74 / 2021-09-17 01:41:43

Economic situation of cities in the post-mining regions in Poland

underground coal mining,post-mining regions,economic aspects of coal mines closure

The EU decarbonisation policy is forcing a systematic reduction in the extraction and use of hard coal as an energy resource, which is having a strong impact not only on the shape of Polish energy policy, but also on the social and economic situation in regions dependent on the mining industry. The negative impact of the closure of mines and mining companies is reflected in the budgets of local self-government units, which lose a source of their own revenue as well as revenue from the central budget in the form of personal and corporate income tax receipts. It also has a direct influence on the local community wellbeing, as the level of unemployment is increasing and income is decreasing. These are the reasons why the article analyses the economic situation of selected communes in the Silesian Voivodeship, where hard coal mines were closed in the recent years. In this context, identification of opportunities for strategic reorientation of communes' activities to prevent their pauperisation is also carried out.

The EU decarbonisation policy is forcing a systematic reduction in the extraction and use of hard coal as an energy resource, which is having a strong impact not only on the shape of Polish energy policy, but also on the social and economic situation in regions dependent on the mining industry. The negative impact of the closure of mines and mining companies is reflected in the budgets of local self-government units, which lose a source of their own revenue as well as revenue from the central budget in the form of personal and corporate income tax receipts. It also has a direct influence on the local community wellbeing, as the level of unemployment is increasing and income is decreasing. These are the reasons why the article analyses the economic situation of selected communes in the Silesian Voivodeship, where hard coal mines were closed in the recent years. In this context, identification of opportunities for strategic reorientation of communes' activities to prevent their pauperisation is also carried out.