Intensity of Revitalisation Measures in Poland’s County-Level Cities: Cultural and Social Aspects

The study assesses the level and concentration of revitalisation measures in Poland’s county-level cities across two dimensions: spatial–cultural and social. We compiled comparable indicators from the Local Data Bank (2020–2023) and municipal revitalisation programmes for 63 cities, constructing ten stimulus variables (five spatial–cultural; five social). Indicators were normalised to (0–1) and aggregated into two synthetic indices—IRSC (spatial–cultural) and IRS (social)—followed by a standard-deviation-based classification into four types/groups. Results show pronounced inter-city variation with no clear voivodeship pattern. Several cities emerge as consistent leaders across dimensions, while others perform unevenly—e.g., cases with high IRSC but moderate IRS, and vice versa—highlighting different strategic emphases of programmes. We also note large disparities in financial effort (per area and per resident) and low counts of actions per unit in many cities, contrasted with a few high-activity cases. The findings indicate that roughly one-third of cities leverage revitalisation effectively in both dimensions. The study advocates complementing synthetic, comparative assessment with practice-informed models that adapt solutions proven in top-performing cities, rather than relying solely on unified, centrally framed approaches.