DOES THE TYPE OF REGION DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF POPULATION AGING AND THE LEVEL OF WEALTH CREATION?

Abstract

The development of European regions, which is often specified by gross domestic product per capita, has recently been faced with the increasing challenge of an aging population. Noticeable signs have mainly been observed in small towns and sparsely populated areas. The aim of this paper is to identify the links between the type of region (predominantly urban, middle urban, and predominantly rural), an aging population and the creation of wealth as an expression of the potential of its development and to verify the hypothesis that predominantly rural regions are characterized by significantly lower wealth generation, but by higher rates of population aging. The obtained result has been used to draw conclusions that are applicable to regional policies, particularly in terms of the need to apply various tools of regional policies within different types of regions.