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This article aims to analyse current geodemographic changes in Poland, based on the data of the 2021 National Population and Housing Census. Methods, traditional for socioeconomic geography, such as zoning, were employed. Poland’s population decreased during the inter-­census period (2011—2021), with the urban population declining faster than its rural counterpart. The large voivodeships aligned along the Vistula ‘axis’ — Mazowiecka, Lesser Poland and Pomerania — outperform other Polish regions in geodemographic terms. The situation is relatively favourable in Greater Poland, where the country’s main motorways converge. Districts and voivodeships where the geodemographic situation is more vulnerable can be divided into two groups: depressed and backward. The first one includes the traditionally industrial voivodeships of Southern and Central Poland; the second mainly consists of eastern voivodeships. The population decline in Eastern Poland is gathering pace: the 2021 census shows, a more or less favourable geodemographic situation is observed only in the main eastern cities and their environs. This state of affairs is largely due to the Polish government deliberately halting cooperation with Russia and Belarus, including cross-­border collaborations. Yet, this decision seems to create more problems for Poland than its eastern neighbours. If the current trends persist, the eastern voivodeships, the stronghold of the right-wing conservatives in power, may not only rapidly lose population but also face a reduction in the level of socioeconomic development.

This article addresses methodology of modern landscape studies from the perspective of natural and man-made components of a territory. Railway infrastructure is not only an important system-building element of economic and settlement patterns; it also affects cultural landscapes. The study of cartographic materials and historiography made it possible to identify the main stages of the development of the Kaliningrad railway network in terms of its territorial scope and to describe causes of the observed changes. Historically, changes in the political, economic, and military environment were key factors behind the development of the Kaliningrad railway network. Nature was less important. The existing Kaliningrad railway network is to a great degree the legacy of the earlier, pre-war times. Today, its primary function is to provide international cargo and passenger transportation. Two types of railway infrastructure are identified in the Kaliningrad region – modern (functioning) and relic (abandoned) ones. In the Kaliningrad region, the process of land reclamation of the railway system starts when the maintenance of railroads is discontinued, which is followed by the formation of primitive soils and emerging biocenoses enhanced by fill soils and artificial relief.

The article focuses on the problems related to the disparities in the settlement system of the Kaliningrad region, the problems of small and semi-mediumsized towns, and the role of such towns in solving the regional development problems of the Kaliningrad region. The author analyses the Lithuanian experience of revitalizing small towns. The article outlines the ways to apply this experience to the Kaliningrad region.

The article focuses on the problems related to the disparities in the settlement system of the Kaliningrad region, the problems of small and semi-mediumsized towns, and the role of such towns in solving the regional development problems of the Kaliningrad region. The author analyses the Lithuanian experience of revitalizing small towns. The article outlines the ways to apply this experience to the Kaliningrad region.