Procesy urbanizacyjne na terenach turystyczno-wypoczynkowych strefy podmiejskiej Łodzi (koncepcja pracy doktorskiej)

Urbanization processes in tourist areas of the urban fringe zone of Łódź. (outline of Ph.D. thesis)

Summary: Beautiful green areas situated near big cities are becoming more and more popular with city dwellers looking for a new place to live. A suburban neighbourhood virtually guarantees peace and quiet. This is especially attractive to people who are tired of living in the constant noise and chaos of a big city. Therefore, those who are affluent enough to make the move, abandon city centres for the outskirts and other outlying areas. Large numbers of city dwellers buy plots of land, initially just for recreational purposes, and then decide to settle down in the completely different surroundings of the suburban landscape. The process of moving from cities to suburbs is, of course, a gradual one. One consequence of this new trend is a strong or moderate influence being exerted on formerly "green" areas, now being populated by an increasing number of people who prefer to live a semi-rural lifestyle. The aim of this paper is to identify and study all the aspects of urbanization processes taking place in the tourist destinations of the urban fringe zone of the city of Łódź. The paper analyzes factors such as demographics, economics, society, as well as the changes brought about by the transition of outlying green areas into suburban areas. migrations. The following two hypotheses are put forth in the paper: 1. The presence of a tourist enclave near a large city such as Łódź is a crucial first step in the urban development of outlying areas. 2. The pace and type of transformation of tourist and recreational regions depend on: - access to transportation, - natural beauty and infrastructure in an area, - the role the area has played as a tourist and recreational spot, - the social and economic status of land owners, - progress of civilization, state policy, material status, social changes, and trends. In order to verify the above hypotheses, the paper makes the following assumptions: 1. Tourism urbanization is a complex process leading to radical changes in rural areas, slowly transforming them into urban areas. The actions bringing about these transitions are mainly city-country migrations. 2. The transformation of the countryside into suburban space is most clearly visible near large cities which tend to have a far-reaching effect on their suburban zones. 3. The transition from recreational area to residential area is generally most apparent in regions where recreational features had been well developed for a number of years. 4. Tourist and recreational enclaves exposed to urbanization processes and located close to large cities are bound to become satellite cities for their parent metropolitan centers. The boundaries between these new satellite cities and their parent urban centers will be quite debatable. The principal goals of this paper are: 1. The verification of the two hypotheses. 2. The description of the distinct features of tourist enclaves in the Lodz suburban zone. 3. The outline of the stages (phases) of the urbanization processes taking place in the Lodz suburban zone as well as the creation of a typology based on progress in suburbanization. 4. The identification of criteria describing the degree to which the given suburban areas have become urbanized. Moreover, the paper raises a wide range of questions: - What kind of changes have taken place in the Lodz suburban zone and how did they influence that particular zone? - What are the consequences of the changes taking place in suburban regions exposed to the migration of city dwellers, especially as far as the economy, land, and society are concerned? - To what extent has the process of urbanization rearranged the former functions of the countryside (forests and rural areas) and did it change rural settlement patterns? - Have the recreational functions of the "green" suburban areas of interest ceased to exist? If not, what is their present role?

Słowa kluczowe: procesy urbanizacyjne, urbanizacja turystyczna, przestrzeń urbanizacji turystycznej, tereny turystyczno-wypoczynkowe, strefa podmiejska Łodzi

Słowa kluczowe (w języku angielskim): urbanization processes, tourism urbanization, tourism urbanization space, tourist destinations and recreational areas, the urban fringe zone of Łódź

Prace Geograficzne, 2009, z. 121, s. 217-224.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1644-3586

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