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Chaotically developed post-socialist suburbs need retrofitting by providing residents with a local central space. This research aims at developing a typology of suburban local centres, describing the most common central spaces according to adopted criteria, as well as identifying which type of local centre has the most potential to be perceived as such by suburbanites and how suburban municipalities plan central spaces. The research was conducted in six institutional Warsaw suburbs representing the most common types of local centres of a neighbourhood catchment area. The research has shown that spatial criteria differentiate local centres more than social criteria. Concentric layouts attract different non-residential functions more effectively than linear ones. When recognising some spaces as central, the legibility of the broader spatial arrangement and the presence of key objects with centre-forming functions seems to be important. Factors that distort such recognition include the excessive dispersion of buildings, shops, and service points; peripheral or random location of the main activity node; poorly designed and equipped central spaces; and the proximity to large-scale shopping centres and recreational areas/objects. When looking for a model of retrofitting post-socialist suburbs through strengthening neighbourhood centres, it is worth recalling the concept of the so-called “third places”.

Chaotic post-socialist suburbs need retrofitting through planning a system of local centres. The paper is aimed at recognizing the orientation of recent suburban planning in Poland through a focus on centres and identifying conditions for and examples of a proactive approach to planning local centres. The hierarchy of centres and the set of functions assigned to them is important since it could prevent the dispersion of public facilities and strengthen the potential of higher-order centres. Documents subjected to analysis encompassed spatial policies of 27 suburban municipalities included in the Functional Area of Warsaw. The Polish spatial planning system neglects centres as a category of functional, economic, and social space, leaving municipalities complete freedom in planning them. The study proved that a system of local centres should become an urban planning standard since it helps municipalities locate public functions more reasonably. A vision of local centre development is rarely based on rational premises. The Polish case shows that in outer suburbs, a proactive approach to LC planning that involves designing a desired future and then inventing ways to create that future state is still a long way off. • Chaotic post-socialist suburbs need retrofitting through planning a hierarchical system of local centres. • Service hierarchy corresponding to centre levels helps municipalities prevent the dispersion of economic potential. • The best arrangement of suburban local centres is a four-level order with local integration space as the lowest level. • The problem is that in Poland, the arrangement of local centres is rarely based on rational premises. • In post-socialist Poland, a proactive approach to local centre planning is still a long way off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this article is to distinguish types of the suburbs that are typical for post-socialist European countries. The typology organizes the variety of suburban forms according to the degree to which they favour the creation of public spaces, or the access to such spaces in the city or nearby town. A new typology is based on six criteria: (1) the level of neighbourhood (spatial scale), (2) the time when the neighbourhood was erected, (3) spatial interaction with the nearest town/city, (4) the prevailing type of investment, (5) street layout, (6) access to the city centre by public transport. Suburbs are diversified in terms of their potential for the establishment of public spaces. It has been proved that individual housing in the form of neighbourhoods which are planned, densely populated and based on street grid is the most preferred type from the perspective of building social capital. The typology was developed for Warsaw Metropolitan Region, although it may be applied also in the research of post-socialist countries other than Poland and urban regions within them. Highlights • Different process of suburbanization in post-socialist countries requires the adoption of a new typology of suburbs. • The typology allows to indicate the most preferred types of suburbs from the perspective of creation of public spaces. • The typology may serve as a guideline in preventing the replication of the monofunctional 'bedroom' neighbourhoods in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive suburbanization, especially in postsocialist countries, and a deficiency of fully public spaces result in an increasingly complex mixture of different types of spaces of public functions. Where there is a deficiency of completely public spaces, their role can be enhanced by those places available to the public for a specified period of time and under certain circumstances. Such places are provided and maintained not only by the public but also by the private sector. This article explores the diversity of places of public character and looks for criteria that organize this diversity. It introduces a new typology that corresponds mainly to the suburbs and combines five criteria of categorization: intended users, time limits as to access, prevailing form of control, intended functions, and visual characteristics. The typology draws attention to the role of spaces not intended for all the public but for selected groups and that of spaces with time-limited access. Such semipublic places are consistent with the lifestyle of suburbanites and therefore play an increasingly important role in suburban social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to determine how three factors—the fence, the internal public space, and the type of building—affect the sense of community, as well as the perception of social divisions that gated communities generate and the need for integration between people living in and outside gated communities. Its results are based on the survey conducted in two villages, Józefosław and Julianów, located in the Warsaw metropolitan region. It has been found that the existence of a physical barrier in the form of a fence affects the perception of human relationships. Research has confirmed the negative impact of fencing off on social bonds, the sense of community, and attachment to the area beyond the housing estate. The study of Józefosław and Julianów, however, has proved that for the residents of suburban gated communities the key factor that can increase their sense of community is access to an internal public space. The sense of community and the attachment to the area of residence are also dependent on the type of building. Inhabitants of suburban gated communities dominated by multifamily housing are definitely characterized by a weaker attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study is to present a new model that can assess the ‘publicness’ of not only public open spaces, but also of the wider category of publicly accessible places, called gathering places. This model was tested in Podkowa Leśna – a suburban town near Warsaw. It includes three dimensions, each of which consists of two indicators: (1) diversity (diversity of activities, and diversity of users), (2) management (type of management; and freedom of access, use and behaviour), and (3) accessibility (financial and spatial barriers). The model measures the extent of publicness and identifies if a particular place has a ‘public’, more ‘public’ than ‘private’, more ‘private’ than ‘public’, or ‘private’ character. The research shows that the role of gathering places can be successfully played by quasi-public spaces, such as: club spaces, spaces owned by various institutions (churches, railways, cultural institutions) and also private places. The study proves that quasi-public gathering places are sometimes more important than fully public places in making local social life less exclusive, especially in the suburbs where almost all developed space is private. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]