The application of multidimensional scaling to measure and assess changes in the level of social cohesion of the Lower Silesia region in the period 2005-2015

Social cohesion is the ability of territorial communities to ensure the welfare of all its members, to reduce social stratification and avoid polarization (EU/EC/CE 2004, p. 3). The assessment of social cohesion of the Lower Silesia region in the cross-section of counties in the period 2005-2015, was performed based on the variables from the following areas: income and economic activity of the population, living conditions of the population and the availability of services and public space. Multidimensional scaling combined with linear ordering and Theil decomposition were applied to measure and assess changes in the level of social cohesion of the Lower Silesia region in the cross-section of counties in the period 2005-2015. The level of social cohesion of all the counties (although in varying de-grees) was increased and the degree of differentiation of social cohesion was slightly de-creased during this period. The calculations were made with scripts prepared in R environ-ment.