The COVID-19 epidemic appeared in Poland in early March 2020. Since then, the epidemic has impacted strongly on the socioeconomic nature of the country. Since April 2020, the region with the most confirmed cases is the province of Silesia (Śląskie). This paper has two main aims. First, the authors focus on explanations for the causes of the large number of confirmed cases in this region. The second issue is the mosaic pattern of COVID-19 cases in Śląskie province. The paper explains these patterns with reference to urban shrinkage, trans-industrialism, hard coal mining and polycentricity. The impact of these drivers is clearly visible in the local patterning of the pandemic. The authors point out that this specific relationship in this province complicates regional and local policy and indirectly affects state policy focused on the epidemic as well. The key problem is the negative impact of COVID-19 on hard coal mining. This sector, in turn, is considered by the Polish government as one of the most important from an economic and political point of view.

The growing role of logistics in the economic space of large metropolises is visible in an increasing number of objects of this kind as well as in their high spatial concentration. Taking into account these circumstances, a phenomenon known as ‘logistics sprawl’ is considered in the article. This is one of two problems concerning the development of logistics in metropolitan areas. Studying the Katowice conurbation in Poland, the authors note, however, that in this region the opposite phenomenon, which they define as a ‘logistics anti-sprawl’, is more noticable. Its characteristic feature is a location of logistics facilities not in the outer zone of the conurbation, but in its core. This phenomenon undoubtedly differs from the patterns of localization of logistics facilities in all major CEECs. It is caused by some chief factors which are disscused in the paper. Therefore, an attention is drawn on the period of socialist development of the region, its contemporary postindustrialism, urban shrinkage, as well as the polycentricity of the conurbation. The crucial question whether the expected reduction of the ‘sprawl logistics’ phenomenon may be based on the development model observed in the Katowice conurbation is also discussed in the article.

Many towns and cities in the world experience the process of urban shrinkage. This may be observed in localities of different types and of all sizes, including a large group of post-industrial towns and cities of Central and Eastern Europe. One of the districts affected by the urban shrinkage process is the Katowice conurbation in Poland, which may serve as a good example to consider the potential for introducing the idea of sustainable development. In this perspective, sustainability is considered as a specific challenge within the progress of regional transformation, but also a target concept for a large urban region to be followed throughout the evolution and at particular stages of the change. In the discussed region it is all the more important because it is followed by phenomena related to post(industrialism), relatively high pollution levels compared with the European average and a polycentric system of settlement. This paper states that the current urban policy implemented in the Katowice conurbation does not seem to have any palpable effect reversing the trend of depopulation in the region, which seems to stem from the fact that numerous initiatives undertaken in the area are ‘illusory’ and often unnecessary and unjustified. This also applies to activities embracing and fostering the idea of sustainability. With regard to the latter issue, the main concern refers to overinvestment and wasting the measures to reduce low emissions and to make savings in the heat supply system for residential buildings. The Authors proposed a new vision for the transformation of the region. It will respond to the current and expected needs of the residents, while making allowances for multidimensional sustainable development, particularly in terms of housing policy and spatial development. This concept primarily focuses on a new balance between the areas covered by low-rise and high-rise buildings and the reorganisation of the structure of the local economy.

Sustainable development policy emphasizes, among other things, the role of green areas in urban space. This remark applies in particular to post-industrial and post-mining cities. One of the elements of shaping the sustainable development of post-mining cities is that forests are often anthropogenic forest ecosystems growing in previously mining areas, one of the most characteristic elements of their spatial development. This article examines the role of urban forests in the post-mining area in Sosnowiec, located in the core of the Katowice conurbation in southern Poland. This article aimed to show the social perception of forests in post-mining areas among the local community and the features of urban forests. The social dimension of the interaction between humans and the environment is related to the issue of urban planning. Research was implemented based on quantitative, qualitative (CATI survey), and cartographic methods. The results indicate the significant role of forests in post-mining areas depending on their location in the settlement areas in a post-industrial city. The research emphasizes that residents perceive forests in post-mining areas of cities as an essential and expected recreational space. Notably, half of them do not see any threats therein. It is also expected that these areas will be better developed for recreational purposes in the future.

The increasing number of wastelands in East-central European countries is primarily a consequence of functional transformations and movements in the structure of employment. Taking into account such a challenge in this article, the authors propose an approach in which the basic category is a typological proposal with reference to areas with derelict functions, which in turn refers to research within the scope of human geography. In their methodological proposal, the authors consider such variables as: (i) the diversification of management and use of space; (ii) time; (iii) economic functions; and (iv) the scope of geographic research. The effect of including these variables is an attempt to dynamically depict the evolution of land use, with particular attention paid to wasteland: original state - transitional state (derelict areas) - present state. The typological depiction of the emergence and transformation of areas with derelict functions is presented for the case of Sosnowiec.