Depopulation in the Upper-Silesian basin (Poland) and the Donetsk basin (Ukraine)

Abstract

The article compares demographic processes taking place in traditional industrial European regions: Upper-Silesian and the Donetsk Basins. During communism, a high population concentration was characteristic. Currently, population decline leads to depopulation. Depopulation in the Upper-Silesian Basin is determined mainly by labour migration to the European Union (EU) and by sub-urbanization. In the Donetsk Basin it is due to severe population decline intensified by migration. The main reasons are the collapse of numerous industrial facilities and the lack of alternative employment.