ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief review of the historical dimension of the Polish regional structure before looking in more detail at the regional impact of the process of economic transformation which has taken place during the 1990s. It highlights some of the most important aspects of regional transformation before concluding with a brief overview of the regional policy response and the related process of administrative decentralisation. Poland is the only post-socialist country which has introduced a full decentralisation reform of its territorial organisation. The spatial development of Poland has been shaped by historical factors as far back as the pattern of urbanisation in the 13th and 15th centuries. Over the last few decades, the regional policy of the Polish state has been more formal than real. Programmes of regional development, often of very different quality, were formulated by appropriate government agencies and the principles of regional policy were drafted, although few were put into practice.
