Uneven development of a post-industrial city as exemplified by Łódź (Poland)

Abstract

The social and economic structure of towns and cities has always been characterised by a considerable degree of internal complexity. In consequence, the urban space as a human construct becomes non-uniform, and subject to various transformations over time. Unevenness across urban space may be described by reference to different dimensions, which can be objective i.e.: relating to the society, economy or urban planning or else symbolic, as inhabitants assign values to it, based on their individual experience and imagination. Drawing on theoretical concepts of a postmodernist and post-structuralist approach in human geography characterising social space as dynamic, reproduced constantly, and deemed to arise out of various different social discourses and practices, the paper uses both, quantitative and qualitative methods to identify the places which are significant for the Polish city of Łódź in context of its transition since the 19th century. Attention was paid to selected aspects of spatial change, with the focus being on the contemporary development of Łódź, as associated with a new dynamism of large-scale urban developments. A key aspect of the work has been the attempt to identify those parts of the Łódź cityspace that inhabitants identify with either development or crisis, as well as the transitions characterising what people imagine in a period of rapid structural change associated with revived investment in the post-communist and at the same time post-industrial city, most especially in the wake of Poland’s EU accession.