Rural space as a social representation. Case of villages in the Łódź Metropolitan Region (Poland)

The aim of the empirical research was to determine the degree of social cohesion on the basis of the perception of the specifics of the modern countryside (which is undergoing disagrarisation) and the values of rural environment. The case study illustrates selected social consequences of spatial policy regarding housing in rural communes in the suburban area of a big city (case of Metropolitan Area of Łódź). Unlike macro-scale studies, both Polish and foreign, micro-scale studies have shown that differences are even greater and concern neighbouring areas. The different ways of life are manifested in different behaviour patterns and levels of territorial identity. New residents of a village perceive space primarily in terms of functional utility (convenience of residence), while long-time residents attach sentimental value to it, due to historical continuity. In such a case, special attention is paid to social and spatial behaviour patterns stemming from the historical continuity of certain individual characteristics of functioning within a local structure.