Assessment of the Living Conditions in Polish and German Transborder Regions in the Context of Strengthening Territorial Cohesion in the European Union: Competitiveness or Complementation?

Abstract

AbstractThe European Union's regional policy aims to strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion and equal space development opportunities. It is an action linking UE that emphasises the problem of cohesion in the interregional context. The essence of territorial cohesion is the necessity to eliminate inequalities between the living conditions of the population. The concept of quality of life is ambiguous, multidimensional and interdisciplinary. This problem is of particular importance concerning border areas, i.e. the periphery of countries, which often adversely affects the population's standard of living. The article aimed to assess the living conditions and the direction of changes in those terms on the Polish-German border, an internal border of the EU (former Eastern Bloc countries). The analysis covered the years 2004–2019. The impact of the EU's regional development and cohesion policies for border areas (INTERREG) in improving the analysed regions' living conditions was also determined. The method of aggregation, standardised sums, was used in the analysis. The research showed that the level of living conditions of these border regions' population was spatially diversified, being more favourable on the German side. The analysed border regions had less favourable material and non-material living conditions than the countries' average value. Significant changes in the living conditions of border regions in the years 2004–2019 were established towards equalising the quality of life, which was influenced by the spatial policy of territorial cohesion.