Katowice urban area

The location of Katowice urban area on maps of Poland

The Katowice urban area (Polish: Konurbacja katowicka, pronounced [kɔˈnurbat͡sja katɔˈvit͡ska]), also known as the Upper Silesian urban area (Polish: Konurbacja górnośląska, pronounced [kɔˈnurbat͡sja ɡurnɔˈɕlɔ̃ska]), is an urban area/conurbation in southern Poland. It is located in the Silesian Voivodeship and in a small part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The Katowice urban area is the largest urban area in Poland and one of the largest in the European Union.

Its population is about 2.7 million. The Katowice urban area covers the majority of the population and area of the Katowice metropolitan area (a population of between 3 million and 3.5 million) and is part of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, which has a population of 5,294,000 people.^[1] Also this is part of Upper Silesian metropolitan region (Katowice-Kraków metropolitan region), which has a population of about 7 million with among others Kraków metropolitan area.

Alternative names

English: Katowice conurbation, Upper Silesian conurbation, Upper Silesian urban area.
Polish: konurbacja katowicka, konurbacja górnośląska, konurbacja śląska, aglomeracja katowicka, aglomeracja górnośląska.

Statistics

There are given differing population numbers in different sources.

• 2,505,000 – according to the Demographia. Labeled as 12th largest urban area in the European Union.^[2]
• 2,700,000 – according to Metropolis.pl^[3]
• 2,746,000 – according to the scientific description by Tadeusz Markowski.^[4]
• 2,733,000 (2,928,000 – counting the whole powiats adjacent to the city) – according to the scientific description by Paweł Swianiewicz and Urszula Klimska.^[5]
• 2,775,000 – according to citypopulation.de.^[6]
• 2,764,971 – number of inhabitants resident in 42 adjacent cities and towns in the conurbation, in an area of 2,411 km², population density: 1,146.82/km² (2,970.2/sq mi) (1 January 2008) – on the basis of data from the Central Statistical Office in Poland.^[7]
• 2,746,460 – according to the Eurostat. Markered as 13th largest urban zone in Europe.^[8]
• 2,886,700 – according to the scientific description by Kazimierz Fiedorowicz and Jacek Fiedorowicz.^[9]
• 3,029,000 – according to the European Spatial Planning Observation Network. Markered as 13th largest metropolitan area in European Union and also 6th polycentric metropolitan area in EU.^[1]
• 3,069,000 – according to the United Nations.^[10]
• 3,239,200 – according to the Ministry of Regional Development of Poland^[11]
• 3,450,141 – according to Eurostat^[12]
• 3,488,000 – according to www.worldatlas.com.^[13]
• 3,500,000 – according to PWN Encyclopedia.^[14][15]
• 3,500,000 – according to the scientific description by Jerzy Parysek and Alexander Tölle.^[16]

Administration of urban area

Adjacent cities and towns of conurbation outlined in blue on maps

Katowice the largest city in Upper Silesian metropolitan area.

Adjacent cities and statistics (1 January 2008):^[7]

City	Population	Area (km^2)	Density (km^−2)
Katowice	312,201	164.67	1,896
Sosnowiec	222,586	91.06	2,444
Gliwice	197,393	133.88	1,474
Zabrze	189,062	80.40	2,352
Bytom	184,765	69.44	2,661
Ruda Śląska	144,584	77.73	1,860
Rybnik	141,080	148.36	951
Tychy	129,776	81.64	1,590
Dąbrowa Górnicza	128,795	188.73	682
Chorzów	113,678	33.24	3,420
Jaworzno	95,520	152.67	626
Jastrzębie-Zdrój	93,939	85.34	1,101
Mysłowice	74,912	65.75	1,139
Siemianowice Śląskie	71,621	25.5	2,809
Żory	62,008	64.59	960
Tarnowskie Góry	60,975	83.72	728
Piekary Śląskie	59,061	39.98	1,477
Będzin	58,639	37.37	1,569
Świętochłowice	54,525	13.31	4,097
Wodzisław Śląski	49,132	49.51	992
Oświęcim	40,520	30.00	1,351
Chrzanów	39,452	38.32	1,030
Knurów	39,449	33.95	1,162
Mikołów	38,698	79.20	489
Czeladź	34,072	16.38	2,080
Czerwionka-Leszczyny	28,329	37.63	753
Łaziska Górne	21,942	20.07	1,093
Rydułtowy	21,915	14.95	1,466
Trzebinia	20,128	31.94	630
Bieruń	19,464	40.67	479
Pyskowice	19,104	30.89	618
Orzesze	18,907	83.79	226
Radlin	17,711	12.53	1,413
Libiąż	17,487	35.85	488
Radzionków	17,163	13.20	1,300
Lędziny	16,262	31.48	517
Pszów	14,011	20.44	685
Wojkowice	9,368	12.79	732
Chełmek	9,079	8.27	1,098
Kalety	8,780	56.00	128
Imielin	8,010	28.00	286
Miasteczko Śląskie	7,347	67.83	108
Sławków	6,866	36.67	187
Total	2,773,751	2,467.74	1,146

See also

• Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union
• Upper Silesian Industrial Region
• Upper Silesian Coal Basin

References

1. "Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3)" - European Spatial Planning Observation Network, 2007
2. Demographia.com – World Urban Areas, 2012
3. (English) "Investment areas in the Silesian Agglomeration" - Metropolis.pl, Katowice 2006
4. (Polish) Funkcje Metropolitalne Pięciu Stolic Województw Wschodnich
5. (Polish) "Społeczne i polityczne zróżnicowanie aglomeracji w Polsce" – Paweł Swianiewicz, Urszula Klimska; University of Warsaw 2005
6. "The Principal Agglomerations of the World" - citypopulation.de
7. (Polish)/(English) Powierzchnia i ludność w przekroju terytorialnym w 2008 – Central Statistical Office in Poland
8. "CityProfiles: Katowice". The Urban Audit. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
9. "The Influence of a Metropolis on Regional Development in Poland" - Kazimierz Fiedorowicz, Jacek Fiedorowicz; Częstochowa University of Technology
10. World Urbanization Prospects, Urban Agglomerations 2003 – United Nations – Department of Economic and Social Affairs / Population Division, The 2003 Revision
11. (Polish) "Koncepcja przestrzennego zagospodarowania kraju" – Ministry of Regional Development, 2003
12. "Population by sex and age groups on 1 January" - Eurostat, 2012
13. www.worldatlas.com
14. article about Upper Silesian Industrial Region coinciding with the Katowice urban area
15. (Polish) "Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy" - PWN Encyclopedia
16. "Wybrane problemy rozwoju i rewitalizacji miast: aspekty poznawcze i praktyczne" - Jerzy Parysek and Alexander Tölle, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań 2008, p. 34-35, ISBN 978-83-61320-33-3