Marcin Wójcik
Articles
Geographia Polonica (2027) vol. 100, iss. 1, pp. i-xiv | 
Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0329
Abstract
This article examines the works of Norman Davies through the lens of geohistory, drawing on the traditions of Paul Vidal de la Blache and Fernand Braudel. Davies situates historical events within their geographical contexts – spatial, environmental, and place-based – highlighting the dynamic interplay between place and human agency. He incorporates concepts such as milieu and longue durée, while simultaneously emphasizing narrative plurality and historical contingency, thus presenting history as a kaleidoscope of intersecting scales and processes. Cities, regions, and landscapes are treated as active participants in historical development rather than as passive backdrops. Davies’s work demonstrates how mobility, trade, and cultural exchange shape both local and global histories, while geography structures opportunities as well as constraints. Ultimately, his approach bridges analytical and narrative methodologies, showing that space functions simultaneously as a framework for action and as a tool of historical interpretation. This perspective underscores the continuing relevance of spatial thinking for understanding past, present, and future historical processes.
Keywords: human geography, space, geohistory, geohistoriography
[marcin.wojcik@geo.uni.lodz.p], Department of Regional and Social Geography Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Lodz S. Kopcińskiego 31, 90-142 Łódź: Poland
Geographia Polonica (2016) vol. 89, iss. 2, pp. 169-186 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/GPol.0052
Abstract
The main aim of this paper is attempt to identify the effects of social and spatial transition in a specific area of peri-urban rural municipalities associated with large Polish cities (in this case: Łódź). The issues of social, economic, as well as landscape transformations of peri-urban areas are discussed very frequently in geographic, sociological and architectural studies. Unlike macro-scale studies, both Polish and foreign, micro-scale studies have shown that differences are even greater and concern neighbouring areas. As a result of the influx of new residents to suburbanising villages, long-time communities of agrarian origin evolve towards social and spatial disintegration. The different ways of life are manifested in different behaviour patterns and levels of territorial identity. Examples of studies on the evaluation of the local living environment show that the social coherence of the countryside is gradually weakening, resulting mostly from more and more varied lifestyles, social needs, and expectations towards their place of residence.
Keywords: peri-urban area, rural settlements, socio-spatial processes, Łódź Metropolitan Area
[marcin.wojcik@geo.uni.lodz.p], Department of Regional and Social Geography Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Lodz S. Kopcińskiego 31, 90-142 Łódź: Poland