Miejsce metropolii w potencjale rozwojowym regionów na przykładzie województw dolnośląskiego, małopolskiego i mazowieckiego

Metropolises are hubs of the flow of goods, services, information, capital, people and, at the same time, the most important units in the structure of the voivodship’s settlement. This means that, though metropolis centers are naturally focused on cooperating with other like population centres, „involuntary” metropolis-region interaction may be observed (in theory it is difficult to determine the strength and nature of the relationship between the metropolis center and the region it is in). This article compares the development potential of the metropolitan centre to the regional context from both a static and dynamic perspective. Wrocław and Dolnośląskie voivodship, Kraków and the Małopolska region, and Warsaw and Mazowieckie voivodship serve as examples. A portfolio of indicators describing the process of regional and local development is analysed. The industrial structure of economies is also considered, allowing the place occupied by the metropolises’ development potential in their respective regions to be determined. The research will make it possible to create proposals for the structure of trade and economic development indicators of a metropolis and its regional environment. All of this will allow general conclusions on the role of the metropolis to be drawn, not only on the creation of the socio-economic development of the region, but also concerning the interaction between the metropolitan center and the region, which seems to be particularly important to the present differences in views on this issue in the subject literature.