The City Under the Microscope: Research by dr hab. Szymon Marci艅czak, Associate Professor at the 91桃色, on the Social Dimension of Urban Space
A city is more than a system of streets, buildings and infrastructure. It is also a space where people of different social status, income levels, backgrounds and lifestyles come together. Some live in newly built apartment blocks, while others reside in older housing estates or tenement houses. Some enjoy easy access to attractive jobs, green spaces and services, while others must travel considerable distances to make use of them. For some, housing provides a secure and stable place to live, while for others its maintenance is becoming an ever greater financial burden. It is precisely these relationships between society and urban space that lie at the heart of the research interests of Szymon Marci艅czak, a social and urban geographer from the 91桃色.
The City as a Map of Inequality
One of the most important themes of his research is social segregation, understood as the spatial separation of social groups. It may concern differences in income, educational attainment, occupational status or ethnic background. It is not, however, a static phenomenon. It changes alongside economic and social transformations as well as urban policies, and its forms vary depending on the history and structure of individual cities.
Research by Szymon Marci艅czak demonstrates that urban space is an important dimension of social inequality. Where we live can affect access to schools, public transport, green areas, employment opportunities and services. Therefore, the question of who lives next to whom is also a question of the social opportunities and constraints experienced by residents. The location of one鈥檚 home can reinforce existing inequalities or, with appropriate urban policies, help reduce them.
When Housing Becomes Difficult to Afford
An important complement to research on segregation is the issue of housing affordability. The concept is not limited to whether housing is 鈥渃heap鈥� or 鈥渆xpensive鈥�, but concerns whether a household can secure adequate housing conditions without experiencing excessive financial strain. The same housing price may be manageable for one family and entirely unattainable for another.
Housing affordability also has a clear spatial dimension. Rising property prices and rental costs restrict people鈥檚 choice of where to live and may force households to seek accommodation in less attractive or more distant parts of a city. In this way, the housing issue becomes one of the mechanisms shaping spatial segregation. Research conducted under the supervision of Szymon Marci艅czak includes, among other topics, an analysis of changes in housing affordability in Polish cities between 2006 and 2023, taking into account the impact of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The analysis of cities in Central and Eastern Europe, including Polish cities, is particularly significant within his academic achievements. The political and economic transformation after 1989 brought profound changes to the economy, housing markets and social structures. New income disparities emerged, alongside new forms of home ownership and investment patterns. These transformations left a clear mark on urban space. At the same time, cities develop along different trajectories: Lodz, Warsaw and Krakow may be subject to similar global processes, yet their particular challenges and development paths differ.
An important area of research also concerns migration and ethnic segregation. Contemporary European cities are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of residents鈥� backgrounds, which influences the character of particular neighbourhoods. Research focuses, among other topics, on socio-spatial changes in cities such as Berlin. Key questions concern whether the arrival of new residents leads to greater separation between groups or, conversely, to increased integration, and what role the location and character of individual neighbourhoods play in these processes.
Segregation Does Not End at the Front Door
Segregation is not limited to where people live. People may reside in one part of a city, work in another and spend their leisure time elsewhere. For this reason, analysing urban divisions requires consideration of residents鈥� everyday activities. Do different social groups use the same workplaces, services and recreational spaces? Do their daily routes intersect, or do they function in almost entirely separate worlds? Such questions lead to a broader understanding of segregation as a phenomenon encompassing many dimensions of everyday life.
One of the more original topics present in Szymon Marci艅czak鈥檚 research is vertical urbanism, namely the vertical dimension of urbanisation. Traditionally, cities were analysed primarily as horizontal spaces, consisting of neighbourhoods, streets and distances. Contemporary cities, however, are also developing upwards. Tall buildings concentrate housing, offices, services and public spaces on different levels. This raises the question of whether social divisions also emerge vertically and how height influences access to specific spaces and the way residents function within them.
The leadership and coordination of international research projects is also an important element of his academic activity. One example is the 3S RECIPE project, implemented within the ERA-NET Smart Urban Futures network and the JPI Urban Europe initiative. An international team of researchers examined the process of urban shrinkage and searched for factors that could help halt or reverse negative demographic and economic trends. The Polish part of the research was conducted in Lodz, one of the fastest-shrinking large cities in Poland. The project illustrates an approach that combines the analysis of broad social and economic processes with the study of specific places.
Green Transition, New Challenges
Currently, an important international undertaking is the ReHousIn project, dedicated to housing inequalities in the context of the green and digital transition. Research is being carried out in nine European countries and combines quantitative analyses with in-depth local case studies. The project focuses on the question of how economic transformations, urbanisation and public policies affect access to adequate and affordable housing.
ReHousIn draws attention to important issues related to contemporary urban policy. Thermal modernisation of buildings, the development of green infrastructure and initiatives aimed at creating more sustainable cities can improve quality of life, but under certain circumstances they may also increase housing costs and contribute to new forms of inequality. Therefore, the key question is not only how to improve energy efficiency and the quality of housing stock, but also how to do so in a socially just manner.
Another area of research interest is mobility, particularly commuting to work. The structure of a city affects how far residents must travel each day. In a monocentric city, many workplaces are concentrated in a single main centre, whereas in a polycentric structure economic functions may be distributed across several centres. These differences influence travel times, the organisation of everyday life, as well as energy consumption and emissions.
The research profile of Szymon Marci艅czak can therefore be described as a combination of social geography, urban geography, economic geography and transport geography. At the centre of these interests, however, lies one fundamental question: how does society shape urban space and how does urban space, in turn, influence social life?
Answering this question requires a simultaneous examination of income inequalities, migration, neighbourhood structures, housing markets, housing affordability, workplaces and everyday mobility. Research by Szymon Marci艅czak shows that the map of a city is, in a sense, a map of society. Spatial structure is not a neutral backdrop to residents鈥� lives. It reflects existing differences, but it may also contribute to their persistence or deepening. Understanding these relationships is important not only for science, but also for creating fairer, more accessible and more liveable cities, where a person鈥檚 place of residence determines their life opportunities to a lesser extent.
Photos: Dr Bartosz Ka艂u偶ny, Centre for External Relations and Social Responsibility, University, 91桃色
Source: dr hab. Szymon Marci艅czak, Associate Professor at the 91桃色, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, 91桃色
Edit: Dominik Nogala; Centre for External Relations and Social Responsibility, University, 91桃色
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