Contemporary Directions of Transformations in the Settlement and the Landscape of Rural Areas in the Silesian Lowland

Janusz Łach,Barbara Szczepańska

doi:10.2478/quageo-2020-0017

Abstract

Abstract Rural areas of the Silesian Lowland, undergoing social and economic transformations today, have had a strong impact on the formation of the region's settlement landscapes. Political and economic changes after 1989 have affected the development of rural areas, in particular of ‘privileged’ settlements for which the proximity of towns and a trunk road are favourable factors. The result of these seemingly positive factors is the escape of young people (potential farmers) to the cities and an influx of new settlers. This affects social behaviour and activity, as well as the visual rural landscape, creating suburban zones with residential and leisure functions. The village seems to have lost its typical character but has it really? The subject of the research is, therefore, an analysis of changes in the spatial and social structure of a rural village as exemplified by Borek Strzeliński, which allows setting out its functions. The research issue is to determine the level of social activity of rural residents and their attitude towards the local cultural heritage, which influences their identity and the value of the landscape. The use of integrated methods of field work based on a free sociological survey has allowed identifying the spatial directions of village development and threats resulting from divided social activity.

Highlights

In 1947, a resettlement programme called the ‘Vistula action’ took place and it included the Silesian Lowland
Observations by the authors have contributed to Eleonora Gonda-Soroczyńska’s (2009) question, ‘Is this still a village?’ To what extent does what is taking place in the cultural landscape of rural areas fit into the classic definition of a village? The research question posed by the authors is to define the rural landscape in both physiognomic and social terms and to attempt to define a new model of describing a village in the Silesian Lowland
The subject of the study is an analysis of the change within the spatial and social structure of the ‘privileged’ villages using the example of Borek Strzeliński as well as determining the landscape and settlement functions by analysing the social activity of the inhabitants and their experience of local cultural heritage in the context of the disappearance of rural features under the influence of urbanisation

Summary

Introduction

In 1947, a resettlement programme called the ‘Vistula action’ took place and it included the Silesian Lowland. An important element influencing the settlement structure of the village is a trunk road that enabled contact with the urban areas of Wrocław, Brzeg, Oława or Strzelin, affecting social and cultural development and the desire to improve professional qualifications to achieve social advancement This process had an impact on the creation of workers and peasant-workers with a broader view of the world and an influx of intelligentsia, which perhaps was, and certainly is important in perceiving the existence of the rich cultural heritage of Borek Strzeliński. The forest stand is made up of deciduous trees, mainly willows, poplars with elder and hawthorn bushes; – Settlement landscape – compact occupying the central part of the village surrounded by agricultural fields visible in the aerial photograph from 1966 (Fig. 2) It is represented by brick buildings of two types, residential and farm buildings, in an area extending up to 20 ares.

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Conclusions