Identifying Pandemic Stress-Vulnerable Social Groups in Selected Polish Cities: A Geospatial Approach to Building Resilience

Abstract

This article aims to identify the social groups particularly vulnerable to pandemic-related stress in the urban environment. The research seeks answers to questions regarding the following: (1) the demographic and socio-economic features of vulnerable groups and (2) their location in the city space. The main research tool was a geosurvey in which respondents determined the stress level experienced. The area of investigation covered three Polish cities. The results obtained were devised using statistical analysis methods. They make it possible to state that the features most differentiating stress level were sex, age, occupational activity, and profession practised. Women, persons aged 60+, economically inactive people (pensioners and unemployed people), and those practising certain professions, especially representing the tourism sector, were the groups most vulnerable to stress. The areas concentrating vulnerable groups were mainly centres of compact development. We assume that this knowledge will allow for improving public health conditions in cities, strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, preparing strategies for adaptation to threats such as a pandemic, with regard to planning and city governance, and, thus, increasing city stress resilience and preparing better for further similar risks.