The geographical and historical considerations presentedin this publication highlight the influence of economic policy implemented since the 18^th century on the formation of conurbation settlement systems, both in terms of spatial and structural connections/relations and area boundaries. Regional economic policy in the Silesian Voivodeship was and still is predominantly centralist in nature, being supported by a broader dimension of private/individual economic policy only in certain periods. It has  resulted from the strategic importance of raw material resources, geopolitical importance of the given territory which, to a lesser extent, has been supplemented by the activities of private investors representing different countries of origin and different social strata.  Regardless of historical geopolitical variability, the basic mechanisms of creating economic policy generating specific changes in the use of space have been similar throughout the entire settlement systems. However, they have differed in intensity and periodic preferences within the components of urban space on a local scale. This variability of external/internal conditions, the impact of the hierarchical system of various types of barriers/limitations, as well as borders, on the observed long-term socio-economic changes can be considered in terms of its mosaic structure already indicated in several places.

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