Mieszkańcy z wyższym wykształceniem w przestrzeni Łodzi

Abstract

The analysis of population distribution according to the educational level in urban areas represent the classical studies of the socio-spatial differentiation in cities. This paper shows the distribution of the university educated population within the area of Łódź. The study is based on the results of National Census of 1978, 1988 and 2002. This time span has given us an opportunity to compare the changes in the socio-spatial structure of education, which occurred in the city in the last decade of real socialism, with those that took place in the transformation period. The analysis have shown that the spatial distribution of university graduate population in Łódź between 1978 and 2002 underwent a considerable change. The most significant changes were observed in the city’s outskirt areas attached to Łódź following the 1988 administrative reform. In effect of these areas strongly developing the residential function, the local inhabitants are now found to be better educated than those in the housing estates proximate to the downtown area. A closer look into these changes allows us to conclude that in the 1990s the university graduate population found the housing estates located in the city centre and estates of blocks of flats to be increasingly less attractive than the housing estates on the city’s outskirts. After 1989, when the land lease rent re-emerged as an important aspect in real property sales, the buying capacity became the primary criterion in the rivalry for better housing resources. An important component of the dwelling’s standard was its surroundings, both natural and social, therefore the property’s location largely grew in significance. The results of the 2002 National Census showed that the better-educated population, being economically stronger, preferred outskirt locations (including suburban zones). This phenomenon was accompanied by the formation of enclaves of unemployment, poverty, and social pathologies in the areas prevalently occupied by the lowest-educated population. This processes can lead to segregation and social exclusion of the old developments in the central city quarters of Łódź.

W artykule przedstawiono analizę rozmieszczenia mieszkańców z wyższym wykształceniem w przestrzeni Łodzi na podstawie danych pochodzących z narodowych spisów powszechnych przeprowadzonych w latach 1978, 1988 i 2002. Okres ten dał możliwość porównania zmian, jakie zaszły w strukturze przestrzennej wykształcenia w mieście w ostatniej dekadzie realnego socjalizmu ze zmianami, jakie nastąpiły w okresie transformacji.