Transformations  in
Business & Economics

THE NECESSITY OF FORMULATING SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL POLICY IN PROBLEM AREAS ON THE EXAMPLE OF WEST POMERANIAN PROVINCE IN POLAND
Barbara Kryk, Beata Skubiak

ABSTRACT. This study explored the necessity of formulating the sustainable regional policy in the problem areas in a manner that is more focused on the individual characteristics and conditions than in the previous approaches. The postulate of sustainable development involves an approach to planning and decision-making process, which is aimed inter alia at achieving a real and lasting reduction of social and economic disparities to satisfy the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations and, at the same time, providing society with a long-term vision of development. This was done by analysing the situation in the West Pomeranian Province, one of the problem areas in Poland, in terms of the efficiency of the current regional policy that are pursued in accordance with the EU Cohesion Policy. Furthermore, the authors of this article described the difficulties regarding the precise definition of the term 'problem area' and discussed the current principles and theories (territorial approach, endogenous growth theory and polarization-diffusion model) that should be considered when formulating a new type of regional policy. The desk research, deduction and synthesis were used to accomplish the objectives of the study, verify the research hypothesis and formulate recommendations for the development of sustainable regional policies in problem areas .

KEYWORDS: region, development, factors of development, sustainable development, policy.

JEL classification: O11, O12.