An Estate as Perceived by Its Inhabitants: A Suburb in the City Center
An Estate as Perceived by Its Inhabitants: A Suburb in the City Center

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the results of research into the sense of connection felt by the inhabitants of theAbisynia housing estate in Poznań for their place of residence. In the interwar period, Abisynia representeda typical affluent suburb of a large city. Today it is surrounded by apartment buildings. The research was conductedusing a modification of Florian Znaniecki’s methodology, which was first applied in 1928. The methodologyand results are presented in comparison with Znaniecki’s classical research. New methodological elementswere employed, and the text indicates how they affected interpretation of the social processes taking placein a contemporary city. The inhabitants of Abisynia exhibited a very positive self-stereotype in their nearlyenthusiastic appraisal of themselves and their neighbors. They were less tolerant of other city dwellers and ofthe city authorities. The contemporary inhabitants of Abisynia believe themselves to be a part of a more localsocial organization, of a type promoted by Znaniecki nearly one hundred years ago.

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