Ocena zrównoważonego rozwoju regionalnego w Polsce w latach 1998-2005

The paper describes the level of sustainable development in Poland’s regions/provinces on the basis of various indicators that influence economic, social and environmental systems. Generally, sustainable regional development is the application of sustainable development at a regional, rather than local, national or global, level. It differs from regional development per se because the latter term is used more generally to describe economic development that emphasizes the alleviation of regional disparities. While regional development has an economic and equity emphasis, sustainable regional development seeks to incorporate environmental concerns. Sustainable regional development is economic development that can be sustained over time because it is aimed not only at building wealth but also at creating opportunities to contribute to and participate in the benefits of economic growth. The author formulates a hypothesis that the level of sustainable development varies from one province to another and has a different structure in each region. Korol evaluates the level and structure of sustainable development with the use of 35 indicators. The research applies to the years 1998 and 2005 and seeks to determine the changes that took place in individual areas of sustainable development in the intervening period. The research has confirmed a rule that a generally higher level of economic development is accompanied by higher social and environmental development levels, the author says.