The standard of living and its spatial differentation among rural municipalities in Warmia-Masuria province

This manuscript presents the results of the research on the spatial differentiation of the level of living among the rural municipalities of the Warmia-Masuria Province in the years 2005 and 2018. The rural areas are currently undergoing many changes, including sub-urbanisation processes and a departure from their monofunctional perception. The multi-dimensional analysis (Hellwig’s development pattern method) was used to measure the level of living in selected rural municipalities, which were then assigned to four clusters based on the synthetic measure value. Then, the Ward’s method was employed to identify the similarities in the level of living in these territorial units. The results indicate a significantly higher level of living established based on the synthetic measure value in the municipalities adjacent to the leading urban centres of the region, i.e., Stawiguda, Dywity, Gietrzwałd, Jonkowo, or Giżycko. In turn, the relatively lowest living standards were demonstrated in the municipalities bordering the Russian Federation, i.e., Budry, Górowo Iławeckie, Lelkowo, and Braniewo. Strong spatial dispersion of this phenomenon, combined with the petrification of the positions at the top and at the bottom of the ranking, indicates the need to implement a different development strategy for these specific units.