The aim of the article is to identify and assess the relationship between the investment attractiveness of regions for agricultural enterprises and the energy factor. Classical theories of the location of agriculture emphasise the importance of the market factor. The energy factor has so far been ignored, despite the global trend related to the increasing importance of production scales and rising energy consumption in agriculture. There are also no methodological proposals that allow a comprehensive assessment of the investment attractiveness of regions for agricultural enterprises, taking into account the leading location factors. The article presents the author’s methodological model based on the weight-correlation method of valorisation of investment attractiveness of regions for economic entities that invest in agricultural production. It contains a sub-aggregate describing the energy factor. This proposal is a contribution to the theory of the location of agriculture in the field of location factor analysis. The developed methodological model is used to explain location decisions of agricultural enterprises at the regional level. Access to energy as well as energy management increase locational advantages and reduce the economic risk of carrying out agricultural activities in economic units, which contributes to an increase in the sustainability of agricultural production. This is especially true in areas dominated in the past by state-owned and cooperative enterprises, which are the dominant group of enterprises in this area after privatization. The proposed methodology was positively verified on the example of Polish regions, as a significant influence of the energy factor on investment attractiveness at the local level was demonstrated.

In this study, the potential impact of wind farm locations on the sustainable development of cities in Poland was evaluated, considering the availability of wind-generated electricity. We analyzed 37 cities in Poland with populations over 100,000. Research indicates that wind farms located 30–80 km from large cities perform best in terms of generating capacity, while greater distances increase transmission costs and energy losses. In Poland, wind farms are primarily situated in the northwestern regions, posing challenges for energy transmission to the southern cities, which are the main centers of energy consumption. The findings show that wind farms with the highest generating capacity are generally about 50 km from major cities. Key factors influencing wind farm locations include technical criteria, economic feasibility, environmental impact, public opinion, and the availability of transmission networks. Sustainable development of wind farms requires strategic cooperation between urban and rural municipalities, joint spatial planning, coordinated land acquisition, and the exchange of know-how.

This book seeks to identify and to examine factors and mechanisms underlying the growth and development of smart cities. It is commonplace to discuss smart cities through the lens of advances in ICT. The resulting overemphasis on what is technologically possible downplays what is politically, socially and economically feasible. This book, by analysing the smart city through a variety of perspectives, offers a more comprehensive insight into and understanding of the complex and the open-ended nature of the growth and development of a smart city. A solid conceptual framework is developed and employed throughout the chapters, and a selection of case studies from Europe, Asia, and the Arab Peninsula grants the readers a hands-on perspective of the matters discussed. The chapters included in this book address a set of questions, including: How do the twin-processes of digitalization and smartification unfold in the context of the smart city agenda? How do these processes relate to the concepts of smart city 1.0, 2.0., 3.0. and 4.0? In which ways have the spatial aspects of city functioning been influenced by the intrusion of ICT? In which ways do the same processes contribute to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What are the implications of smartification and the emergence of smart organizations (public, private, and voluntary) for the spatial development of smart cities? Do ICT and its application in the city space boost the processes of revitalization and how does ICT influence the process of gentrification? To what extent and how does the intrusion of ICT-enhanced tools and applications in the city space impact on a city’s relationship with its broader territorially defined context? Are the administrative borders and divisions inherent in the fabric of a city becoming less/more porous? How should urban sprawl be conceived in the context of the smart city debate? This book will have a broad appeal to academics, students, and policy makers with interests in urban planning, sustainable development, cities, economics, technology, sociology, urban studies, digitalization, SDGs, wellbeing, and resilience. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->

This study aims to show how the polarisation of the economic space can modify the investment attractiveness of the regional space. A thesis has been put forward that the polarisation of the economic space affects the investment attractiveness of the regional space by strengthening the polarising power of the regions with the highest investment attractiveness. This study uses the results of the parameterisation of investment attractiveness of Polish regions for 2015 by gmina; it also identifies growth poles in four five-year time periods: 2008–2012, 2009–2013, 2010–2014, and 2011–2015. The study shows that the permanent growth poles are created at a distance of several dozen kilometres from large cities. It indicates the depletion of development reserves of large and medium-sized cities, especially those with extensive space management. Smaller centres are gaining location attractiveness, especially those located in the vicinity of communication routes, where access to investment areas and lower costs of running a business attract investors. Special economic zones are also located in such places. The poles and their clusters usually form large agglomerations and industrial centres in the development phase. They are usually places with high investment attractiveness, adjusted by management decisions of large enterprises, local government units and the state government. The polarisation of the economic space affects the increase of the investment attractiveness of the regions, strengthening the succession of economic production and service functions in special economic zones. Investments in road infrastructure and revitalisation processes supported by special economic zones are essential.

This chapter introduces the reader to the book’s background, rationale, objectives, and detailed content. To this end, this chapter examines critically the concepts of smart city 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 to suggest that, even if the numerical descriptions are fancy and catchy, it is necessary to provide apt tools to enhance our understanding of what the smart city is. By walking the reader through the book’s objectives, structure, and key arguments raised, this chapter serves as a roadmap. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->