Key words: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), priorities, Malopolskie Voivodeship

Abstract

Establishing principles for regional development requires a detailed specification of the goals to be achieved, which would provide sustainable regional development according to expectations of its citizens or other entities operating in the region. Before the plans can be accepted for execution, they must be verified considering both external and internal conditions, regarding actual and predicted status. As for Polish conditions at the beginning of the 21st century, a specifically important challenge is considering the regional policy which, apart from being created regionally, is a result of various decision-making processes on national or EU level. These circumstances require the regional authorities to employ decision supporting instruments based on more or less standardized criteria. While the traditionally used SWOT analysis may constitute a starting point of standardization of the region related data, in order to take ultimate decisions, and especially to prepare development variants as well as optimal solutions, more complex methods are required. In the current paper, AHP method was selected as the proper way to tackle multi-criteria decision-making problems, in parallel to the simple priority ranking method accepted by the authors of the Programme for Regional Development of the Małopolska Voivodeship for 2004–2006.

INTRODUCTION

A broad scope of interventions in the processes of regional development at the level of the European Committee, and specific member countries, constitutes a priority for the European Union. There are four European Union Structural Funds operating on the problem areas meeting the criteria of the Community, from which approximately half of the funds are concentrated within the European Regional Development Fund. Allocation of funds occurs according to the elementary conditions for regional development, elaborated within the European Union.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND – PERSPECTIVE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

The Act on conditions for supporting the regional development, being the fulfillment of regulations of regional policy, effective in European Union, while specifying the rules and forms of supporting the regional development, also defines present and future terms of cooperation between the governmental and local authorities, as well as the non-governmental or private partners.