Nowy Port – Social Identity of the District and Participation of Its Inhabitants in Culture
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Maja Grabkowska, PhD University of Gda ńsk, Institute of Geography, Department of Economic Geography [email protected] Tomasz Tobis, PhD University of Gda ńsk, Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Journalism, Institute of Applied Social Sciences [email protected] NOWY PORT – SOCIAL IDENTITY OF THE DISTRICT AND PARTICIPATION OF ITS INHABITANTS IN CULTURE Gda ńsk 2015 1 Table of contents Page Introduction........................................................................................ 3 Subjective sense of bond with Nowy Port as district of residence.... 7 District attractiveness factors according to the interviewees............. 11 Hierarchy of needs concerning the inhabited space........................... 14 Participation in culture and its determinants...................................... 16 Conclusions........................................................................................ 20 Literature............................................................................................ 22 Questionnaire..................................................................................... 23 2 Introduction Nowy Port is a district of Gdansk located in the seaside part of the city and bounded on the north -west by the waters of the Gulf of Gdansk and on the north and east by the Port Channel and Dead Vistula; it borders to the south with Letnica and to the south -west with Brzeźno (fig. 1). Currently it is a residential/port area, but in the past it also had an industrial function. Fig. 1 Location of the Nowy Port district and the boundaries of the brownfield site. Source: Urban renewal programme... 2004: 231 The history of Nowy Port dates back to the 18 th century. The fishing village which existed in that location was called Neufahrwasser (German, literally: “new water lane”), the same as the present -day Port Channel. Under Prussian rule it developed its harbour and industrial functions, in competition with Gdansk's “old” harbour on the river Motława. The area was eventually incorporated into the city's administrative borders in 1817. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, the population had been gradually growing, particularly fast in the first decade of the 20 th century – one -storey fishermen’s cottages were replaced by tenement houses, many of which were decorated with valuable architectural details. After 1945, due to relatively small war damages, Poles (mainly from the Eastern Borderlands) started moving into apartments abandoned by Germans. The 1960s and 70s were 3 a time of significant investments in the district, such as the monumental edifice of the Morski Dom Kultury, which housed a cinema, or the Maritime Schools, as well as the Falowiec (wave-shaped block of flats) and large-panel many-storey buildings localised in the western part of Nowy Port. After the 1980s, due to de-industrialisation and countrywide socio-economic crisis, Nowy Port started falling into recession. Unfavourable demographic, social and economic tendencies have remained to this day. The population of the district decreased by 6%, reaching 10.2 thousand people in 2014. The decline in population was caused by migration outflow, low rate of natural increase and, indirectly, by disadvantageous age structure of the community. According to data collected in 2014, the proportions of age groups in the whole population of Nowy Port were similar to average values calculated for the whole city (Table 1). Children and teenagers (people in pre-productive age) represented only 15% of inhabitants of the district, almost half as many as people approaching retirement age or older. Such situations are characteristic of ageing populations. Table 1. Age structure of the population of Nowy Port and Gda ńsk in 2014 Nowy Port Gda ńsk Age (%) 0-17 15.1 15.8 18-29 13.9 13.8 30-59 42.9 42.5 60 and over 28.1 27.9 TOTAL 100.0 100.0 Source: own study based on Otwarte Dane 2015 Other problems arising in Nowy Port are relatively high unemployment rates and high percentage of social assistance recipients. For those reasons, among others, most of the area of the district has been earmarked for regeneration (fig. 1). The first stage of restorative activities was completed in 2013 and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, including, among others, the opening of Ła źnia 2 Centre for Contemporary Art – Art Education Centre in a modernised building of a former bathhouse in 2012. Its mission, similarly to its affiliate, which was established earlier in Nowy Port, is to “perform an 4 important artistic and cultural function throughout Poland, and in terms of regeneration and education efforts aimed at deprived neighbourhoods in Gdańsk” (Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art, 2015). The purpose of this study is to present the participation of the inhabitants of Nowy Port in cultural events organised in the district, and its determinants, and to record the demands concerning the distribution of information about the said events. The study is based on a survey conducted in Nowy Port in June 2015. The questionnaires were filled in by 96 male and 104 female inhabitants of the district, the majority of which were middle -aged, with secondary, basic vocational or higher education. 1 More than 50% of the interviewees earned their income from a permanent job, while at least one household member of one in four respondents received retirement or disability pension (fig. 2). The questionnaire included 41 questions divided into 4 thematic groups (Appendix 1). Most of them were closed -end questions with a limited number of possible answers, in several cases, however, the interviewees had the opportunity to supply their own answers. The further parts of the study discuss the results of the analysis of collected data, following the same order of issues as in the survey: subjective sense of bond with Nowy Port as district of residence, district attractiveness factors, hierarchy of needs concerning the inhabited space and, finally, participation in culture and its determinants. Struktura płci w próbie 48% 53% kobiety mężczyźni Gender proportions in the sample 48% 53% 1 The participation of particular age groups in the population of adult male and female inhabitants of Nowy Port, according to data collected in 2014, is different from the group that participated in the research: people under 30 represented 16.3% of the group, 30–59-year-olds – 50.5% and people over 60 – 33.1% (Otwarte Dane 2015). The overrepresentation of middle-aged people at the expense of the elderly should be taken into consideration while interpreting the results of the conducted study. 5 men women Struktura wykształcenia w próbie 40,20% 25,30% 20,60% 6,20% 3,10% 4,10% podstawowe gimanazjalne zasadnicze średnie policealne wyższe zawodowe Levels of education in the sample primary school 6.20% lower secondary school 3.10% basic vocational school 25.30% secondary school 40.20% vocational college 4.10% university 20.6% Struktura wiekowa próby badawczej 66,90% 16,00% 17,10% do 29 lat 30 - 60 lat powyżej 60 lat Age structure of the research sample under 29 16.00% 30–60 66.90% 60 and over 17.10% 6 Wszystkie źródła dochodu w gospodarstwie domowym respondenta 57,00% 25,50% 11,00% 4,50% 4,00% 4,00% 2,50% All sources of income in the interviewee’s household permanent job 57.00% old-age or disability pension 25.50% part-time job 11.00% unemployment benefit 4.50% parental allowance, family benefits 4.00% benefits or other social security funds 4.00% other 2.50% Fig. 2. Characteristics of the research sample Source: own study based on the survey results 7 Subjective sense of bond with Nowy Port as district of residence The research shows that interviewees are strongly attached to their home district. Almost 90% of the respondents confirmed having an emotional bond with Nowy Port and as many as half of them strongly agree with that statement (fig. 3). Only a handful of interviewees did not identify with the statement “Nowy Port is my district,” demonstrating indifference or even dislike towards their place of residence. 51,80% 37,70% 9,00% 1,50% zdecydowanie tak raczej tak raczej nie zdecydowanie nie Fig. 3 Intensity of emotional bond with the home district Source: own study based on the survey results Absolutely 51.80% I think so 37.70% I don’t think so 9.00% Definitely not 1.50% Answers to the question concerning the level of satisfaction with living in that district were more ambiguous. 80% of the respondents declared to be satisfied, but one person in five expressed doubt (fig. 4). 8 39,20% 38,70% 18,10% 4,00% zdecydowanie tak raczej tak raczej nie zdecydowanie nie Fig. 4. Level of satisfaction with living in Nowy Port Source: own study based on the survey results Absolutely 39.20% I think so 38.70% I don’t think so 18.10% Definitely not 4.00% In the event of being able to choose one's place of residence, less than two thirds of the respondents would decide to stay in Nowy Port (fig. 5). Therefore, one may infer that life in this part of Gda ńsk, especially in terms of practicality, has certain drawbacks which, despite the interviewees’ bond with the district, could incline them to consider moving away. 35,40% 27,60% 23,40% 13,50% zdecydowanie tak raczej tak raczej nie zdecydowanie nie Fig. 5. Declared desire to remain in Nowy Port in the event of being able to choose one's place of residence Source: own study based on the survey results Absolutely 27.60% 9 I think so 35.40% I don’t think so 23.40% Definitely not 13.50 % It should be noted that almost half of the respondents have lived in that district since they were born, which attests to a certain sedentariness. As regards the respondents’ age, among the “native” inhabitants of Nowy Port, one can note an even distribution of age groups, with a slight advantage of younger people, especially over the elderly (fig.