Currently, Bolesławiec has 37 491 residents (people registered in the city for permanent and temporary residence). These are data from October 2018. Let us recall that Bolesławiec had its largest population in 1990–1995. At that time, the number of Bolesławiec residents approached 45 000 (44,711 in 1993). Unfortunately, since then, the number of Bolesławiec residents has been declining year by year.
Why are there fewer and fewer residents of Bolesławiec?
There are several reasons. The first two concern most cities in Poland. The first is the declining number of children being born. The second is people leaving for other countries and larger cities in Poland. Most of those who leave do not return. The third, increasingly visible reason is people moving from Bolesławiec to nearby localities.
While the population of Bolesławiec is decreasing, it is growing in the localities of Gmina Wiejska Bolesławiec. Gmina Wiejska Bolesławiec currently has 14 409 residents (people registered for permanent and temporary residence). These are data from October 2018. In 2014, 14 092 people lived in Gmina Wiejska Bolesławiec.
What can be done to stop this downward trend?
One idea would certainly be to merge the urban and rural municipalities. The city of Zielona Góra took this route, merging with Gmina Zielona Góra on 1 January 2015. As a result, the population increased from 118,920 (in 2014) to 139,330 (in 2016). If a similar scenario were implemented here today, Bolesławiec’s population would increase from 37 491 to 51 900 residents.
What do you think? Is merging the city with the localities of the rural municipality a good idea?