1931 i t w as 30 per cent) an d in th e sim ultaneous assim ila tio n into n o n -a g ricu ltu ral em ploym ent of larg e masses of th e village p o p u la tio n . In 1965, th o se engaged in agriculture w ere only 34 per cent of all em p lo y ed (in 1950, 47 p er cent). T he n u m b er of w orkm en em ployed outside of a g ric u ltu re grew to 3 '6 m in, in clu d in g 2'4 min engaged in in d u stry (1961). A m ong 8 ‘8 m in persons em ployed in th e communal econ
om y (excluding in d iv id u a l agriculture) 3 m in were of ru ra l origin, an d in addition 1‘5 m in c o m m u te d to w ork from th e co untryside.
3. In th e conversion of ru ra l po p u latio n , m igrations in search of earnings
—regular, seasonal a n d c a su a l—play a v ita l p a rt. I t is th is process w hich form s new p a tte rn s of la b o u r division an d differentiates th e dem ographic an d socio-professional s tru c tu re s of sep a rate regions, including
— industrializing a n d u rb a n iz in g zones, to which th e w aves of m ig ratin g population are flow ing;
— declining areas w h e re th e population is aging a t an increasingly ra p id rate.2
U rban and in d u s tria l cen tres of industrializin g regions w ith th eir ru ral h in terlan d are a p p ro p ria te places for social tran sfo rm atio n s. They h a v e absorbed ab o u t 2‘5 m in of th e p e a sa n try who m ig ra te d tow ards the new ly opened a ttra c tiv e la b o u r m a rk e ts w hich offered an a lte r n a tiv e to agricultural work. In several of th e se tra d in g centres w here we stu d ied th e inflowing la b o u r, sons of p easants an d p ea san t-w o rk m e n com m uting fro m th e countryside am ounted to 60 per c e n t of th e staff. In th e s e new ly localized or in developed form er centres— such as N ow a H u ta , O sw iecim -D w ory, Kedzierzyn a n d o th ers—th e process of form in g a new w orking class is gaining m om ent.
W idely used facilities fo r com pleting ed u c atio n in so cialist economics a n d for generally raising q u alificatio n s, to g e th e r w ith m ass professional schooling open, up o p p o rtu n ities fo r ra p id advance to w orking people. W orkers m a y be classified as (a) u n q u alified w orkers im m ig ratin g from t h e countryside an d engaged m ainly in lab o u rin g , tra n sp o rt an d building; (b) w orkm en acquiring qualifications d uring th e course of em ploym ent or b y ta k in g courses; (c) w o rk m en, who have gained full qualifications b y correspondence courses, in m a n y cases rising to th e deg ree of engineer; (d) m anagers b y prom otion, m o stly chosen from am ong w o rk m e n , m ainly in ad m in istra tio n , to a lesser e x te n t in production, w ith th e g re a te r p a rt h av in g stu d ied b y correspondence; (e) a special category com posed of peasan t y o u th s , n o rm ally g raduated from a general basic school, te c h n ic a l or higher schools. They s t a r t as clerical w orkers an d advance to m a n a g e rs ’ posts.
2 Dobrowolska, M. (1960) F u n ctio n s of In d u s trie s in S haping Socio-Economic R egional S tructure. P olish G eographical R eview , X X X II. Supplem ent.
T he m agnitude, m echanism an d resu lts of th ese processes h a v e been p re se n t zapleczu poprzez codzienne dojazdy do p ra c y (The influence of com m uting o n th e occupational s tru c tu re in th e p ro d u ctio n centres an d h in te rla n d of th e Cracow voivodship). S p ra w o zd a n ia K o m i s ji O dzialu P A N w K ra ko w ie, Lipiec-G rudzien.
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voivodships of B ia ty s to k , L ublin, O lszty n , Szczecin, Koszalin, Zielona
Unlike th e crystallized form s of in d u strial settlem en ts in th e U p p er Silesian in th e T arnobrzeg Combine such processes ai’e accelerated b y h a rd conditions of life in the o v erp o p u la ted villages.
As a result of differentiated conditions of lab o u r dem and an d supply, w h e th e r for qualified o r unqualified, m ale or female, s te a d y or seasonal w ork, th ere is a sim ilarly d ifferentiated dem ographic and socio-professional s tru c tu re in th e industrialized regions. Therefore th e p a tte rn of em ploym ent an d th e processes of change h av e also considerable differences, as well as features in common.
The u rbanizing regions in th e ru ral h in te rla n d resulting from com m uting existing processes an d of th e new ly formed dem ographic and socio-professional stru ctu re. These requirem ents n ecessitate th e studies tak en u p on th e in itia tiv e of th e C om m ittee of R esearch of Industrialized Regions of th e Polish A cadem y of Sciences h a v in g as th eir m ain purpose th e analysis of in d u strializ atio n p ro cesses and of th e ir effects in ag ric u ltu ral areas.7
The essential im portance of th e consequences of in d u strializ atio n lies in defining developm ent tendencies an d regularities as a basis for th e constru ctio n of theory and of practical plans. Therefore, I stress th e estab lish m en t of th e com parison w ith in th e fram ew ork of th e m en tio n ed 5 voivodships of th e ty p ical phenom ena which occur independently, an d also of specific phenom ena w hich occur lo cally as a result of specific conditions.8
In th e light of o u r em pirical investigations th e ch aracteristic m ark s of all industrialized zones, irrespective of th eir genesis, period of developm ent, in frastru ctu re, o r ty p e and size of in d u strial p ro d u ctio n , are as follows:
8 Dobrowolska, M. (1959) P rzem ian y spoleezno-gospodarcze wsi m alopolskiej (Socio
economic changes in South-Polish villages). Przeglqd Geograficzny X X X I. — Jarow iecka, T.
(1965) Praea pozarolnicza ludnosci w iejskiej w zapleczu n iek tó ry ch oárodków przem yslow ych M alopolski (N o n-agricultural a c tiv ity of th e ru ra l p o p u latio n in th e surroundings of th e South-Polish in d u s tria l centres). P roblem y Ekonom iczne, Cracow.
(4) T he grouping of w orkm en an d peasan t-w o rk m en p re d o m in a n tly w ithin
th eir qualifications is conspicuous even am ong heads of p ea san t-w o rk m e n ’s families, especially am ong m em bers of th e yo u n g er p ro d u c tiv e age. The gaining of such qualifications associates such w o rk m an and his place of em ploym ent and is a stabilizing and acceleratin g factor in t h e u rb a n iz atio n process.
Conclusions of th e re searc h discussed abo v e concerning th e s tru c tu re an d d evelopm ent of p ea san t-w o rk e rs’ farm s, com m uting to w ork and m ig ratio n , provide th e basic in fo rm atio n for a p lanned econom y, su p p o rte d by sta tis tic a l indices a n d cartographic m ateria l related to th e follow ing urgent problem s:
(1) R estrictio n s of co m m u tin g to work a n d of sp ontaneous m igrations;
(2) S o lu tio n of the peasan t-w o rk m an p roblem in re la tio n to local conditions, in cluding local in v e stm e n t;
(3) E d u c a tio n of w o rk m e n ’s staffs;
(4) A ging of th e ru ral population.
A STOCHASTIC MODEL FOR INTER-TERRITORIAL