Currently is the biggest problem of metallurgical companies the increase of fossil fuel prices and strict environmental regulations. As a result of this, companies must look for alternatives that would reduce the amount of fossil fuels and reduce emissions. Wood sawdust has huge energy potential, which can be used in the process of agglomerate production. This type of energy is locally available, has some similar properties as fossil fuels and is economically advantageous. For these reasons, experimental study using laboratory agglomeration pan was realized to study the possibility of agglomerate production with a mixed fuel. Experimental results show the viability of mixed fuel use in the agglomeration process, but also show significant possibility for improvement. The maximum acceptable substitution ratio, which corresponds to qualitatively suitable agglomerate is 20% of pine sawdust. Based on the realized experiments and the obtained results we have acceded to the intensification of the agglomeration process with an objective to increase the amount of added substitution fuel while maintaining the required quality of agglomerate.

One of the current challenges in transport is e-mobility, understood as electromobility, ecomobility and mobility economics. E-mobility is nowadays a key focus area of socio-technical change, in terms of attention from policy makers as well as from industry and the public. The societal challenges ahead, in particular climate change put increasing pressure on the current mobility system, due to its tremendous environmental impact. Furthermore e-mobility is seen as major economic opportunity for the automotive industry. In this context, based on the available literature and documents and practical solutions implemented already in cities and agglomerations, the paper discusses the fundamental challenges that cities are to face in the context of the current megatrends. This process will engage diff erent stakeholders in order to make this concept become a reality.

Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2009 to 2019, this paper empirically tests and analyzes the effects of industrial agglomeration and other important economic variables on industrial green technology innovation efficiency from the perspective of spatial statistical analysis. The results show that the efficiency of China’s industrial green innovation has not changed much during the study period, exhibiting an obvious polarization phenomenon. Moreover, the improvement of the degree of industrial agglomeration is conducive to the regional green innovation efficiency level. This means that industrial agglomeration produces effective environmental and innovation benefits. In addition, the influence coefficient of enterprise-scale is negative, indicating that for Chinese industrial enterprises, the enlargement of the production scale weakens the promotion effect of R&D activities. The influence coefficient of human capital is negative, mainly because the direct effect has a small and positive value, while the indirect effect (spillover effect) has a negative and large value, indicating that the spillover effect of human capital between regions in China is deficient.

The goal of the article is the diagnosis and presentation of the problems of the selection of construction technologies for buildings being built in the centres of urban agglomerations. The survey and literature studies that were performed show that the process of selecting these technologies is difficult due to a series of very different difficulties associated with constructing a structure in a city centre and which are sometimes hard to foresee. At the same time there is a lack of decision-making support tools dedicated to the selection of construction technologies that would take into account the problems that occur during the construction of buildings in city centres. The study shows the need to discuss the subject of developing a mathematical model and a decision-making support tool based on said model to that end.

In order to meet global challenges, cities must be governed efficiently, be compact, and as a result more sustainable, socially coherent, strong and competitive at economic level. Initiatives taken in favour of urban mobility may help in shaping of the global society, putting the main focus on the quality of life, citizens› needs and the principle of sustainable development. These actions aim at focusing citizens› attention on the need to improve air quality, decrease congestion in city’s main streets, but most of all to invest in your own health and physical condition, which increases the level of citizens’ life conditions, and in turn provides the city with considerable economic benefits. However, is it quite a challenge to ensure a sustainable urban mobility pattern which requires a high level of stakeholders’ participation and establishing a detailed complex planning process. The aim of the paper is to present, based on the available literature and data sources and also survey research results, shaping life quality in the aspect of mobility in the context of current megatrends, taking as a case study the CIVITAS DYN@MO project implementation in the city of Gdynia.

In the heterogeneous economic space, big cities are development poles that are usually characterized by the best conditions for running a business and the highest level and living conditions. Their role in development processes is the subject of many discussions. On 23 October 2017, at the invitation of the Mayor of Cracow, J. Majchrowski, an external Plenary meeting of the Committee for Spatial Development of the Polish National Academy of Sciences was held in Cracow, the aim of which was to discuss the role of big cities in Poland›s socio-economic development. This article presents the author›s opinions in a synthetic way, presenting the most important issues raised by him during the panel on the importance of Polish metropolises in shaping the development potential of the country and the region. In addition to the fundamental terminological and problematic discussion, the article describes the experience of Poznań as an agglomeration signifi cantly aff ecting the development of the region, formulating in the summary recommendations referring to the practice of regional policy.

Local development, based on the use of endogenous potentials, requires the cooperation of muni-cipalities in urban functional areas (agglomerations). However, conducting joint activities in the area of building and running local development policy is a serious challenge. On the one hand, there is a shortage of experience in this area (not counting the short period of functio-ning municipal unions in the years 1920-1939 and intentional inter-communal relations after 1990). In addition, there are still no legal solutions needed (in addition to the act passed in 2017 for the metropolis of Silesia and Zagłębie). In recent years, however, projects of integra-ted territorial investments and other project partnerships have been implemented under the European Union and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism Programs, which result in prac-tical conclusions and legislative recommendations. The most important of them concern the introduction of a new form of partner cooperation and the adoption of a new urban code. Their quick implementation will enable more eff ective cooperation for development.

The research aims to develop a novel and safer milling route to produce Hard Metals. Considering the risks associated with milling fine particles under organic solvents, especially the increased fire and explosion risks, we propose milling under aqueous milling media to diminish the risks associated with fire hazards, while maintaining the oxidation level at a minimum. The samples were sintered in an industrial sintering oven under vacuum at 1380°C subsequent to milling and drying. The characterisation of the materials has been done by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, particle size analysis, optical microscopy, and a magnetometer. The obtained results indicate that appropriate properties of the powders after milling and drying as well as the desired biphasic (Co-WC) phases were obtained after sintering, thus proving the feasibility of such a route and diminishing specific fire hazards.

The road network development programme, as well as planning and design of transport systems of cities and agglomerations require complex analyses and traffic forecasts. It particularly applies to higher-class roads (motorways and expressways), which in urban areas, support different types of traffic. Usually there is a conflict between the needs of long-distance traffic, in the interest of which higher-class roads run through undeveloped areas, and the needs of bringing such road closer to potential destinations, cities [1]. By recognising the importance of this problem it is necessary to develop the research and methodology of traffic analysis, especially trip models. The current experience shows that agglomeration models are usually simplified in comparison to large city models, what results from misunderstanding of the significance of these movements for the entire model functioning, or the lack of input data. The article presents the INMOP 3 research project results, within the framework of which it was attempted to increase the accuracy of traffic generation in agglomeration model owing to the use of BigData – the mobile operator’s data on SIM card movements in the Warsaw agglomeration.