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The degree of satisfying the mobility needs acts as a determinant of the quality of life in the city. Simultaneously, urban transport is a source of numerous nuisances and threats due to excessive growth of motorization. The development of pedestrian traffic, on the other hand, is a solution to many problems faced by large cities. In this context, it is worth asking a following question: How should urban spaces that encourage pedestrian traffic be planned and shaped? The comfort of pedestrian traffic does not depend merely on the surface and width of a lane. It would be truly demanding to assess the attractiveness, safety or convenience of pavements separately from the context of buildings, functions or greenery etc. The development of pedestrian traffic is also closely related to the development of public transport, bicycle traffic and the increase of the attractiveness of public spaces as well as improving daily travel destinations. Due to the scale and level of these links, integrated, complex activities, which cover various areas of the city's functioning, are required. A growing number of pedestrians on the streets or city squares means there are more opportunities to meet, which, furthermore, contributes to social development. This growth of pedestrian traffic in the structure of daily travel also improves the health of urban residents by building up their physical activity. At the same time, the use of public transport is increasing. The city planning that is oriented towards the development of pedestrian traffic enhances the cohesion of urban structures, densification of the connections network and balancing urbanization processes as well as improvement of the natural environment quality. Pedestrian-friendly city is attractive for residents, investors and tourists. The subject of the research is the conditions for the development of pedestrian traffic in the city of Wroclaw with the population of over 600,000 residents. The cognitive goal is assessment of the city spatial development policy and the impact of institutional, economic and social factors on the shaping of public space. The practical effect of this research is to determine the requirements that ought to be met by the urban environment to ensure optimal conditions for the development of pedestrian traffic. The gathered knowledge will support the implementation of a new culture of mobility through appropriate planning of urban space. The paper describes the significance of planning the space that is favorable for the development of pedestrian traffic. Its conditions, potential and threats have been considered. The fundamental requirements, which should be met by urban public spaces, have also been defined. The solutions based on the practices and experience of institutions of the city of Wroclaw as well as Polish obligatory legal standards have been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attractive public spaces are among the magnets encouraging people to settle down in. In this context, a question ought to be posed: how should public spaces be planned along with the phenomena of depopulation occurring in cities? The cognitive goal is to determine the relationship between urban shrinkage manifestations and public space planning on the example of selected Polish cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. The practical goal is to set recommendations for the adaptation of urban spatial development policy in response to contemporary threats. Cultural, national or economic factors are less and less affecting the formation of territorial ties. Due to the increase in mobility, the population flow also increases. On the one hand, the phenomena of migration affect urbanization processes, but on the other hand, the quality of the urban environment has also impact on whether the number of inhabitants will increase or decrease. Cities that do not conduct proper spatial development policy will be subject to the phenomenon of depopulation. In Poland, more than half of large centers have shrunk over the last twenty years. Based on urban development research, we can distinguish the following stages: urbanization, suburbanisation and deurbanization. What is paradoxical, is that the foundation of these phenomena are activities colloquially considered as factors of development: the development of road infrastructure, increased mobility, good conditions for construction in the suburbs. The outflow of inhabitants will systematically increase, as long as the spatial development policy does not improve. Without taking a decisive action, this problem will deepen and may result in social destabilization, economic decline and, ultimately, the collapse of the city. Deurbanization processes, which take place in shrinking agglomerations, impact the worsening of land use, the increase in the costs of urban infrastructure functioning and the diminishing in population density of central districts or inner-city areas. In many of the cities that have been examined, it is necessary to carry out spatial optimization. The current policy based on area growth ought to be oriented towards qualitative growth. The work addresses the problems of depopulation in Polish cities and describes their scale and scope of influence on the shaping of urban structures. The ways of planning public spaces with demographic conditions in the background have been presented. Based on the experience of cities introducing strategies of smart urban shrinkage, basic solutions have been outlined along with the possibilities of their application in conditions regarding the Polish cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the issues of public space in Wrocław suburbian areas in terms of their role in shaping a local community. The research topic is the connection between democratization in forming public space processes and the increase of social capital as well as the citizens' bond with their habitat. The research purpose is identifying these factors which influence the degree of social participation in forming public space and evaluating efficiency of those activities which aim at increasing the engagement of local communities in the protection and development of living environment. The practical aspect of the research is supporting development of social participation in the process of forming public space. Public space is a common good, therefore its quality and development depend on the degree of social capital. The process of social space forming has impact on its appearance and functions. Also, physical properties of the area are subjects to interactions with social behavior. Because the dependence between a community and a common space reach a culmination here, it is so vital to describe the essence of their relationships and the conditions which influence them. The issues we described are interdisciplinary, therefore they are based on the research concerning environmental sociology and psychology, forming environment and spatial planning and also the author's own research. Additionally, to illustrate the research results we have used case studies of activities undertaken in the Program of Reintegrating Residential Areas conducted in cooperation between Wrocław University of Technology and local self government. The low level of social development of a civil society is one of the reasons for degradation of social participation. On the one hand, lack of social structures and a low level social organization bring about a barrier for any dialogue attempts. Also public institutions and traders are insufficiently prepared to carry out public consultations. All parties to the decision making process, which relates to forming public space, need more knowledge and skills in the field of cooperation based on care of the common good. Therefore, what is really important is the participations of academic community in promoting this knowledge and initiating and supporting the development of dialogue and cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of the research are changes in the public space in Polish cities with population of over 500, 000. The main purpose is evaluating the scale of these changes as well as the range of influence of particular factors on transforming the public space. The research aims to support spatial policy in adjusting city spaces to changing social needs of citizens. The paper gives answers to the question which asks about the impact of social, economic or lawful conditions on transforming public space and about different ways this space fulfills its primary role. The crucial feature of the analized areas are the connections between a social behavior and those attributes of physical space which favour it. That is why, the described interdisciplinary issues in a vital way refer to the research results connected with the management of city space, sociology and environmental psychology. On the other hand, the chosen case studies, conducted by means of inductive method, give basis to the quality analysis of results and recognize general phenomena taking place in public space. Economical factors and increase in mobility, have a noticeable impact on changes in public spaces. The economical changes resulting from globalization and political transformations in Poland in 1989, have contributed to reduction of the meaning of common good and dominance of economical objectives over social ones. This has caused intensification of privatization processes in the public space. Furthermore, numerous means of transportation and growing mobility of citizens, have diminished the meaning of connections based on territoriality. Public space is primarily the area of social activities. On the one hand, the condition of public space reflects the level of social development and, on the other hand, it influences the life quality of citizens and the prosperity of the city. Multiple examples of degradation or even disappearance of some of these areas in Polish cities indicate a crisis. Simultaneously, new forms of satisfying social needs in public space come into being. These phenomena need adjustment of space and social policy to present conditions. Identification of the problems is significant to formulating general recommendations which involve forming public space and indicating appropriate solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]