Changes and directions in the socio-economic development of rural and urban areas of the River Drwęca Basin

Abstract

The article presents the diversity in the socio-economic development of rural and urban areas in the River Drwęca Basin conditioned by the demography, history and geography of the region. The time span in question is from 1995 to 2007. In order to delimit the demographic changes the Perkal method was used, while the complex assessment of diversity in economic development was based on Hellwig’s synthetic indicator called ‘taxonomic method of diversity’. Regional diversity is visible in the following three areas: economic (increased spread of the entrepreneurship index), social (increased diversity in unemployment rate), spatial (in the income of boroughs and in the expenses per head) as well as in agriculture (due to diverse natural conditions and low level of both social and technical infrastructure). The paper also shows the new directions and chances for further development.