Lublin

With about 350,000 inhabitants, Lublin is the principal city of a large, mainly agricultural region in eastern Poland. Trade routes established in the Middle Ages made the city a multicultural and multi-religious melting pot, and it was home to a large Jewish community—which included a Talmudic academy and one of Poland’s first Hebrew printing houses. However, only a fraction of the city’s Jewish population survived World War II.

Today, Lublin is city of learning, commerce and services: with the 78,000 students accounting for roughly one in four of its citizens. A centre of leisure and culture, with a large number of cinemas, theatres, music venues and art galleries, it has a well-preserved historic city centre. European Union funding programmes have supported a number of transport and urban regeneration projects. Much has recently been invested in projects related to the knowledge economy: research facilities, science parks and incubators, while many universities have been able to substantially upgrade their facilities.

The economy of Lublin relies heavily on small and medium-sized enterprises, while the high-tech and advanced services sectors are relatively small. As a result, there is a shortage of suitable jobs for Lublin’s university graduates—many of who move elsewhere. To meet that challenge, new developments in Lublin include the Science and Technology Park and the Special Economic Zone. Both of these offer attractive tax conditions and incentives for companies. The city’s location and access are further assets. The train to Warsaw takes about 2.5 hours and a new international airport is under construction.