Katarzyna Włodarczyk

Faculty of Economics and Management University of Szczecin

e-mail: kwlod@wneiz.pl

Quality of urban life in Poland

ABSTRACT. This article discusses two issues, namely standard of living and quality of life in Polish cities. It should, however, be stated that quality of urban life has not been explicitly defined and methods for measuring its level are disputable. Interdisciplinary research conducted globally has contributed to the development of a number of indexes measuring standard and quality of life in urban areas. These indexes are used for preparing the rankings of urban life quality. The main aim of this article is to identify where, on the map of Poland, cities are more and where they are less “friendly” to social issues. Subject to analysis will be the following aspects: housing, income, work, community, education, environment, civil society, health, satisfaction with life, and security. This paper uses information included in Diagnoza Społeczna [The Social Diagnosis] (for the years 2000-2013), the results of a survey conducted by a weekly magazine, “Polityka” [The Politics], and data published by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development as well as the Public Opinion Research Centre (CBOS).

Received: April, 2015

1st Revision: June, 2015

Accepted: July, 2015

DOI: 10.14254/2071-

8330.2015/8-2/13

JEL Classification: I310, R1, R190, Z13

Keywords:quality of life, standard of living, Polish society, civilization, urban development