Metropolitan aspirations of cities in East Poland during the process of their development

Abstract Białystok, Lublin, and Rzeszów are the three largest cities in eastern Poland, and the capitals of their provinces. They each have metropolitan ambitions, and based on partner agreements with the authorities of their neighbouring districts they initiated the establishment of metropolitan areas where they became the main centres. This article undertakes an analysis of a number of elements of each of these metropolitan areas in order to compare their position, and to give an assessment of the development of their metropolitan functions. The analysis concerned their demographic, social, economic and cultural parameters. Results of this research show that none of these analysed cities has yet developed sufficient functions coherent with the European metropolitan network. Each of them is a strong regional centre of national importance. Statistical analysis of the data shows no strong leader among these three metropolitan areas. The weak position of the Białystok Metropolitan Area is evident due to its particularly disturbing demographic processes which offer no chance for population development in the area or growth of its social potential. The Rzeszów Metropolitan Area maintains the best social-demographic and economic indices and it is also the most compact, coherent area with the least distance to its metropolitan centre.