Inner-City Transformations after Socialism. Findings from Interviews with New Residents of Pre-War Tenement Houses in Gdańsk

Issues of intense suburbanization and urban sprawl have been the most discussed threads in the recent debate on urban development in Poland. Meanwhile, in numerous cities of Western Europe signs of inner-city revival have been observed and investigated. Led by demographic and lifestyle changes alike, such reurbanization trends are found to be closely related to household transformations. Results of undertaken studies indicate that residential preferences of non-traditional households, such as singles, cohabitations, childless couples or flatsharers, gravitate to inner-city living. The aim of this paper is to reveal similar tendencies in a postsocialist city, using the example of Gdańsk. Presented results of statistical and qualitative data analyses point towards confirmation of incipient reurbanization, although with several distinctions following from the postsocialist context

Gating as exclusionary commoning in a post-socialist city

New-build gated condominiums at the periphery of a post-socialist city are a well-studied phenomenon. However, in Poland, recent years have seen an expansion of residential gating into old inner-city neighbourhoods and socialist large housing estates. The resulting fragmentation and privatisation of public space have raised much controversy and debate on appropriation of urban common good. This paper presents outcomes of a research on the changing discourse of gating in Gdańsk, based on a discourse analysis of newspaper articles and interviews with key urban stakeholders. On the one hand, gating is seen as an anti-commoning practice criticised for its elitist character and undesirable socio-spatial consequences. On the other, a narrative of exclusionary commons has emerged to justify the need of gating in specific cases. Considering the varying motivations and types of gating in different urban areas, the authors have attempted a classification, relating gating practices to commoning strategies and their justification in localities typically characterised by atomistic individualism and social disintegration

„Zaufaj dobrym radom”. Uwarunkowania i przesłanki rozwoju rad dzielnic na przykładzie gdańska

Within the past few years in Polish cities there has been a  rise in residents’ participation in decision-making at the neighbourhood level. One of its symptoms is the creation and functioning of auxiliary units. Such is the situation in Gdansk, where before 2010 there existed only a few of them, while in 2015 district councils were elected in 29 out of 34 units. The aim of the paper is to diagnose the conditions of bottom-up activity of inhabitants of Gdansk in the elections to the district councils as well as to investigate their associations with other forms of civic engagement. The paper also presents motivations for initiation of district councils and the way they operate in, especially in consideration of their limited competence. The applied methods include a review of legal documents and a statistical analysis of the election results, including socio-economic characteristics in specific districts. Additionally, individual interviews with representatives of district councils were conducted to complement the picture.  Na przestrzeni ostatnich kilku lat w Polsce obserwuje sie rosnący udział mieszkańców miast w działaniach na rzecz najbliższego otoczenia. Jednym z przejawów tego zjawiska jest powstawanie i funkcjonowanie rad dzielnic i osiedli. Sytuacja ta dotyczy również Gdańska, gdzie do roku 2010 istniało ich zaledwie kilka, natomiast w 2015 r. wybrano rady aż w 29 z 34 dzielnic. Celem artykułu jest diagnoza uwarunkowań aktywności oddolnej gdańszczan i gdańszczanek w ramach tych wyborów oraz zbadanie jej powiązań z innymi formami zaangażowania obywatelskiego. W artykule przedstawiono również motywy inicjowania rad w dzielnicach oraz sposoby ich funkcjonowania, zwłaszcza w kontekście ograniczonych kompetencji najniższego poziomu demokracji samorządowej. Zastosowane metody objęły przegląd dokumentów dotyczących dzielnic oraz analize statystyczna wyników wyborów do jednostek pomocniczych w Gdańsku, także w zestawieniu z charakterystykami społeczno-ekonomicznymi poszczególnych dzielnic. W wytypowanych na tej podstawie jednostkach przeprowadzono dodatkowo indywidualne wywiady z przedstawicielami rad dzielnic. &nbsp

„Zaufaj dobrym radom”. Uwarunkowania i przesłanki rozwoju rad dzielnic na przykładzie gdańska

Within the past few years in Polish cities there has been a  rise in residents’ participation in decision-making at the neighbourhood level. One of its symptoms is the creation and functioning of auxiliary units. Such is the situation in Gdansk, where before 2010 there existed only a few of them, while in 2015 district councils were elected in 29 out of 34 units. The aim of the paper is to diagnose the conditions of bottom-up activity of inhabitants of Gdansk in the elections to the district councils as well as to investigate their associations with other forms of civic engagement. The paper also presents motivations for initiation of district councils and the way they operate in, especially in consideration of their limited competence. The applied methods include a review of legal documents and a statistical analysis of the election results, including socio-economic characteristics in specific districts. Additionally, individual interviews with representatives of district councils were conducted to complement the picture.  Na przestrzeni ostatnich kilku lat w Polsce obserwuje sie rosnący udział mieszkańców miast w działaniach na rzecz najbliższego otoczenia. Jednym z przejawów tego zjawiska jest powstawanie i funkcjonowanie rad dzielnic i osiedli. Sytuacja ta dotyczy również Gdańska, gdzie do roku 2010 istniało ich zaledwie kilka, natomiast w 2015 r. wybrano rady aż w 29 z 34 dzielnic. Celem artykułu jest diagnoza uwarunkowań aktywności oddolnej gdańszczan i gdańszczanek w ramach tych wyborów oraz zbadanie jej powiązań z innymi formami zaangażowania obywatelskiego. W artykule przedstawiono również motywy inicjowania rad w dzielnicach oraz sposoby ich funkcjonowania, zwłaszcza w kontekście ograniczonych kompetencji najniższego poziomu demokracji samorządowej. Zastosowane metody objęły przegląd dokumentów dotyczących dzielnic oraz analize statystyczna wyników wyborów do jednostek pomocniczych w Gdańsku, także w zestawieniu z charakterystykami społeczno-ekonomicznymi poszczególnych dzielnic. W wytypowanych na tej podstawie jednostkach przeprowadzono dodatkowo indywidualne wywiady z przedstawicielami rad dzielnic. &nbsp

THE SOCIAL REPRODUCTION OF FLEXIBILITY IN THE HOUSING ENVIRONMENT: STORIES FROM INNER-CITY GDAŃSK

“Flexibility” and “fluidity” are the buzzwords of the 21st century. Regimes of ‘flexible specialisation’ [Piore and Sabel, 1984; Storper, 1989; Phelps, 1992] and ‘flexible accumulation’ [Harvey, 1987; 1989; Wood, 1991] have transformed the nature of capitalist production. The appearance of industrial districts that resemble ‘sticky places in slippery space’ [Markusen, 1996] has been accompanied by deep-seated shifts in the structure of labour and Capital markets, as firms and locales have started to compete with each other across national borders [Killick, 1994; Scott, 1988]. The globalisation and liberalisation of economic flows has lead to the “flexibilisation” of work and employment, entailing both the dismantlingof regulations and institutions protecting workers and the increasing prevalence of work arrangements that enable employees to meet the demands of longer opening hours, ‘round-the-clock demand’ and ‘just-in time production’ [Wallace, 2003]. Workers are now expected to be morę mobile and adaptable to the changing reąuirements of the labour market, as employment contracts become shorter and there is a greater need for part- and flexible-time contracts such as annualised hours, overtime, shift work, and time sharing [Wallace, 2003]

Between gentrification and reurbanisation :the participatory dimension of bottom-up regeneration in Gdańsk, Poland

Urban regeneration has become a key issue in the development of contemporary cities. The paper discusses bottom-up regeneration practices performed by inhabitants of a decaying inner-city neighbourhood under post-socialist conditions, which differ notably from the widely researched Western European context. Results of a qualitative study in Wrzeszcz Dolny, Gdańsk, have indicated the leading role of newcomers to the area in animating bottom-up regeneration efforts, which in turn translate into an activation and integration of the local community. Thus, it is argued that an in-migration into the inner city, usually interpreted as gentrification, does not necessarily generate losses for the indigenous inhabitants but can also bring a desired social change and significantly contribute to the building of inclusive civil society. The presented case study therefore signals the need for a careful investigation and precise labelling of the post-socialist inner-city transformation processes, as well as demonstrates how increasing participation might be employed as the potential antidote to ills associated with gentrification.21022

Condominium Leaders as the Actors in the Revitalization Processes in the Selected Boroughs of Gdańsk

Jednym z najbardziej obciążających skutków socjalistycznej polityki mieszkaniowej w Polsce jest zły stan techniczny przedwojennej zabudowy. Przyczyniło się do tego zarówno upaństwowienie starych kamienic, jak i celowy, uwarunkowany ideologicznie brak inwestowania w ich remonty w dekadach powojennych. Po roku 1989 odnowa zaniedbanych obszarów wewnątrzmiejskich stała się zatem istotnym wyzwaniem dla władz samorządowych, zwłaszcza że ograniczone zasoby finansowe i trudności organizacyjno-prawne nie sprzyjają szybkiej rewitalizacji. Tymczasem stopniowa zmiana stosunków własnościowych wskutek prywatyzacji zasobów komunalnych oraz pojawienie się w połowie lat 90. XX w. instytucji wspólnoty mieszkaniowej stworzyły nowe możliwości uruchomienia procesów rewitalizacji oddolnej. Artykuł ma na celu przybliżenie mechanizmów materialnej i społecznej odnowy starych obszarów wewnątrzmiejskich, dokonującej się wskutek aktywności liderów wspólnot mieszkaniowych, na przykładzie wyników badań jakościowych, przeprowadzonych w dwóch dzielnicach Gdańska.One of the most problematic consequences of the former socialist housing policy in Poland is the poor technical condition of pre-1945 tenement houses, resulting from their post-war nationalisation and deliberate, ideologically led shortage of investments in subsequent decades. After 1989, the renewal of degraded inner city areas became a challenge for the local authorities, especially as limited financial resources, as well as rganisational and legal difficulties, discouraged prompt revitalisation. Meanwhile, a gradual change of ownership structure, caused by privatisation of municipal dwellings and introduction of condominium organizations, created new possibilities for bottom-up revitalisation processes. This paper aims at investigating the mechanisms of material and social enewal of old inner-city areas, initiated by the activities of condominium organization leaders, based on the results of qualitative studies conducted in two districts of Gdańsk

Practical dimension of urban and regional resilience concepts: a proposal of resilience strategy model

It is not only growth and development that is of value to local, regional and central governments, but also the ability to absorb negative phenomena and the ability to continuously transform socio-economic systems. Resilience strategies thus serve as a response to the more and more frequent and intense natural, social and economic challenges. In some approaches to urban resilience, special attention is paid to activities undertaken by cities to become inclusive, integrated, robust, resourceful, reflective, redundant and flexible. In regional strategies the emphasis is on diversity, dispersion, mutuality and modularity. The aim of the paper is to synthesise selected qualities of resilient cities and regions into a new model of resilience strategy. It assumes that goals at each level of strategy are formulated according to adaptive interpretation of the resilience concept. Development of such model would enable the use of the concept by practitioners responsible for creating development strategies

‘Close to the city centre, close to the university’. Are there symptoms of studentification in Gdańsk, Poland?

Students are increasingly recognised as important actors of urban change in contemporary cities. The article presents an analysis of incipient studentification processes in Gdańsk. Its general aim is to reveal patterns of students’ presence and activity which translate into spatial and socio-economic transformations of a post-socialist city at the level of neighbourhoods. The study consists of a survey on students’ residential behaviour, complemented by field and desk research. According to the results, due to the fact that Polish students’ housing and lifestyle choices are limited by their low purchasing power, student-dedicated services have a rather negative impact on the quality of urban space. Furthermore, under these conditions studentification may not be regarded as a stimulus to the gentrification process, which is rather driven by hipsters and affluent foreign students

“Trust good advice”. Conditions and prerequisites for the development of district councils. A case study of Gdańsk

Na przestrzeni ostatnich kilku lat w Polsce obserwuje sie rosnący udział mieszkańców miast w działaniach na rzecz najbliższego otoczenia. Jednym z przejawów tego zjawiska jest powstawanie i funkcjonowanie rad dzielnic i osiedli. Sytuacja ta dotyczy również Gdańska, gdzie do roku 2010 istniało ich zaledwie kilka, natomiast w 2015 r. wybrano rady aż w 29 z 34 dzielnic. Celem artykułu jest diagnoza uwarunkowań aktywności oddolnej gdańszczan i gdańszczanek w ramach tych wyborów oraz zbadanie jej powiązań z innymi formami zaangażowania obywatelskiego. W artykule przedstawiono również motywy inicjowania rad w dzielnicach oraz sposoby ich funkcjonowania, zwłaszcza w kontekście ograniczonych kompetencji najniższego poziomu demokracji samorządowej. Zastosowane metody objęły przegląd dokumentów dotyczących dzielnic oraz analize statystyczna wyników wyborów do jednostek pomocniczych w Gdańsku, także w zestawieniu z charakterystykami społeczno-ekonomicznymi poszczególnych dzielnic. W wytypowanych na tej podstawie jednostkach przeprowadzono dodatkowo indywidualne wywiady z przedstawicielami rad dzielnic.  Within the past few years in Polish cities there has been a  rise in residents’ participation in decision-making at the neighbourhood level. One of its symptoms is the creation and functioning of auxiliary units. Such is the situation in Gdansk, where before 2010 there existed only a few of them, while in 2015 district councils were elected in 29 out of 34 units. The aim of the paper is to diagnose the conditions of bottom-up activity of inhabitants of Gdansk in the elections to the district councils as well as to investigate their associations with other forms of civic engagement. The paper also presents motivations for initiation of district councils and the way they operate in, especially in consideration of their limited competence. The applied methods include a review of legal documents and a statistical analysis of the election results, including socio-economic characteristics in specific districts. Additionally, individual interviews with representatives of district councils were conducted to complement the picture.