The City of Lodz from the Perspective of Generation Z: Perception and Assessment of Lodz Urban Space

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to present the actual image of the city of Lodz as perceived by its young residents and users (students in their final years at the University of Lodz and the Lodz University of Technology). The article utilizes a questionnaire-based interview, which primarily employed open-ended questions strictly related to the city’s image and the image of Lodz residents, the city’s spatial symbols, and its personification. The survey results reveal a vision of the city in which negative characteristics clearly dominate. Furthermore, the projection of the city’s characteristics onto those of its residents was also observed. In the respondents’ minds, the residents of a poor city are also perceived as poor and sad. The results obtained, though mostly pessimistic, constitute an important starting point for changing this situation. In the students’ assessments, the image of Lodz, while undoubtedly enduring, is dynamic and subject to negotiation, as the respondents recognize not only the city’s difficult, working-class history but also its contemporary, creative potential. The study contributes to interdisciplinary urban studies by showing how young city residents give meaning to space by combining its material form with an affective interpretation.