Representatives of the Mazovian Office of Regional Planning in Warsaw took part in a conference titled ‘Mazovia in numbers – perspectives and challenges’, organised by the Marshal’s Office of the Mazovian Province in Warsaw and Statistical Office in Warsaw on 21 May 2025. The list of participants included representatives of self-governments and public institutions, experts analysing the socio-economic processes of the region, as well as representatives of scientific community. The meeting addressed the current socio-economic processes and challenges, which are standing before the self-governments of the Mazovian Province in a context of global trends.
The conference was opened by Ms. Agnieszka Ajdyn, Director of the Statistical Office in Warsaw and – on behalf of the Marshall of the Mazovian Province – Ms. Elżbieta Kozubek, Ph.D., Director of the Mazovian Office of Regional Planning in Warsaw. Thereafter, Mr. Tomasz Zegar, Deputy Director of the Statistical Office in Warsaw, presented detailed statistical data on the Mazovian Province, including demographic structure, labour market, education, healthcare and the economic situation of the region. Statistical tools and products developed by the Statistical Office in Warsaw, which may support local self-government units in decision-making, were also presented. These included regional reports, databases and interactive dashboards to analyse the socio-economic situation at a local level.
As an introduction to the second part of the meeting, the conclusions of the demographic forecast for the Mazovian Province until 2060 were presented, which showed that nearly two thirds of the communes in Mazovia will experience a decline in their population, presenting local authorities with new challenges in terms of pursuing development policy. Attention was drawn to the problem of population ageing and internal population migrations, which will significantly affect the planning and implementation of development activities in the long term.
One of the items at the event was an expert debate titled ‘How to live well in the conditions of less numerous, older and more dispersed communities’, moderated by Ms. Monika Stanny, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences, with the following panellists: Mr. Wojciech Dziemianowicz, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the University of Warsaw, Ms. Aneta Kowalewska, Ph.D. (Union of Rural Communes of the Republic of Poland) and Mr. Marcin Wajda, Ph.D. (Marshal’s Office of the Mazovian Province in Warsaw).
The discussion focused on the key challenges and needs of self-governments in the context of current demographic processes. The debaters considered whether it is possible to implement effective instruments to counteract the negative effects of the population ageing and depopulation of many communes, assuming that adequate quality of life is maintained despite dwindling human and financial resources. Particular attention was given to the need to give the problem of the demographic crisis a high priority, both in the sphere of public debate and political actions.
The session, prepared by the Mazovian Office of Regional Planning in Warsaw, focused on changes to the settlement network and spatial demographic transformation in the Mazovian Province since 2000. Attention was drawn to the ongoing process of metropolisation, intensifying polarisation between the urbanised Warsaw Capital Region and the less dynamically developing Mazovian Provincial Region. Ms. Elżbieta Kozubek, Ph.D., Director of the Mazovian Office of Regional Planning in Warsaw, presented the conclusions from the analysis titled ‘Categories of spatial changes in the Mazovian Province’, depicting the diversity of the dynamics of socio-economic development in the local arrangement. The classification of the communes was carried out using the entropy index, which enables the assessment of the degree of complexity and heterogeneity of spatial structures and their changes over time.
The analyses and expert discussions presented at the conference ‘Mazovia in numbers – perspectives and challenges’ contributed to better understanding of the challenges standing before the region and indicated the directions of action necessary for its sustainable development. The event showed that an effective response to the demographic challenges requires a long-term, integrated approach, based on cooperation between all levels of public administration and the expert community, while harnessing the potential of public data as a basis for rational development management.
