Should I stay or should I go? Polish suburbs vs. social expectations

• Suburbanisation is one of the most important processes currently influencing the formation of settlement networks in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland. This phenomenon began relatively late in the area, i.e., after the systemic transformation that started in the 1990s. The different pattern of settlement network transformations in Central and Eastern European countries is related not only to the moment when the process of suburbanisation began. These countries, which in the post-war period followed the model of the so-called socialist urbanisation, are distinguished by a different socio-cultural, settlement, and economic context, and above all by the very dynamic processes of suburbanisation. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of factors related to the nature of the settlement network on the perception of the suburban zone by its residents on the example of the Bydgoszcz–Toruń Metropolitan Area (Poland). It was concluded that the specificity of the suburban network is determined by: the degree of actual urbanisation of the area, distance from a large city, and the central functions performed by a given settlement unit. It was assumed that these elements influence perceptions of the suburban zone, which is critical to the sustainability of decisions regarding the choice of the suburban zone as a place to live. Thus, the extent to which individual suburban zones will have stable population in future years can be determined on this basis. The sources of information used in this study comprised statistical data obtained from Statistics Poland which, after carrying out an appropriate statistical procedure, were used to determine the specific character of the suburban areas. On the other hand, a survey conducted by the authors was used – its results helped infer how suburban residents perceive their place of residence. It was shown that suburban zones are highly differentiated settlement units in terms of their settlement specificity and social perception, which makes it possible to infer further, quite differentiated, directions of their population development and the degree of stability of the zones as spatial structures.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Kulturgeografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Human Geography (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

suburbs

settlement

population change

Poland

suburbs

Human Geography

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)