The dynamics of the urban population: public space in the city: modern transformations

The article presents the issue of changes in the population of selected Polish cities against the background of global demographic and urbanisation-related phenomena over the period of the last 55 years and in the perspective of forecasts until the mid-21st century, as well as the meaning of the effect of the disurbanisation processes observed today on the strategy of the spatial and functional organisation of cities. There occurs the need to think about cities as a network within the scheme of metropolitan systems – with a polycentric structure, where the main link – a hub city - cooperates with a grid of smaller towns, independent territorially, but cooperating with each other and the hub city itself. This strategy can limit the territorial expansion of cities and have its effect on the development of the urban subregion. Operations fostering the process of strengthening of the hub city and preventing the ‘escape’ of residents from cities are presented by means of a discussion of an example of a project of transformation of degraded areas, connected with the concept of sustainable development of the city