The paper presents the history of the development path of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship. The aim of the study was to identify factors conducive to and restrict regional transformation in Warmia and Mazury and to verify the development path of the voivodeship. According to the study, the factors that positively infl uenced the development of the region in the recent period were, among others: EU funds and natural resources that form the basis of a regional economy. The factors that inhibit the development of the region include, among other:. lack of trust, intensifi cation of competition and low transport accessibility of the voivodeship.

The article is an attempt at analyzing the development processes of the French peripheral region, Nord-Pas-de-Calais. This region has been a subject of regional policy for many years, including significant public and private sector investments to help transform the economy. The analysis of key events in the context of the path dependency theory shows that, despite a marked increase in innovation, socio-economic development and some investment success, for the region located between Paris, London and Brussels it is very diffi cult to compete for growth factors.

A number of thorough studies characterizing national and regional innovation systems have been published over the last years but what is relatively new is the theme of local innovation systems. In the era of increasing emphasis on urban issues in the development policies of countries and organizations such as the European Union and the location of innovation in the centre of regional development debate, it is justifi ed to ask how the measures are directed to the provincial cities. The article concentrates on 5 voivodeship cities as the main centers of regions with the highest number of institutions that usually build local innovation systems, three of which are located in the less developed regions in Poland.