Regionalization – selected issues

Artykuł poświęcony jest omówieniu podstawowych zasady regionalizacji ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem problemów, które mimo wprowadzenia nowoczesnych technik nadal budzą wątpliwości lub nie są jednoznacznie rozumiane.Regionalization is a specific kind of spatial division, in which units belonging to the same class are adjacent to each other (fig. 1). Z. Chojnicki defined the region as an area of the occurence of a certain feature or set of features considered important in connection with the purpose of research and emphasized the importance of the system orientation concept, according to which the region should be treated as a real spatial unit composed of different elements connected among them (Chojnicki 1996). The region's distinctiveness in relation to neighbouring units results from a specific pattern or sequence of region components, from its spatial composition or template (fig. 2). Regionalization can be carried out in two ways: by dividing larger units into smaller ones (top-down) means by deductive methods, or by grouping small regions into larger regions (bottom-up), i.e. induction methods. The inter-relation between the two approaches is illustrated in Figure 3. Physico-geographical regionalization should be subordinated to the phenomenon of continental zonality, which is not very well defined in the western part of Europe. It is worth mentioning, however, that J. Kondracki in 1988 published a map of zonal varieties of the natural landscape of Poland. The following varieties have been marked on this map: Sub-Atlantic, Sub-Boreal and forest-steppe. The range of these subdivisions, against the background of the physico-geographical regionalization of Poland, is shown in Figure 4. The boundaries of regions are rarely linear. Most often they have the form of narrower or wider transition zones, i.e. ecotones (fig. 5). Precise definition of the shape of borders can be difficult, although one may recall here attempts to present them using the assumptions of the fuzzy sets theory (Ołdak 2001, Zachwatowicz 2011, 2012). The way of treating elements considered as aregional, such as water objects, massifs and mountain ranges, river valleys and other depressions, is very important. These elements are either large enough in order to be treated as separate regions, or they should constitute an important components of the region's characteristics (a region with numerous finger lakes or a region with a significant share of alluvial river valleys ). This study deals primarily with physico-geographical regionalization. Other natural divisions, as well as historical, social or economic regionalizations were omitted. It is worth recalling the obvious fact that the diversity of the cultural aspects is very often very dependent on the natural predispositions. It is hard to imagine that the ranges of socio-economic regions do not take into account the division of land into mountains and lowlands or surfaces with varied or monotonous relief, as well as many other natural conditions. It is worth noting that even the divisions of Poland into historical regions show some correlation with natural Conditions, what was evidenced by the study of Ł. Zaborowski (2016) (fig. 6)