People-Environment Studies in Poland

1. People-Environment Studies in Poland Augustyn Bańka Poland

2. This presentation aims at providing: • Major stages of people-environment studies in Poland. • The most relevant theoretical orientations. • Basic trends in their practical application. • Significant tendencies in the development of institutions associated with issues pertaining to human beings and environment.

3. A pioneering period after World War I: • The first social and state institutions developed, whose center of interest and activities focused on the interactions between man and environment. • A new theoretical currents emerged in universities and these trends firmly stressed the role of environment in the life and development of humans.

4. The first empirical people-environment research in Poland: • The housing issue: It became the common denominator for sociologists, architects, town planners, economists, engineers and social activists who were searching for new forms of civil society development. • The lack of housing: In view of the post-war destruction that issued was more pronounced in Poland than in other European countries.

5. The centers for studying the issue of housing in Poland: • The Institute of Societal Economy (which operated in the years 1920–1926 as a section of the Society of Economists and Statisticians, and later as a common social organization associated with the civil and trade-union movement) • The Society of Polish Town-planners, established in 1923 • The Association of Architects of the Polish Republic (SARP) • The Polish Society of Housing Reform (PTRM - 1928) • The Institute of Household Economy (which initiated sociological diagnostic studies and surveys on the housing situation in Poland)

6. The first tendency • Eradicating homelessness, • Improving the quality of life in urban areas, • Modernizing and industrializing the construction industry. • Investigating of objective quality of life • Research on design economy and mass development of housing (assessment of the costs, durability and usability of buildings constructed by institutions entrusted with the task of implementing programs of developing housing for the working class) • POE - follow-up evaluation of apartments and flats based on a wide range of opinions expressed by their users

7. The second tendency: • Another tendency in the Polish P-E studies was initiated by Florian Znaniecki (a sociologist from the University of Poznań). • He opposed the so-called “practical sociology” predominant in the American and European science between World War I and World War II, with its focus being placed solely on solving social issues, such as poverty, homelessness and unemployment. • Based on the theoretical categories of the “social action theory” Znaniecki aimed to pinpoint the image of a city in the collective consciousness of its inhabitants (The city in the consciousness of its inhabitants - 1931, 1984). • The initiative of Znaniecki originating in 1928, aiming at studying the consciousness of inhabitants of a large Polish city ( stood alone for many years to unexpectedly come back to life many years after World War II in the Polish sociology of urban areas).

8. A period after World War II: Attempts to organize a task force • War destruction of housing developments, amounting to several score percent of buildings in large cities • Migration of the population at a hitherto unprecedented scale • Ideological acceleration of industrialization

9. Environmental challenges (that had to be faced by architects, town planners, engineers, physicians, politicians, psychologists and scientists) • How to reconcile progress and historical heritage? • Should whatever rubble left in cities, the majority of which – such as Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Poznań - had been destroyed, be demolished and a brave, new world be built on the ruins? The majority of town-planners, architects, sociologists and politicians were for the continuation of tradition irrespectively of their ideological background (e.g. Goldzamt, 1956).

10. New vistas for studies The success of reconstruction of medieval town centers opened new vistas for: • studies on the role of cultural heritage in shaping the collective identity of citizens (Piskozub, 1987), • the role of the center of the town as a culture-forming area • organization and life-style in urban communities.

11. The convergence of disciplines: Meta-theoretical ideas • W. Goetel proposed a “sozology” - the field of research that dealt with preservation of nature and its resources and of ensuring the continuity of their exploitation. • The concept of sozology was accepted in studies on the ecology of man as “social sozoecology” and “sozopsychology” • J. Bańka (1973) proposed a theoretical meta-concept called “eutyphronic” (the term was derived from the Greek word of euthyphron, denoting a good-natured attitude based on warm feelings)

12. The convergence of disciplines: Interdisciplinary approaches • Macroergonomy - ergonomic studies drifted towards macro-environmetny - ecology and architecture • The ecological paradigm – two main streams • One includes investigations of health threats and environmental protection • The other claims a relationship with the so-called “deep ecology”, concentrates on studies that promote the universal character of environmental values and their primacy over other economic values • Ethical behavior

13. The retrenchment of disciplines: Sociology • Empirical and theoretical P-E studies were most intensely pursued within the social ecology(regional, town and spatial planning) • Comeback in the 1960’s and 1970’sto the pre-war tradition of European urbanism (with its lofty ideas of social justice, community hygiene as the main indicator of the quality of life, as well as ambitions to influence social processes by shaping the physical-spatial conditions of living). • Comeback to the traditions of Polish sociologists delineated by studies on social ecology, initiated by Znaniecki: studying the image of a city in the collective consciousness of its inhabitants.

14. The retrenchment of disciplines:Geography • Geographers incorporated into their research repertoire the methodology of psychological studies • Studies on the perceived attractiveness of particular regions  • Studies on the spatial preferences

15. The retrenchment of disciplines: Architecture and town-planning • Architects incorporated into their research repertoire the methodology of psychological studies • Warsaw: the theory of architectural design (participative design) • Cracow: the theory of architecture, environment and psychology • Szczecin: bioarchitecture - a research trend that was strongly related to environmental psychology • Silesian center - a quality of life within the environment, environmental protection and close contact with nature

16. The retrenchment of disciplines: Psychology • Jagiellonian University - studies on the spatial orientation and knowledge among children - S.Szuman: Szemińska (together with J.Piaget The child’s concept of space) • Warsaw: Investigations on the legibility of a city (UNESCO, Lynch) • Lublin - environmental psychology that borrowed from the ecological tradition • Poznań - national organization called the Society of Psychology and Architecture(investigation and practical implementation of the knowledge on the behavior and mental needs of man in architectural design work and spatial planning)