Spatial structure of industry according to R&D intensity during the economic crisis. An example of changes taking place in the Krakow and Wroclaw agglomerations during 2018-2021

The contemporary development of the knowledge-based economy makes it extremely important to analyse and evaluate the structure of the economy in terms of its degree of modernity. Hence, in periods of economic downturn, research relating to the innovativeness of business entities acquires particular im-portance from the perspective of the conditions for the economic development process. The purpose of the present study was to analyse and assess spatial changes in the distribution of processing industry entities due to their level of innovation in two Polish agglomerations (Krakow and Wroclaw) during 2018-2021, i.e. mainly covering the period of the C0VID-19 pandemic crisis. Changes in the spatial structure of the industry were presented using the classification of industrial processing according to R&D intensity in the system of high, medium-high, medium-low, and low technology, both in static and dynamic terms. Quantitative methods were used to analyse and identify the degree of concentration and spatial specialisation of the industry. The conducted research showed that the economic downturn resulting from the aforementioned crisis had little impact on the studied phenomenon. The changes recorded were analogous to changes observed in previous years. The only exception was different trends in the distribution of low-tech industrial entities. It is possible that the consequences of the current economic conditions resulting from the pandemic period will only become visible in the longer term.