A city in the process of revitalisation in the opinion of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Results of a pilot qualitative study

Abstract

The article presents the results of a qualitative pilot study conducted to reconstruct both the representation of the city from the perspective of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods (DN) in Łódź (Poland) and the configuration of its determinants. Exploration of the city, regulated by the principles of the qualitative content analysis method included exploratory walks (research participant + two students) and a discussion with a group of youth from DN – participants of a youth club established in one of the local educational institutions. The study results present a city full of spatial divisions in which the disadvantaged position of young people from DN becomes evident. The reconstructed picture of the relationship between space and places reveals discursive, cultural and economic mechanisms of extending the power of some groups of citizens over others, whose intersectionality in the era of intensification of revitalisation processes is reflected in the identity processes of these young people. The conclusions of the study encourage its continuation on a larger and more purposefully diverse research sample as well as a revitalised discussion around the role of social professions in revitalisation processes.