The socio-economic transformations of municipalities in Lodz metropolitan area in the context of the construction of motorways and expressways

Anotace: As part of the programmes for the construction of national roads in Poland in the years 2004–2014, several transport investments have been made in Lodz Metropolitan Area (LMA), that significantly improved the potential availability of the municipalities located in it. The commissioning of subsequent sections of the A1, A2 motorways and S14 and S8 expressways that primarily serve transit purposes, coincided with the progressing suburbanisation processes of the municipalities located in the immediate vicinity of the largest cities of the LMA. The aim of this paper is to identify those processes of socio-economic transformations in LMA municipalities, caused to the greatest extent by the construction and operation of motorways and expressways between 2004 and 2014. The study compared the municipalities that obtained better access to motorways and expressways with other LMA municipalities. The data obtained from the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office were used for the analysis. Studies have confirmed the indirect effects of motorways on population redistribution and labour market growth. This mitigated the effects of the 2008 economic crisis in the urbanising and rural communes adjacent to the motorway. It was also found that accessibility to motorway and expressway junctions can affect the location of large industrial logistics and warehousing companies in particular. This influence may precede the very process of commissioning the motorway or expressway.