Social capital of Łódź residents in the spatial approach

Celem prezentowanego artykułu jest zbadanie poziomu kapitału społecznego mieszkańców Łodzi, a także przestrzenne ujęcie badanego zjawiska. Podstawę empiryczną analiz stanowią reprezentatywne badania ilościowe przeprowadzone w 2010 r. na próbie blisko 500 mieszkańców Łodzi. Z przeprowadzonych badań wynika, że łodzianie posiadają niewielkie zasoby kapitału społecznego. Badane zjawisko jest natomiast silnie zróżnicowane przestrzennie. W przestrzeni miasta można wyróżnić obszary o wysokim i niskim poziomie kapitału społecznego oraz jego komponentów.Different reference resources emphasize that social capital, unlike human capital should not be conceived as an attribute of individual citizens but asa cultural phenomenon which is a public good built in the long-time perspective (Czapiński 2006). Social capital can also be understood as the reserves at a disposal of an individual which allow them to get certain benefits in personal and professional life. Social capital is therefore one of many factors determining the development of cities and the intensity and pace of changes occurring within them. The aim of the foregoing article is to examine the level of social capital of Łódź residents and to inspect the spatial approach to the phenomenon under investigation. The empirical basis of the analyses was the representative quantitative research conducted in 2010 on a sample of about 500 residents of Łódź, where as an indicator of the ecological variable used in the study in volved districts divided into housing estates units. The study illustrates that residents of Łódź show a low level of social capital represented by low levels of all three of its components: trust, norms and networks. The spatial analysis performed revealed a great diversity of Łódź in terms of social capital. There are areas of the city which can be recognized as showing high and low levels of social capital and its components. This is of course reflected in various aspects of social life, including the standard and quality of life of residents living in particular areas. Studies have shown that people representing individual residential areas with the highest level of social capital have a better standard of living and take a greater satisfaction in life than those from the areas where the levels of the studied phenomenon reached the lowest limits