Changes in population density of the urban population in southern Poland in the period 1950-2011 against the background of political and economic transformation

This paper presents the changes in urban population density in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in an area of approximately 20,000 km2 in southern Poland, which includes close to 100 towns and cities with a population of almost 4.5 million (in 2011) and an urbanisation index over 70%. It is the most urbanised part of Poland and includes the Cracow agglomeration and the Upper Silesian conurbation. The analysis was performed using one of the statistical methods for estimating discrete distributions, the kernel function method. The conclusions served as a basis for the presentation of changes occurring in this area against the backdrop of political and economic transformation in Poland, as well as a scientific discussion concerning the state and future of the merging of these agglomerations in the light of the factors discussed.