SELECTED PROBLEMS OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIO-SPATIAL CHANGES IN PERI-URBAN AREAS OF THE CITY OF LODZ (POLAND)

The main aim of this paper is attempt to identify the effects of social and spatial transition in a specific area of peri-urban rural municipalities associated with large Polish cities (in this case: Lodz). The issues of social, economic, as well as landscape transformations of peri-urban areas are discussed very frequently in geographic, sociological and architectural studies. Unlike macro-scale studies, both Polish and foreign, micro-scale studies have shown that differences are even greater and concern neighbouring areas. As a result of the influx of new residents to suburbanising villages, long-time communities of agrarian origin evolve towards social and spatial disintegration. The different ways of life are manifested in different behaviour patterns and levels of territorial identity. Examples of studies on the evaluation of the local living environment show that the social coherence of the countryside is gradually weakening, resulting mostly from more and more varied lifestyles, social needs, and expectations towards their place of residence.