Lódzkie Region: Demographic Challenges Within an Ideal Location

This paper outlines the findings of the Poland case study of the Lódzkie region for the international project, Local scenarios of demographic change. The Lódzkie region is located in the central part of Poland, at the intersection of several major arterial roads Berlin-Moscow and Gdansk-Vienna. Despite the excellent location, the region is affected by several demographic challenges, partly related to the region’s proximity to Warsaw, the Polish capital city. The official strategic documents for regional development have been focused on “hard” infrastructure development, with limited attention being paid to current or future demographic and social challenges, such as the declining and ageing population, which pose significant obstacles to future regional development. Profound public interest in demographic change, however, has resulted in the creation of a plan for 2013-2014 to forestall this predicted depopulation, and also, in the preparation of a demographic development strategy for the following years.