Public space research tool for small towns : a case study of Skawina

Proste zrozumienie przestrzeni publicznej miasta przez obcych obserwatorów jest bardzo trudne. Są oni jednak coraz częściej zaangażowani w przygotowywanie dokumentów strategicznych i planistycznych dla miast, jako przedstawiciele zewnętrznych firm. Z ich punktu widzenia ważne jest szybkie i dogłębne poznanie lokalnej specyfiki miasta.Celem artykułu jest zaproponowanie narzędzia badania przestrzeni publicznej małych miast, które jest połączeniem trzech metod: pogłębionych wywiadów, map wyobrażeniowych i obserwacji terenowych. Autor przeprowadził 15 wywiadów pogłębionych w Skawinie –satelickim mieście Krakowa. Pozwoliły one zrozumieć funkcjonowanie przestrzeni publicznej (identyfikacja kluczowych problemów, ich zmian w czasie, miejsc ważnych, zaniedbanych itd.). Mapy wyobrażeniowe umiejscowiły odczucia rozmówców, a obserwacje terenowe pozwoliły w lepszy sposób ocenić skalę problemów i lepiej zrozumieć informacje zdobyte podczas wywiadów. Połączenie tych metod dało bardziej trafne wyniki.

The purpose of this article is to propose a research tool which would allow to understand profound and rapidly public space in small towns with its local specifics. The tool is designed for outside experts (“strangers” in analyzed area) involved in the preparation of strategic and planning documents for towns and is combined of three methods: in-depth interviews, mind maps and field observations. The author conducted 15 in- depth interviews in Skawina - a satellite town of Krakow. They allowed to understand the functioning of the public space (identification of important and neglected places, key issues and their changes over time, etc.). Mind maps helped to link certain interviewees' feelings to certain place and field observations allowed to assess the scale of the problems and to better understand the information gained from the interviews. The combination of these three methods gave the most possibly accurate results. The author found the positive relationship between the content of responses and respondents' knowledge, their age and length of residence in Skawina. They were asked about the general attitude towards the town, the functionality of the space (moving around the town), dangerous, neglected and strange places, industrial areas, natural environment, symbolic and characteristic objects and the proposed changes. In general, people were happy to live in Skawina. They appreciated closeness of Krakow and ambiance of a town, where everything is close. The main problem mentioned was the car traffic congestion in central areas which caused in their reduced value - for inhabitants and visitors. Respondents also pointed attractive areas (city park, the nearby riverside and forest areas) - as well as neglected and dangerous ones. Responses on the assessment of industrial areas, the environment and symbolic or characteristic objects were difficult to obtain from interviewees. However, they noticed a positive change in the last few years (including the environment, public security) and proposed needed investments. Among the disadvantages of the presented tools are: in a certain sense, the inability to ensure the representativeness, subjectivism - depends on how well the researcher will interpret the data, and the strong dependency of the results on a good selection of interviewees (the more important and different information they can provide, the better). The advantages are: low cost and short time of research, the enormity of information gained - diversity of opinion, the ability to interact with interviewees which allows for a thorough understanding and more accurate results than in case of less developed tools (like in-depth interviews themselves)