Mass migrations to industrial cities progressing with the development of different categories of industries in Polish cities, an extensive development of Silesian mines, steelworks and industrial production connected to them, made the rural people, coming here after the World War II with their own cultural baggage become labour workers, gain qualifications, take on and create new cultural patterns. The situation of the countryside so far investigated by the ethnologists was changing that is why the beginnings of the Polish ethnological studies on the cultural and social space of the city, already started in the 1960s, concern the observation of the process of its urbanization and history of rural people settling in cities. The researchers first started to observe the change of migrants; cultural patterns and the attitude of the city to ruralness and the other way round. They examined, above all, the culture of labour communities which absorbed the groups of newcomers or held their own folk industrial culture created in the course of the development of urban tecgnical civilization. Such stud¬ies were conducted in Upper Silesia, Lodz, Zyrardów, Warsaw, Konin and other cities. With time, the studies on the cultural and social problems of the cities spread, deepen and specify. What caused that constituted, above all, the studies conducted in Lodz, where the researchers aimed at defining the subject and methodological assumptions of the studies on big city commu¬nity. As a result, the knowledge on the cultural tradition of labourers from Lodz and their families was collected. Hierarchies of values, social life in a given space of living (a tenement), which is an intermediary space for man, between a social wide and the place of his/her own existence. The cities and suburban areas, with a created cultural specificity, were dealt with by Silesian researchers who extended the very subject matter by the notions within the scope of the ecology of culture. The proc¬esses of cultural adaptation to the conditions formed in the former rural environment, in villages around industrial factories, determined here not only the subject matter, but also a research strategy, going beyond the method of a monographic and integrative description traditional for ethnologists. Thus, remaining it initially, it was gradually enriched by a multiaspectual and diagnostic way of inquir¬ies, allowing for not only getting to know the origins of the reality examined and its classification, but also its importance for the existence and needs of the city community, for shaping the way and life style, social norms, for the system of values, mechanisms of the functioning of the contemporary city.

The mechanism of functioning culture in a town demands cultural patterns within which cultural life is well ordered and available. Sociological research and observation refute the existing opinions — the stereotypes about culture in a town as if the numerous cultural devices available to its inhabitants would testify to the high development of culture. The existence of cultural integration in a town is very important as it means that there are alterna¬tives in the choice of cultural values and it is a higher stage in the development of culture. It assumes not only the accessibility and dissemination of culture but also to a higher and higher degree, the ability to choose cultural values which are the closest to a given man. The expression of cultural integration is the participation of town dwellers in culture which allows them to join actively not only to make use of culture but to create it at the same time. It should be noted that all fulfillment of potential abilities of the participation in culture is achieved in an individual act of expressing own interests and aspirations of town dwellers.

In the past two decades, Slovak ethnologists have conducted studies of several urban communities revealing a complicated structure of social relations and yielding empirical data about the life of the city. They revealed that although the social dimension of the city life was based on universal differentiation principles — such as kinship, gender, age, race and ethnicity, religion, social class, occupation, and the like, it also changed in time and space. In the 20th century, especially politics and ideology was the decisive factors in social differentiation. Interests of political powers inspired antagonistic, bipolar orientations; they promoted differing ideas about the social order or regime and were the tool of polarization of society. Politics united people regardless of their social group membership. Groups were united by common feelings of belonging, togetherness, solidarity and shared beliefs. In the study of the city, most Slovak ethnologists methodologically prefer the combination of the micro and macro perspective — studying the individual and basing their interpretation on the large framework of broader social processes. They have primarily been interested in the question of how macro reality was reflected in people’s behavior and mainly how it influenced the formation of various groups, intergroup relations and relations with other groups and the broader social setting, norms of behavior, attitudes and opinions of these groups, and the like. As important appear those group characteristics that have been the source of stereotypical attitudes in the urban community — such as race, religion, political orientation, property, social status, family origin or territorial location. Especially ethnicity and religion are typical and lasting differentiation traits in Slovak cities. Therefore, ethnological study has focused on ethnic groups or religious minorities and their relations with the majority, as well as on the causes and contexts of conflicts. Therefore, research has focused on the issues of tolerance, isolation, integration, adaptation, and the like.

The article deals with the issue of creating and managing the urban space in Nordic countries. On the basis of three countries of the Nordic area, three conceptions of urbanist arrangement, assuming the satisfaction of the needs of a contemporary inhabitant, as well as the one who will appear here within the period of next 10—15 years were presented. The experiences of Finnish, Swedish and Icelandic urbanists serve as a demonstration of deep in thought and thoroughly planned actions modeling the shape and functioning of cities. Although the Nordic urban space development conceptions, taking into account a different geographical and historio cultural context, are different for each of the countries, they have a few features in common. The first of them is a futuristic perspective without neglecting the present day needs. The second consists in the care of the environment, revealing itself in the endeavours to inscribe the city into the natural environment. The third one, on the other hand, boils down to the care of the psycho physical hygiene of the inhabitants. Particular country variants contribute to a joint Nordic model of arranging the urban space, look¬ing after and watching over its appropriate development. The Nordic model of city development and urban tissue creation, in its national variants, creates a specific philosophy of the city, and different to such an extent that it visibly stands out from the patterns of the continental Europe.

A mythologised image of Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie and its capital — Vilnius — says about a co existence of the representatives of the ethnic, religious and cultural groups. The situation changed radically in the 19th century when the leaders of the Lithuanian national movement treated the opposi¬tion to everything that is Polish as a condition of the success of the national idea, the development of the Lithuanian culture and identity. The benefits deriving from the historical relations with Poland were negated. The Poles were accused of the conscious devastation of the Lithuanian culture and compulsory Polonization of Lithuanians. The next source of conflicts was the inclusion of Vilnius and Wileńszczyzna to the II Republic of Poland (the so called Vilnius excursion 1919—1920). In spite of the flow of time, the echoes of the battles of Vilnius have been still alive. As it was in the past, the questions that arise are Whose city it is? To whom does it belong? The cause of the conflicts is not only historical “past”, political issues, mutual accusations and sense of harm, but also the contemporary transformations of the city. The battle has been fought on the so-called resources, being at the same time a perfect example of the rivalry of the space in a physical and symbolic sense. The very battle also has an economic dimension. It is also interpreted in the ethnic categories (the opposition: poor Poles — rich Lithuanians: Poles as the victims of the Lithuanian policy). The changes taking place in the space of the city lead to a greater restriction and appropriation of the sacred sphere by the commercialization, business, noise and entertainment. The conflicts fought in the Vilnius space (and on this space) prove how difficult it is to realize the ideals of multi culturality, an intercultural dialogue, non conflict life at the cultural borderline. They also show the power of money and its contribution to a division of the space of the city and managing this space. It is also visible on the basis of the problems with the returning the ground in Vilnius and Wileńszczyzna to its lawful owners (Poles in the predominating part of the places), the realization of the project “Great Vilnius” and appropriation of the Polish cultural heritage and its Lithuanisation.

The majority of aspects of the urban life concentrate in the public space, clearly separated from private spaces. The nature of the public space consists in the fact that it constitutes a joint urban space in the social sense, comprising different functions and meanings. It also constitutes the area where basically all inhabitants can feel free. The public space is a space of identity which makes it possible for the next generations of inhabitants to identify with the city. It makes the mutual communication and expression of people easier. It is a stage on which the mystery play of human life is played every day. In the public space, it is not only the past or the present that is coded, but also the new phe¬nomena reflecting deep transformations sometimes in the humanistic dimension of the urban space. A traditional space is the centre of the city, the most significant element and basic form of which is a centrally situated market — the market square — essential for the existence of both an individual and given social groups. Currently, shopping malls and hypermarkets are more often becoming a substitute of the public space. However, they are not a public space, but a private area only publically used. As long as the pub¬lic space is the sphere of freedom, it is the private space that usually undergoes numerous restrictions, control and social selection. Shopping malls usurp the right to “be the centre”, are a simulation of “the city in the city”. This way, they turn away a cultural code of the urban area — a traditional centre stops to exist or is the one only by name whereas the outskirts become “the centre”. In other words — a social life moves into the outskirts of the city. Such a situation is observed in Mysłowice — the city which was the subject of observations and inquiries. The opening of the Real hypermarket seven years ago has decreased the attractiveness of the city centre, especially the square market, as a trade, service, recreational or even cultural space. Real made, so to speak, an important reevaluation of an urban space of Mysłowice, decomposing its functional and symbolic dimension and determining human relations and behaviors in a direct way.

The phenomenon of the centre, covering a series of conceptions concerning given wholes on the scale of both a micro and macro‑cosmos is also visible in the architecture. The architecture, on the other hand, concerning a house or a temple or their concentrated multitude in the form of the city, reflects given mythic structures. In Middle‑aged cities surrounded by the walls, the localization of the centre was not a problem at all. Nowadays, the centre of a big, modern city may be not only difficult to locate, but also, as Aleksander Wallis points out, difficult to define. He tries to take the criterion of function, as a result of which several overlapping city centres, such as historical, trade, administrative ones can appear in the area of the city. In the process of city development one can observe a dynamics of the urban centres, dependent on economic, urbanist and cultural changes. An interesting example of this phenomenon is a double city Bielsko‑Biała, where in the area of the same city — Bielsko — a new centre appeared and the oldest centre was located in the place of the old market square in the last few years. Both centres constitute a cultural area. The difference between them lies in the fact that they refer to different value systems. What seems interesting is the fact the new centre of a trade, service, and recreational nature borrows the cultural functions associated with other places and institutions in the city, such as the theatre, the house of music, galleries. Undoubtedly, it distorts a cultural ecosystem of the urban space, especially in reference to a widely‑understood centre. A relationship of these two centres is defined by the state of rivalry and contradiction, but there are also such areas that complete each other. The attempt to unify the centre and establish its location is visible above all in symbolic forms and forms of realization of given functions. An existing divergence can be eradicated by the users of these spaces not only mentally, but also the architects and urbanists thanks to a further development of the new centre in a direction of the Old Town in Bielsko, which is indicated by the already defined projects. There exist the differences between generations in the perception of the centre, as well as between the inhabitants of Bielsko‑Biała and people commuting and coming from other places. As it was in reference to the Ancient and Middle‑aged cities, the acquaintance of the centre of the contemporary city is important in a description of many present‑day social and cultural phenomena.

Juba, located in the southern Sudan, used to be a small African place, devastated by war and inhabited by a small handful of haggard people. Currently, almost a day by day, it is becoming a big city and the capital of autonomous sothern provinces. For the last 50 years southern Sudan has been the arena of one of the bloodiest and longest con¬flicts in the history of postcolonial Africa. The black and Christian people struggled with the Muslim majority in an unequal battle. Hundreds of peole died or survived escaping to neighbouring African countries. Many inhabitants of the south, deported to the northern provinces, were given to Muslim caretakers, often enslaving them. The war finished at the beginning of our century without any deci¬sion. As a result of the peace treaty from 2005, rebellious provinces were given a big autonomy, and, in the future even the chance of self decision. An important element of the compromise was also a division of benefits from oil sale, exploited from the sources in the southern Sudan. The very richness has become the so called modus vivendi of the Sudanese conflict, making Chartum aware of war unprofitability. This memorable event has become the beginning of substantial and abrupt transformations touching upon almost each aspect of the region (an economic and political situation, as well as social or religious relations). The authors of the project Juba, the centre of cultures and conflicts, try to describe and understand the changes taking place. They assume a series of ethnographic terrain works in this very place aiming at the presentation of the real life of small town inhabitants in the widest way, as well as give data on the functioning of the so called traumatic society — the phenomenon extremely important for many countries of the contemporary Africa suffering from war not such a long ago which achieved stabilization. The material derives from the first survey excursion to Juba realized between February and March 2007.

The author of the very text aims to raise the issue of the relationship between work and function¬ing of a specific type of an industrial city gradually transforming into a postindustrial one as a result of socio cultural and economic changes. His considerations start from a draft presentation of the importance of a professional work, an emphasis being put on mine work in life of the inhabitants of Upper Silesia, starting from the period of an abrupt 19th century industrialization and urbanization. The author treats work as a par excellence cultural phenomenon, as an important element of the system of values at the same time organizing an everyday life of the inhabitants of cities in Upper Silesia. He also pays attention to the social motive of urban space creation, the organization of which was largely influenced by its adjustment to the professional work. An exemplification of the very issue constitute the results of survey studies conducted this year among the inhabitants of Katowice. Based on them, the author makes an attempt to evaluate the impor¬tance of work in life of the inhabitants of Katowice, the level of satisfaction from it, their conception of the so called “good job”. Also, he tries to answer the question on the extent to which contemporary Katowice satisfy the inhabitants’ expectations connected with the opportunities of finding a good job. The author attempt to combine these expectations with the satisfaction of other needs related to the sphere of non work (e.g. recreation). He finishes his considerations with a conclusion that mental changes, constituting a consequence of the socio cultural process and economic transformation of the region of Upper Silesia find their very tangible traces in the attempts to transform the urban space which, as the findings revealed, is perceived by a large number of respondents as devastated in many respects (e.g. when it comes to the possibilities of satisfying cultural needs or spending free time) whereas devastation remains a consequence of the industrial nature of the city.

The article compares the points of view of two groups of respondents — the inhabitants of new and old districts of Upper Silesia concerning the space inhabited by them, its organization and division expressing the life styles and structure of an every day of its inhabitants. Nikiszowiec, a district of an almost symbolic character for the social and urbanist history was chosen as a representative of old districts whereas the new districts were represented by particular districts of Tychy. As a result of this comparison, the types of workers’ flats, in the perspective of tradition and Silesian culture as well as the contemporary flat and district patterns are presented. The subordination of the region to the heavy industry influenced the spacious organization of the Upper Silesian cities. The relation between the industry and pragmatics of an every day life was most strongly reinforced in old workers’ districts, at the earliest in the form of the industrial settlement in the region whereas the spacious shape of workers’ colonies built conditioned and consolidated the social norms, typical of the inhabitants of the region. The old workers’ districts of Silesian cities were formed on the basis of patron districts built from the half of the 19th century around the abruptly appearing and developing mines and steelworks. The organization of the living space in the area of Upper Silesia was always marked with a given specificity, expressing the obligatory life style, work division and structure of the Upper Silesian family. The block of a red brick was its symbol giving the frames to the everyday outlines of the living space. Nowadays, an example of the spacious unit in question is Nikiszowiec, the former mining colony placed next to “Wieczorek” mine in Katowice. However, different districts, though also working class ones in the plan, built after the World War II in the form of big city blocks of flats are to be found nearby. The creation of new flats for the working class started under the ideological caption of the necessity to eliminate the social inequalities within the scope of living conditions. As a result of it, the representatives of different classes, professions characterized by different social and regional origins are neighbours in the PRL like blocks of flats. In the name of socialistic ideas, the project, unique in form, of a socialistic city of Tychy, a big base for incoming and native people working in the region of GOP was created. Both types of buildings — the one in Nikiszowiec and Tychy — currently constitute the spacious landscape of Upper Silesia and the way of inhabiting them determines the frames of life of the contemporary inhabitants of the region.

A planned reconstruction of an Upper Silesian city raises extreme emotions among its inhabit¬ants (and not only). The authorities have a particular vision of this place, definitely a modern one, basing on the urbanist and architecture solutions introduced in the metropolis of Europe and all over the world. The reconstruction is to cover the centre of Katowice. The text presents the winning project of an architecture studio by Tomasz Konior. The roundabout of the art is always the beginning of the path which is to be created in Katowice. It will be composed of the laces in which the current artists presenting different actions and using different media will be active. The image and function of this part of the city will change completely. However, such ideas and actions are arbitrary in nature. It does not mean that the choice is wrong. The “French way” shows that the most visionary realizations in Paris would never appear if they were based on social advice. They also barely take into account local traditions and forms present in the urban landscape grounded in the awareness of Silesians. The aim is to make the new symbolic surplus of the space in Katowice become the basis allowing for the self identification of both those inhabitants who are inclined to accept social changes concerning the whole region and those from the outside — settling in here for good and tourists. It goes about the creation of specific urban attractions which will create a new image of Katowice, interest, distinguish the space of this Upper Silesian city and at the same time remove negative associations built on the stereotypes of mine landscapes. Is such a reconstruction (because this is the task which both the clerks, urbanists and architects aim at) based on the spacious structure possible? To what an extent is the compromise, the combina¬tion of the new one with the elements of the local tradition, allowing for an ease of a revolutionary change in the urban identity necessary? What creates the so far identification of the city and its inhabitants, what is worth saving and which signs and perspectives should be definitely disposed of? What will new Katowice look like? It is worth remembering that it has been a “cycling city” since its creation, which to a large extent decides on the specificity and potential mobility. All these questions constitute the frame of a work.

The article presents a fragment of the results from the study on the perception of the central space of five Silesian cities: Katowice, Rybnik, Tychy, Bytom and Ruda Śląska, conducted with Krzysztof Bierwiaczonek (PhD, The Institute of Sociology, The University of Silesia). Out of a large research material the author selects a part devoted to the perception of changes in the centres of the cities under examination. The author wondered if, with reference to the places in question, the thesis of the crisis of the city central space is justified, if their traditional centre disappears or is moved to big shopping malls. The studies were qualitative and quantitative in nature. The main research technique was a free interview based on the one conducted by Lynch and Nasar (the studies in Knoxville). The supporting technique constituted a draft of the city central space outlined by the respondents intertwined into the interview. Thanks to it, the mental maps were created, or, to be more specific, cognitive maps of the central space. The results that were discussed concerned the need of the existence of the centre, the replacement of the centre with big shopping malls, the desacralization of the centre and perception of changing ongoing there. The material collected allows to make a statement that despite many symptoms of the transition of the Silesian city centres into the non centres of non cities, the trivialization of their central space has not happened yet. The centres still play an important role in the cities under investigation. The inhabitants appreciate the need of the existence of the centre and perceiving the city a such, refer to the spacious archetype, i.e. the city with the central point the market square constitutes. The studies also showed that malls did not replace the central space. Another conclusion deriving from the research is a progressing desacralization of the central space of the cities in focus.

The centre can be considered one of the most universal categories in human thought. In the context of the city one can say that the centre is one of the spacious archetypes. In European cities of a long duration, centres have been determined by market squares, being economically and symbolically significant, as well as connected with power. Among those who paid attention to it were Aleksander Wallis, Bohdan Jałowiecki, Charles Landry, Leon Dyczewski, whose conceptions constitute a theoretical basis of this article. The empirical part of the text presents selected findings of sociological studies conducted in five Silesian cities, both those having a traditional central space with the market square (Rybnik, Bytom) and the ones which do not have such a centre (Tychy, Ruda Śląska). The attention was focused on those elements of the centre which in a social perception are regarded to be important. The studies show that the repertoire of places important in the centre of various cities is very similar. What dominates are places connected with the sacred, power and new spaces of the sacred and entertainment. What differs, however, is the quality of these places. Market squares still play an important part in the social perception. The market square and its closest surroundings in Rybnik are an example of a cultural area in the sense given to it by Aleksander Wallis. The cities which do not have market squares, on the other hand, are clearly deprived of attractive public spaces.

A contemporary consumption society has become the society of fun, which means that fun and entertainment are playing a more and more important role in its culture. A social range and availability of forms of fun broaden. A number of its forms and places of realization grows. Fun is given more and more time, especially in city conglomerations. Among the areas of a socio cultural life one can also find the ones that, as some researchers believe, are strongly placed in the sphere of seriousness. These cover science and knowledge. According to the author, also these spheres of life are not free from the ludic pressure. Innumerable festivals, fairs, science fairs and days, taking place in closed spaces, but also in the open air of a contemporary university city, compete with one another in a ludic presentation of science and knowledge. A symbiosis of fun, science and knowledge seems to be a perfect realization of the idea: to teach entertaining, to entertain teaching. However, it raises certain doubts. The author of the article quotes the warnings, among others, by Neil Postman, who believes that such a light, easy and pleasurable ludic education does not give a reliable and deep knowledge. The education, and knowledge gain should not be an entertainment, but also a hard work. A belief becoming more and more common in the society that everything that is worth familiarising with may or even should take on the form of entertainment, is disastrous and typical of the times when the sphere of seriousness and fun intermingled almost completely.

 The present time can be defined by means of the epoch of choices. The contemporary reality is amazingly pluralist in all practical dimensions of life. In modern societies we also deal with a particular paradox with respect to time — on the one hand, it is organized according to an objective academic model and, on the other, it splits into different time cultures every day. A new selected sphere of human time, leisure time, undergoes division. What appears are new needs and, at the same time, institutions which satisfy them in a different way: a service, educational and recreational one. The former homogenous human action is being split into many separated and isolated “times”. Considering the issue of free time from the sociological perspective, it is legitimate to assume that ways of spending leisure time are inscribed into fairly visible cultural patterns which within years are subject to dynamics. It is their identification in reference to the social space of Katowice that became the subject matter of the very article. It presents the results of the studies conducted in July and August 2007 on the sample of 492 adult inhabitants of Katowice. In the context of the issues dealt with, several questions arise: How do inhabitants of Katowice use their free time? Do the forms connected with the physical activity or rather passive rest dominate? How much time do they devote to the Internet and television? What is the activeness of the respondents in their free time when it comes to culture? As a predominant analytical perspective served an attempt to answer the question if the changes connected with a more and more common trend on the so called healthy lifestyle or a growing pressure on the creation of the cultural wealth, also affect the ways of spending leisure time. In view of a big social, economic and spacious diversification, the area of Katowice is extremely interesting research area of the very problem among the contemporary inhabitants of a big city.

Socio cultural problems of the contemporary city can be considered from the perspective of unusually diversified, yet concrete phenomena, and aspects co creating the city reality. The aim of the paper is to analyse the current state and changes of the contemporary cities, taking into consideration changing ludic needs of the inhabitants. It goes about illustrating how the present day party like behaviours of the city society reflect in the changes of the city space and in which direction they seem to go. On the one hand, the aim of the work is to show how the inhabitants of the contemporary cities, paying more and more attention to attractive forms of spending leisure time, impact on the city, changing it, and on the other hand, how the city alone and the urban life style, giving new stimuli and possibilities in this area, condition the behaviours of the inhabitants. The observations and studies conducted, the results of which were presented in the article, make us aware that the city is, on an unusual scale, becoming a ludic space for a contemporary human being. Socio cultural changes of contemporary cities and urban life style were shown from the perspective of the current state of a ludic sphere of culture on the basis of the examples coming from the city centres of different size, cultural affiliation and situated in different geographical latitude. The main part of the article, on the basis of the cities of a different scale and geographical location, presents some general and contemporary tendencies within the scope of “ludicity” of the spaces of contemporary cities and urban style as a result of unrestrained, grass roots and individual ini¬tiatives of the inhabitants, as well as purposeful and planned urban enterprises the observation and examination of which allows for joining a discussion on widely understood socio cultural problems of the contemporary city.

Forms of fun of the students of the Opole University constitute one of the main forms of activity. This social group, so much indicating its presence in the space of the contemporary city, is largely concentrated on the satisfaction of its ludic needs. The subject of the analysis is a discussion of selected examples of students’ fun and entertainment observed in the recreational space of Opole. According to students, the highest in the hierarchy of the most “cultural” forms of fun and urban entertainment are above all “Kulturalia” and, to some extent, “Piastonalia”. The thematic parties, such as “Hawajan Party”, or “Kicz Party” organized in the scenery of clubs that are trendy and popular among the students in Opole, such as Rampa, Zebra, Déjà vu or Cina are also popular. The freedom among the students is also visible in caraocke. Besides, the parties in private homes, the so called “home parties” are getting more and more common. Unfortunately, students’ forms of fun and entertainment also bring about many examples showing their inappropriate behaviour in the space of the city. These are the examples of deviation or social pathology. Using the word “deviations”, one should remember that the very word is ambiguous and used to name many phenomena in the social life. The main deviations of academic young people in the contemporary city — the 21st century city — are alcoholism, drug abuse, crime. The crime is often the result of the previously — used alcohol and drugs. These negative phenomena are getting stronger and stronger and common in the city. The problem of deviation connected with ludic behaviours of some groups of academic young people is complex and difficult to solve, and gets out of the city and academic authorities’ control because of a substantial range of autonomy of the students as a sociological category. This autonomy of the students is sometimes wrongly understood and interpreted. That is why there is a postulate to make the issue concerning the appropriate moral and ethical attitude be the subject of analysis during student meetings with the tutors of students of certain years. It would certainly have a positive influence on the attitude of the academic young people taking part in different forms of fun and entertainment organised in the space of the contemporary city. The very work was based on the ethnological field studies, press reports and a participant observation. The research examination covered only some forms of a ludic activity of the Opole University students.

The text is devoted to the events that took place in the Polish cities between 2 and 8 April 2005 — in the period of the national mourning after the death of John Paul II. It seems that it was during this period that a national religious community and collective identity connected with it manifested their existence at the streets. The actions jointly undertaken by social actors, such as white marches, joint prayers, singing and numerous references to national and religious symbols, had visible features of the transitional period that is why the author of the article, analyzing the very socio cultural behaviours, refers to the theory of Arnold van Gennep and Turner’s conception connected to it. The phenomenon of this event cannot be considered without taking into account the means of mass media, their role in the contemporary world and power of their influences. Thus, the references were made to the theory of Jean Boudrillard and the qualitative analysis of the contents of press texts in the period under investigation was conducted.

The subject of analysis constitutes organised activeness, reflecting itself in intentional forms of the activity related to a given group of people (the retired and pensioners) and selected centres where the very activeness is visible. In the local communities of the Silesian Voivodship (on the basis of the field studies conducted between 2003 and 2007) four characteristic types of organised activeness were distinguished. The first one is composed of the university of the third age. The second comprises circles (clubs) associating former workers of e.g. mines, steelworks, power stations functioning nearby the factories in question. The third group constitutes senior groups functioning nearby different institutions, e.g. a community centre, social welfare house, parishes. The fourth one (referred to as the “union” one) is connected with people’s affiliation to different unions and organizations involving hobbysts, e.g. stamp collectors, pigeon breeders, bee keepers, skaters, beer label collectors, etc. Differentiated reflections of organised activeness among the retired and pensioners show how it is possible to still effectively function in the society, perform certain roles in spite of having gone into the professional retirement. The need of affiliation, formerly satisfied by workmates is now satisfied by different groups related with different people and institutions (community centres, assosiations, clubs, unions, etc). It is thanks to these two factors that the elederly people have a chance to find themelves among other seniors having similar interests, develop their passions, complete gaps in their education, jointly realize tasks, struggle with life difficulties, experience success and failure. In other words, flee from idleness, thus finding the confirmation of their self value and life aim. One can estimate that organised activeness among the retired and pensioners is most efficiently realised in the local environment. Undoubtedly, it is the urban space that facilitates different forms of activeness thanks to the cultural educational institutions, unions, and clubs nearby the work places functioning in it. In this space, consisting in many social groups, life styles, man can choose from and decide him/herself on a given form of his/her own activeness.

Żarki is a city which until the beginning of the World War II was inhabited and cocreated by two nationalities, that of Poles and Jews. A joint business allowed for easing arising conflicts and fostering its development. An agreeable co existence of the community in Żarki was based on following certain rules of behaviour. Contemporary inhabitants of Żarki connected to the city for generations show a strong identification with many areas of the city space. The knowledge of the city and its inhabitants is transmitted in families. A family tradition allows for moving in familiar spaces. Only a person having multi generational origins in the city knows its all areas and understands proper names, as well as differentiates the nicknames and street names which do not exist any longer. A special behaviour of people generationally connected to the city is observed in such places as church and cemetery, where certain groups were given an allocated space. The incoming people constitute a different category in the process of identification with the city. They came here in search of work and treated the city in an instrumental way. The process of becoming settled into the city was not easy. The incoming people were often isolated. The integration was difficult and slow. New inhabitants contribute to the creation of several estates where they built their own houses, which gives them the sense of self value. Currently, certain differences in behaviour between people coming from Żarki and those incoming are still visible. However, living next to one another extorts joint actions, such as the restoration of a historic barn. The very enterprise is called “Kupiecki Sąsiek” and gathers local artists on market days.

 The subject of reflection constitutes the condition of the traditional heritage of the peasant’s culture and its place in the contemporary culture of Częstochowa. In the space of this city, the trend for the folk character, going beyond not only the sphere of the advertisement of public life, but also permeating into the family tradition and traditional behaviours has been recently recognised. For example, The Days of The European Folk Culture connected with Jasna Góra Harvest Festival, the National Farm Exhibition, the National Contest of the Folk Art, presentation of the national and foreign folk bands, shows of the works of folk authors, taking into account the “dying professions”, as well as a sale of regional products, the agricultural produce, farm preserves, take place during the first September weekend from the initiative of the Gaude Mater Culture Promotion Centre. A large popularity in the urban environment is ascribed to the so called peasant (homemade) buffets prepared for the second day of the wedding, Fresh pickled cucumbers with a dill, lard with pork scratchings, a traditional ham with a bone, rural paste, brawn, black, a round loaf of bread and even spirit samogon are served at that time. Decorations of the surrounding are made of the attributes commonly associated with a village, such as a plait of garlic or onion, a cluster of dried herbs and mushrooms. Also, the appropriate containers in the form of stone small barrels, clay bowls and plates, ceramic containers, wooden scoops and chopping boards are used. The inhabitants of the city, used to live in rural conditions, are willing to go to distant places, folk stylized hotels and restaurants in which they can find a substitute of ruralness. Waiters wearing pseudo folk clothes serve there the dishes of regional cuisine. Everything takes place in rustic interiors, the sounds of melody and folk songs recorded or played alive by the folk bands and groups. The very stylizations are usually the effect of the owner’s or designer’s vision. They most often constitute a mixture of the elements borrowed from the culture of different regions (most often from Podhale) or the adaptation of the elements of the culture of another, often distant, region. In such a situation the questions on the nature of such actions arise. Is the permeation of given rustic elements into the urban space the result of the dynamics of the social awareness, filled with values deeply rooted in the culture of the countryside, also the attempt to continue the tradition or the a reflection of a temporary trend promoted on the series of commercial actions? The author of the article made an attempt to analyse the place of the urban cultural heritage in the contemporary urban environment.

The author of the article raises the issue of changes taking place in the urban space of Będzin and their influence on man. She wonders if the inhabitants of Będzin feel connected with their city, identify with it or if the current spacious urbanist system of the city influences their attitude. Which streets, districts and elements of architecture are the inhabitants of Będzin mostly attached to? Which of these do they consider as symbols and why? Is their attitude influenced by their knowledge of history and culture of the area of living? The work also deals with the problem of the influence of the urban space transformation on the continuity of tradition, self identification and sense of identity of people from Będzin. In order to gain the information on the influence of the urban space on the identity of people living in Będzin, the author presents a spacious urbanist development of the city over centuries. Next, on the basis of the studies and conversations with the inhabitants, she raises the issue of “islandness” of the urban buildings, the separation or even a partial separation of both urban and suburban districts. She pays attention to important and considered to be central or symbolic spaces or buildings in the city which, according to the inhabitants of Będzin, though precious and valuable (e.g. historical), are often neglected, little attractive or mismanaged by the government. Although the inhabitants of Będzin, in majority, are attached to their city, they see its lacks and imperfections. However, many people place family bonds, friends in the first place. Only later on do they place their attachment to the city. The author, on the basis of the studies, states that currently, a small influence on the sense of bond with the city among the inhabitants of Będzin is ascribed to the traditional culture. Many of them cannot even show its elements, such as customs, beliefs, songs, dances, etc. Taking everything into consideration, the author states that the process of searching for one’s own identity by the inhabitants of Będzin has just started, and its course is conditioned by not only the historical past and economic factors, but also to a large extent the urbanist — spacious structure of the city, the urban space shaped by inhabitants and shaping them as such.

The propaganda literature of the period of creation of a metallurgic conglomerate and “new city” connected to it nearby Kraków, ideologically juxtaposed the young against the old, implying a tendency to radical social changes in the case of the former. It was young people coming from the whole country and deriving mainly from the rural environment, fancing themselves an avantgarde of socialism that constituted 80% of builders, and, later on, inhabitants of Nowa Huta. In spite of having included the very district into the administrative borderlines of Kraków, the integration of the two parts of the city was impossible for many decades, which was largely caused by mutual prejudices, deriving from the cultural differences of communities inhabiting it. At that time, the image of Nowa Huta as a district touched by various pathologies and, thus, extremely dangerous, was ingrained in the so called common belief. The very stereotype was rooted by a series of articles on the examples of violence connected to the subculture of blockers from Nowa Huta. It resulted in, among other things, the fall of attractiveness of the very district as a potential place of living and, consequently, the outflow of young, rich and industrious people choosing the places of a greater prestige. In connection with natural demographic processes, the former district of youth became a city of “old people” at the beginning of the 21st century. However, there is much evidence that the history of this “youngest district of Kraków” has not finished. At present, on the rising tide of interests with socialism, one can observe the attempts of Nowa Huta revitalization which is connected with the exploration of its original past. The district is also becoming a witness of interesting cultural initiatives and happenings presenting a new perspective on the period of the formation of socialism. Of course, the very situation is, above all, commercial in nature, but in many inhabitants of blocks of flats in Nowa Huta, evokes pride, constituting, at the same time, the element of community formation and identity creation.

The issue of the occurrence of mental illnesses was the subject of the studies published in both medical and sociological journals. The first pioneering works in this subject were written by R.E.L. Faris and H.W. Dunham from the Chicago school in 1944. Their work was based on quantitative studies. Qualitative studies, on the other hand, were hidden in the description and characteristic of the areas examined, and not enumerated in the methodology. The author of the article, conducting the research on the arrangement of people psychiatrically hospitalized in the area of Tarnowskie Góry, started from quantitative studies. Initially, though, he assumed that in these studies he can base on the administrative division of the city because the majority of the problems examined appeared in the estates with dominant flat estates whereas in the mixed structure districts dominated the problems in less attractive places. Knowing in which districts and areas the very problems dominate, one can make further considerations on the existence of possible relations. One’s own observations and deliberations on these places constitute the qualitative data stored in one’s mind. R.E. Park wrote that a researcher must “pass” many places to make his/her opinion. Thus, it is very likely that these initial observations, sometimes unintended, and, later on reconstructed, may give more information than an attempt to use selected techniques of qualitative studies, especially in such an attractive subject for the majority of inhabitants as the place of living of mentally ill people. One can add that a photographic method supplementing the data would be helpful here as it would leave certain openness for interpretation and freedom in selection of situations for consolidation and further analyses. The author of the work spent many hours thinking how to take an active part (a participant observation) and obtain information on a given subject in selected urban areas but as a rule, he was convinced that the issue of the occurrence of mental disorders the areas of the city was beyond a direct perception of its inhabitants.

After the flood of the century that came through Opole in 1997, its inhabitants had to familiarize themselves with the devastated space. For the majority of them, the house was an individual “space of memory” and did their best to feel safe again. The closest space was to “speak” and connect people with one another. Today, the places touched by cataclysm are unrecognizable: restored, renovated and at the same time strongly connected with memory. Different signs proving the existence of cataclysm, the so called “reminding determinants” have become an integral element of the space returning to life. Such important places, “the spacious accents”, are in Opole in Zaodrze district and Pasieka island which changed their character. The subsequent flood anniversaries have become the chance for the inhabitants to celebrate the memory which started to undergo ritualization. Apart from occasional meetings, mass and festivals, the urban space involves commemoration tables and monuments. All inhabitants of flooded districts ten years ago also have their own private important places. The flood victims who were taken their homes and farms were in the most difficult situation. The districts built specially for them (in the outskirts of Opole) were becoming a spacious expression of the community marked by similar experiences. It was difficult for its saved community to domesticate the nameless space. The category of the “withdrawal” ritual, the adaptive (protective) mechanism making it possible to connect the new space to the “sphere of order” helps to analyse the situation. Although the new buildings developing around this district eliminated its isolation after 10 years, it is still an important architecture and psychological place reminding the inhabitants of the tragedy years ago. The flood in July 1997 forced the inhabitants to revalue their own space and return in the river direction and compose it into the city, which created the new landscape of Opole (new bridges, gates at the canals, boulevars at the banks of the Odra, illuminated houses at the canal, the flourish of the space in front of the floodbanks).

The issues of aesthetic values of city space have so far been the interest of urbanists, architects or aestheticians and rarely ethnologies despite the fact that the discipline has been dealing with the subject matter of the city and urbanness for years. An attempt to find the answer to the question: What decides on our positive or negative reception of an industrial space and to what an extent do aesthetic values shape it? constitute the subject matter of the article. The space which surrounds us, shapes psychophysical attitudes of individuals, which influences its contacts with the society in which it functions. High aesthetic values of the city give rise to and decide on the dynamics of interactions taking place here, increase the need of identification and sense of community, especially important among the inhabitants. They also condition the attitudes of newcomers and tourists, which may decide on its development. At the same time, the ugliness of the city brings about negative effects, causes frustration, alienation, or even aggression of individuals as well as de orientation of the group. Aesthetic values of the city space depend on the natural environment in which the city (the lie of the land, river) is inscribed, from the structure and building and street plan, especially on a clearly indicated centre — the market square, finally from the compilation of colour, chiaroscuro model, small architecture forms which “furnish” the city, the greenery and people. An important place is given here to the advertisement and reflections of the so called street art.

The adaptations of industrial halls, power stations, boiler houses or mines into cultural spaces are almost the obvious thing to do. However, even against the background of more and more numerous initiatives, aiming at the activization of neglected city communities, the activity of Modrzejewska Theatre is unusual. The stage in Legnica, directed by Jacek Głomb since the 1990s, shows real stories in real places consistently inscribing into the trend of the so called local theatre, directed, above all, at the inhabitants of a given place or district. In Legnica, the whole city was the stage. The spectacles were played in the rooms of the former tank factory and barracks, in Mary’s Church, discotheque, at the yard of a store hall and in the hall of a closed textile factory. In the beginning, the exit into the spaces theatrically unaccustomed, served Legnica the purpose of, above all, encouragement of people who had not experienced it before, but, with time, the social issues connected with a revitalization of deserted or neglected city spaces became more and more important. While for many directors the city space is just the background of plays, in Legnica it is their integral element. The theatre goes beyond the borderlines of art and becomes an element of life of a local community. It shapes the image of the place in which it lives, builds the citizenship society, aware of history and tradition, knowing its own place in the contemporary world. A pragmatic attitude o art, inscribed into Dewey’s life rhythm, has brought about a social effect. The theatre has changed unto agora whereas Legnica has become similar to the ancient polis the ultimate sense and aim of which was providing life to the community according to its imagination on happiness and good co operation.

In the Christian culture, a cemetery is a special place, a memory place of those who died, a place symbolically marked with specific forms of small architecture, sculpture, engraved in the stone of an often poetical informative documentary transcription. It is a unique place, protected with a centuries old tradition and common respect, but also law agreements. The landscape of Polish cities involves historical necropolis of other beliefs or ethnic minorities. The centuries old tradition of Polish tolerance facilitated the creation of a special cultural symbiosis based on the co existence of ethnic minorities or ethnic groups in the space of the Polish cities. They left precious monuments of the material and sacred culture. The process of social and cultural spacious changes in the contemporary Polish cities also concerns the small cemetery architecture. On the one hand, one can observe its enrichment, and, on the other hand, destruction, especially in old, less known cemetery spaces. Many monuments, including cemeteries, have not survive up till now. The very article is documentary in nature and presents the author’s observations on the cemeteries of German and Jewish people within the period of a few last years, their history and the current state, situated in the landscape of Polish cities. The studies covered some of the places in the Silesian, Lower Silesian, Małopolska, Świętokrzyskie, Lubuskie and Zachodniopomorskie voivodship.

Stigmas are clear, irrational, emotional, provoking signs also thought of as a taint. People are marked with it. They mark the space. The source of stigma may be, according to Goffman, the origins, features of character or looks. The taint is not always connected with a deviant action, rule abuse and norm violation. Not each difference causes rejection; only the one which is noticed and unaccepted by the social audience. The mechanism of stigmatization in the big city environment goes from the space to its inhabitants. A marked space, forbidden district mark the inhabitants, sentencing them to rejection. Richness ghettos are formed next to poverty ghettos. This space marks as well. The very article discusses stigmas of the cultural foreignness, origins, differences because of illness or life style. The author makes an attempt to answer the question of the features the stigma must have to exist as such in the social awareness, especially among the inhabitants of the contemporary city. The results of the sociological studies conducted in Katowice allow for making a statement that the exclusion of marked people from city celebration, its conveniences and entertainments causes marginalization of individuals and whole groups. The big city space excludes the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, the sick, people of different looks, customs, traditions, natures. They become marked with the tint of otherness. What is also marked is the space of the part of the city inhabited by them in the awareness of its other inhabitants.

We create, animate and value space, marking it with a historical memory of events and filling it with artifacts. They constitute signs and symbols transmitted with the whole cultural heritage and tradition to next generations. A town dweller, as man of a traditional rural community, moves throughout his/her whole life between two types of space: a safe one (orbis interior) and an unknown, foreign, dangerous one (orbis exterior). The loss of place by an individual in a known and safe space causes willingness and need to find him/herself a place. The lack of ingrainment causes the inability of identification. The individual often feels alienated, deprived of his/her “own place” in the natural, historical, geographical, ethnic and cultural sense. The identification as such of Ciechanów town dwellers who came to Warszawa 30—40 years ago proves the lack of the sense of full identity with the cultural space of the capital. It is to a greater extent the identification with particular places in this space, e.g. with an Old Town, The Warsaw University, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Wilanów or even The Palace of Culture and Science. A big part of the cultural space in Ciechanów was rejected, especially the one which lost its traditional image and because of Macdonaldisation became unremarkable (e.g. Marshal J. Piłsudski Square). The young generation of children of migrants from Ciechanów, brought up already in Warszawa, e.g. in the district of Ursynów, shows the sense of bond with the cultural town space, both the traditional, modern and Macdonald one. At the same time, they are more and more interested in places connected with the childhood of their grandparents and parents, as well as more and more often reveal the willingness to identify with the traditional cultural space of their ancestors.