The decade of the big push to roads in Poland: Impact on improvement in accessibility and territorial cohesion from a policy perspective

Accessibility improvement and territorial cohesion are general policy goals that are widely accepted, irrespective of the level of decision-making. The evaluation of changes in accessibility, its spatial distribution and the impact on territorial cohesion is of exceptional importance in the new memb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transport policy 2015-01, Vol.37, p.134-146
Main Authors: Rosik, Piotr, Stępniak, Marcin, Komornicki, Tomasz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accessibility
Assessments
Cohesion
Decision-making
European Union
Membership
Municipalities
Poland
Policies
Potential accessibility
Regional
Road development
Roads
Spatial distribution
Spatial policy
Territorial cohesion
Transport
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Summary:Accessibility improvement and territorial cohesion are general policy goals that are widely accepted, irrespective of the level of decision-making. The evaluation of changes in accessibility, its spatial distribution and the impact on territorial cohesion is of exceptional importance in the new member states. We propose ex-post evaluation of changes in the road potential accessibility of Polish municipalities in the first decade of Polish EU membership. The paper juxtaposes European and national transport and spatial policies and follows up with an empirical analysis carried out at different geographical levels, including the international (European), national and regional. Particular attention is paid to assessment of the impact of projects supported by EU funds, which play a crucial role in the improvement of accessibility, both at the national and international level. However, the positive effect of new roads on territorial cohesion is visible only at the international level, while at the national level regional accessibility disparities remain largely untouched after a decade of the ‘big push′ to roads in Poland. •We apply the potential accessibility model to evaluate the road investments in Poland.•We combine the regional, national and international dimension in a LAU-2 resolution.•The study juxtaposes transport and spatial policies.•The role of EU-supported sections was decisive in the improvement in accessibility.•At the international level, regional disparities in accessibility were decreased.
ISSN:0967-070X
1879-310X
DOI:10.1016/j.tranpol.2014.10.007