Marta Figurska

Motives: In the context of new spatial (rapid urbanisation and suburbanisation) and technological conditions (smart tools), studying the level of spatial awareness has become critical. It is particularly important from the perspective of enhancing cognitive skills of the current, digital generation of children, who struggle with analogue forms of navigation and orientation in multidimensional space. This highlights the need for a standardised and comprehensive tool to assess spatial awareness, grounded in a clear identification of its key components. Aim: Therefore, the research’s main aim was to develop a definition of spatial awareness as a diagnostic term comprising knowledge, skills, and affective reactions. Results: A thorough review, selection, and classification of the literature allowed to distinguish four components in the knowledge domain, five in the skills domain, and three in the affective domain within the definition of spatial awareness.

(1) Background: A precise and comprehensive diagnosis of the needs of older adults is the basis for developing concepts of aesthetic functional and spatial arrangements of public open spaces in residential areas that meet their expectations, termed “age-friendly residential areas” (AFRAs). The primary objective of the research was to determine the needs of older people concerning their preferences for the development of AFRAs. (2) Methods: This research was conducted on the basis of a survey conducted from October 2021 to April 2022, involving 1815 older citizens from Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, and Slovakia. The research aimed to determine the needs of older people regarding their preferences for the development of AFRA public open spaces. The developed research approach made it possible to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the needs of different generations of older adults, differentiated by gender and lifestyle, in terms of spatio-functional and landscape aspects with regard to the open spaces of residential estates? (2) Do older citizens from different countries living in various estates (single-family, multi-family) have the same expectations towards AFRAs? (3) Results: The research results showed a high convergence of preferences among older people regardless of gender, age group, or type of residential estate they live in (multi-family/single-family). Slight differences in AFRA preferences were noticed between Polish and non-Polish older adults, most often due to cultural habits. A correlation between the landscape attractiveness and aesthetics of the estate and the comfort of life for the older population, as well as their impact on the final assessment of the estate, was confirmed. As a result of the research, 33 spatio-functional and 16 landscape factors of AFRAs were identified and ranked.

(1) Background: Local governments are facing a considerable challenge to accurately verify cities, as well as to diagnose the condition of housing estates in the context of their friendliness to life of older people in order to be able to pursue a sustainable pro-ageing policy. In response to these needs, universal methodology for identifying age-friendly residential areas (AFRA) in cities was developed and tested. Thus, the main objective of the research was to develop an innovative methodological approach to the AFRA assessment, taking into account integrated functional-spatial and aesthetic indicators with particular emphasis on the ways of presenting results. (2) Methods: The methodology was based on the general, international assumptions of “ageing in place”, “age-friendly city”, “active ageing”, and an in-depth analysis of contemporary trends in this field, using international guidelines and recommendations, as in the case of survey data from the target international population and information provided by experts. (3) Results: The overall result of the project is a universal methodology for diagnosing housing estates in cities, taking into account infrastructural and landscape determinants in terms of their friendliness to older people, including a presentation of the usefulness of GIS tools to create thematic maps visualising the degree of friendliness. (4) Conclusions: This innovative approach to AFRA visualisation will expand the knowledge about the possibilities of diagnosing age-friendly spaces in the city that are conducted at the level of the city’s settlement units. The developed list of criteria influencing the friendliness of housing estates for older citizens can be useful for public entities in creating city and housing planning policies for private entities to manage their own investment plans and implement the concept of on-site ageing in their planning and for real estate agents to explore the real estate market for the needs of older clients.

Motives: In the era of ageing population and threats arising from economic and geopolitical circumstances there is a need to adapt housing estates to different social groups, especially older persons as a particularly vulnerable group.Aim: The research objective of the article was to study the relevance of selected elements of infrastructure in open residential spaces regarding the safety in the eyes of older people in the face of various threats, such as pandemics and military conflicts.Methods: A questionnaire was developed to investigate the level of significance of selected elements of infrastructure based on in-depth literature research. The questionnaire survey was conducted twice on two random population samples (October 2021 and March/April 2022) in five chosen Polish cities (capitals of voivodeships).Results: Changes in the perceived importance of factors associated with residential safety were identified in the face of two types of threats. Urban planning solutions that contribute to a sense of security were identified in different gender and age groups. Public open spaces in cities should be accessible, user-friendly, and safe; they should promote social interactions with other residents, be aesthetically appealing, and encourage social activation.

Motives: The increased interest in alternative fuels requires the creation of special legislation, especially in the context of rules for the development and performance of proper infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles. Any change in these regulations usually results in an increased interest in electric or hybrid cars. This, in turn, entails the need to develop appropriate infrastructure for alternative fuels. Aim: The aim of this paper is to present the legal regulations in force in Poland related to the support of electromobility, which is particularly important in the context of the European Union policy aiming to reduce environmental pollution through, among others, the use of alternative fuels. Results: The article presents the basic concepts of electromobility included in national and European legislation along with their adoption with regard to the increasing interest in electromobility in Poland. This entails the need to introduce changes, both in legal regulations and road infrastructure.

Motives: Active aging places (AAP) should be identified during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the sanitary safety of seniors, prevent older adults from feeling excluded, and eliminate health threats that discourage seniors from being active. Aim: The aim of this study was to apply a new analytical approach with the use of Voronoi diagrams in GIS tools to spatially identify the AAP in the context of apparent social dynamics. Methods: An empirical study was conducted with the use of qualitative (literature review, questionnaire survey, AAP classification, visualization of AAP location with GIS tools) and quantitative methods (AAP ranking based on a statistical analysis of survey responses). Results: Voronoi diagrams were used to determine the accessibility of selected objects in the city of Olsztyn and identify spaces that belong to the social logic of space.

An immanent feature of the housing market is a large spatial dispersion of real estate prices along with their simultaneous high stratification. Application of classic methods of data interpolation results in an excessive simplification of the outcome because of a conversion of the dispersed data sets into areas of spatial continuity by reducing the above-average real estate prices. The main aim of the article was to search for spatial discontinuities of real estate prices’ distribution with 3D modeling using Voronoi diagrams as a method of irregular division of this space. Used methods of geospatial analyses with GIS tools enabled to identify clusters of high housing market activity and to avoid an excessive generalization of data resulting from the reduction of the above-average real estate prices. The research was conducted for over 7000 real estate transactions in years 2010–2017 in Olsztyn, the capital city of Warmia and Mazury in Poland, resulting in a 3D visualization of real estate prices for the chosen market, including the discontinuity in their spatial distribution.