The smart city concept is constantly evolving. More and researchers in Poland and also in the whole world deal with this issue. In practice, it is noted that in cities around the world you can find more and more implemented projects referred as smart, in particular in Barcelona, Vienna and Copenhagen and others. According to the classical definition, smart city means introducing solutions based on the latest information technologies to urban spaces in order to improve the quality of life of city residents. Smart city is a city concept in which solutions can solve the most important problems related to the functioning of cities, such as improvements in public transport and goods in cities, counteracting climate change through the use of energy-saving solutions of city lighting, social inclusion (access city) and others. The concept of smart city is based on IT solutions that are constantly modernized and adapted to specific needs of individual cities. By using real-time access to information, they help make more efficient decisions for city users. However, recent approaches highlight the relationship between modern network technologies and the urban community. One can notice the focus of the researchers on the relational approach, which means combining the smart city concept with the participation of residents in the city management process, and in particular making choices and implementing smart projects. In this sense, the smart city idea defines the way of managing a city in which relations between the self-government, IT providers and science as well as the inhabitants of the city are particularly important. Responding to the needs of residents is particularly important as counteracting the tendency to focus smart products and services in richer places and create socalled an innovation hub with the simultaneous periphery of the remaining districts. Criticism of the smart city concept focuses on the problem of the social polarization of cities, in which the technological revolution contributes more to the increase of socio-economic disparities rather than their decreasing. The aim of the article is to answer the question whether the implementation of the smart city concept polarizes the urban community and does it allow the inclusive development of cities?

The issue of assessing socio-economic impacts represent a key element of the decisionmaking process on the implementation of major public investment projects. The correctness of the decision depends both on the chosen principle of the socio-economic analysis and the input data. The presented article focuses on updating selected input values for the socio-economic assessment of railway infrastructure projects. Specifically, the simplified values of the estimated rail accidents costs. Accident costs are used for considering the change in the safety. At present, these values, which are also stated in the national methodological resources, are based on statistical data of the entire European Union and thus do not reflect the possible national specifics of projects implemented in the territory of individual Member States. The principle of updating values is from a methodological point of view based on the original calculation principles, however, involves a set of information items on the occurrences that emerged in the past in a specific area. The output of the article is a set of methodological steps considering national conditions when determining the average accident costs, subsequently verified on a case study of the railway network in the Czech Republic. The outputs of the presented article directly build on the results of the research project in which the team of article authors has been involved. The research results refer to different values of accident costs uniformly determined for the entire European Union territory and those determined individually for the conditions of the railway infrastructure in the Czech Republic.

The COVID pandemic very shortly became the world’s most serious social and economic problem. The paper’s focus is on the spatial aspect of its spread, with the aims being to point to spatial conditioning underpinning development and to identify and assess possible socio-economic features that have been exerting an impact. The authors’ work concern with a relatively large number of countries located in different parts of the world, as well as a quite lengthy time period – linked at least to the COVID-19 pandemic’s second phase of development. The co-occurrence of morbidity index and mortality index, with intentionally selected socioeconomic variables has been investigated. The results has been summarized by means of classification of countries regarding both indexes. The basic conclusion is that dependency of pandemic on environmental and socio-economic conditioning is becoming more complex and ambiguous, as well as displaced gradually by a concrete political decisions.

Resettlement programmes in riverbank areas remain an alternative solution to overcoming the problems of urban flood-ing, the addressing of which can also lead to reducing slums. Such programmes have many weaknesses, but even so, several countries continue to implement them. This paper will elaborate: 1) an understanding that reductions in flood risk and en-hancements to environmental quality along riverbanks can be realised, without the need for resettlement, as a result of co- operation between local communities, governments and businesses; 2) the socio-economic benefits of improving the riverbank environment in Tridi Kampong, Malang City, Indonesia. This study employed qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of quantitative analysis and of interviews and direct observation indicate that collective action by the community has the greatest influence on the construction of that community’s commitment to improving the environment. Environmental improvements have resulted in significant socio-economic benefits by making the kampong a domestic and international tourism destination and drawing increased numbers of visitors to the region.

Lake Limboto, situated in Gorontalo, Indonesia, confronts severe threats jeopardizing its sustainability. Widespread deforestation in the watershed area has led to excessive sedimentation within the lake, consequently diminishing its water storage capacity and compromising its flood control function. This degradation has manifested itself in downstream droughts during the dry season and flooding during the rainy season. Historical data reveals a stark reduction in Lake Limboto’s size, plummeting from approximately 3,644.5 ha in 1991 to around 2,693.9 ha in 2017. This study aims to provide comprehensive examination of the interplay between the socioeconomic status of the local community and their understanding of the lake ecosystem. Furthermore, it delves into how these factors produce synergies that shape and impact community involvement in sustainable lake management initiatives. Hypothesis testing yielded significant results, affirming the existence of a positive correlation between socioeconomic status, knowledge of the lake ecosystem, and active community participation in sustainable lake management efforts. The findings underscore the critical importance of socioeconomic factors that need to be considered when designing strategies for the preservation and sustainable management of Lake Limboto. Integrating the community into conservation initiatives is necessary, given their intrinsic relationship with the lake. By acknowledging and leveraging the nexus between socioeconomic status, ecological knowledge, and active participation, stakeholders can formulate more effective and inclusive strategies for safeguarding Lake Limboto’s ecological integrity. This study contributes valuable insights for policymakers, environmentalists, and local communities alike, emphasizing the necessity of collaborative efforts to ensure the long-term resilience and vitality of Lake Limboto.

The paper presents the indicator method as an important tool of research in social sciences with the focus on socio-economic geography. It introduces the notion of indicator in the methodological meaning and concentrates on its basic type, i.e. the inferential indicator. The concept of an indicator is explained using a realistic approach, which assumes that unobservable conceptual properties can be represented by observable real properties. In this approach, an indicator is characterised as an observable variable assumed to point to, or estimate, some other unobservable variable. The indicator method is then a way of the realistic conceptualization and a cognitive operation as well. The paper contains the systematization of cognitive indicators in socio-economic geography. It also shows the examples of the construction and interpretation of applied indicators.

Contemporary changes of socio-economic development factors. The aim of the work is to determine the scope of contemporary changes of socio-economic development factors, paying attention to the consequences for their interpretation and mechanism of impact relating to the regional and local level. The main goal is specified by formulating the following research questions: (1) What major megatrends shape contemporary developmental transformations? (2) What is the direction and scope of changes in socio-economic development factors? (3) How are the conditions of development processes changing as a result of these changes and how they differentiate the processes of development in space? The article is a synthesis of the results of two research projects of the National Science Center: NN 306 79 19 40: Socio-economic development and the development of areas of growth and areas of economic stagnation (2011–2014) and OPUS 10 – 2015/19/B/HS5/00012: New challenges of regional policy in shaping the factors of socio-economic development of less developed regions (2016–2019) and the results of own authors’ research – employees of the Regional Analysis Department at the Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Socio-economic development as well as factors and determinants of development. The scientific language, as well as everyday and literary language, is in constant development. The effect of this development is the multiplication of flavored notions and concepts leading to many misunderstandings and ambiguities, which should not happen in the scientific language. The presented texts should be written in a language that is clear, simple, logical, unambiguous and understandable, and their interpretation should not cause problems. This article presents remarks concerning the interpretation of such basic notions of socio-economic sciences as socio-economic development, economic growth and factors and conditions of development, quite freely used in scientific texts. It also contains the correct interpretation of these notions, especially in reference to the language of socio-economic geography, regional economics and socio-economic and spatial development and planning. Only an unambiguously interpreted text can be a platform for mutual understanding, basis for scientific discussion and the way to the the real development of science.

Surface water of Kébir Rhumel basin is indispensable for domestic and industrial needs of this region. Industrial development, with water excessive use and chemical products, in production and industrial treatment, and not sustainable ferti-lizers in agriculture, constitutes a serious threat to maintain our resources of good water quality. The majority of domestic and industrial wastewaters of the region, discharged to the stream water of Kébir Rhumel basin, promote the water enrich-ment in nutritious elements, phosphorus and nitrogen and particularly, the resulting increase in the aquatic primary produc-tion, mainly the planktonic or benthic algae. As a result, the physical and chemical properties of water deteriorate.

This basin allows construction of the largest dam in Algeria “Beni-Haroun dam”. The infrastructure that was one of the greatest challenges of Algeria is now a reality. Hydraulic complex of Beni-Haroun remains a strategic and major achievement in the development program of water resources sector. This enormous building was constructed in the territory of the Wilaya (province) of Mila, used to meet water needs, with four million inhabitants, of eastern Algeria and other neighbour-ing regions that have suffered from lack of water consumption, especially in summer. In addition, it will irrigate over 42 000 ha, going thus to the several plains.

Integration of sociological and environmental concerns into dams design is a recent phenomenon. It is considered at the impact study level, during which the dam study project is accompanied by a survey to assess project impact on natural en-vironment and socioeconomic development.