Some problems of defining geographical notions related to urbanisation processes = Niektóre problemy definiowania pojęć geograficzno-osadniczych związanych z urbanizacją

This paper attempts to review and clarify some fundamental concepts of settlement geography, present in geographical and sociological literature. The aim is achieved, among others, by means of identification of attributes of urbanization.

Two meanings of 'urbanization' are distinguished. Urbanization sensu largo is a more general term and does not necessarily result in a settlement to become a town. Rather, it is related to evolutionary changes in societies at higher level of development and is the consequence of abandonment of agriculture-related professions and modernization. It is reflected in change in life style and quality and as such is best seen in development of technical infrastructure and transformation of physiognomy of settlements. It occurs in places where urban style of everyday life becomes more and more common. Hence, urbanization sensu largo may be present in any type of settlement and is not dependent on population size, its internal diversity and location of a given settlement in the regional settlement pattern. By contrast, urbanization sensu stricto is restricted to specific locations within urban or non-urban space and leads to the development of actual towns. Each type of urbanization will result in the origin of specific settlement landscapes.

Five attributes of urbanization sensu largo have been identified. These are economical (employment outside agriculture), social (change in lifestyle), demographical (transformation of population characteristics), infrastructural and technical, and morphological (non-rural building style). As a consequence of all these changes, town-like settlements may originate.

If one accepts that the notion 'urbanization' is broader in its scope than 'urban character', then the presence of attributes of urbanization sensu largo, although necessary, is not sufficient to achieve 'urban character'. A town has to satisfy a larger number of criteria, which are not obligatory for urbanized settlements. Urbanization sensu stricto embraces ten attributes that may be understood as components of an operational definition of 'urban character'. This implies that a settlement has to possess each of these ten to become fully urban. Five attributes have already been listed above and are common to both types of urbanization, although threshold values of respective indexes may be higher and morphological attribute now involves presence or urban landscape. The remaining five attributes are functional (diversity of economic background and employment structure), centrality, social consciousness (local community has to perceive the settlement to be a town), spatial structure (adequate density, compaction), and size.

Identification of attributes of urbanization may form a basis to recognize specific types of settlements.