Attitudes toward newcomers from the city. The case of urban-rural fringe of Krakow

Anxiety to do with changes or novelty is one of the elements that expresses an individual’s attitude. Such anxiety can elicit a subjective evaluation of a phenomenon or a person.. Thus, the respondents were asked the question: Are you afraid of newcomers from the city? However, the majority did not express such anxiety; only 5% of respondents answered “definitely yes.” Some fears were expressed by 9.0% of respondents, whereas almost 46.0% were rather not afraid, and 32.0% were definitely not afraid of the newcomers.

The answers did not vary in relation to the distance from Krakow; however, differentiation was observed even among respondents living within one zone. Among the inhabitants of municipalities neighbouring Krakow, respondents from Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce were the least afraid of newcomers (1.4%), whereas almost 6% of respondents from Mogilany municipality expressed anxiety due to new residents. The share of respondents declaring they are definitely afraid of newcomers was 1.5% in Brzeznica, but 12.0% in Gdow. At the same time, when compared to the other investigated municipalities, Gdow municipality was characterized by the smallest number of respondents who expressed a firm lack of fear toward immigrants from the city (7%) (Fig. 2). The answers from the respondents from the most distant municipalities – Suloszowa and Tokarnia – were less diverse. In Suloszowa less than 10.0% of respondents declared concerns about newcomers, whereas in Tokarnia it was 15.0%.

Figure 2

A thorough analysis shows that Gdow, characterised by the highest proportion of respondents who are anxious about newcomers from the city, is a rural municipality that has been experiencing a significant inflow of urban population within recent years. The share of households with an income from agricultural activities was 83.1% in 2010 (GUS 2010). Simultaneously, the average net migration rate for the years 2002–2012 reached 4.4%o. On the other hand, the other municipalities with significant proportions of households earning income from agricultural activities namely: Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce (91.7%) and Suloszowa (91.3%), noted very low net migration rates: 0.86%o and -0.04%o respectively (Table 1).

Table 1

Share of households earning income from agricultural activities, mean urban to rural areas net migration rate for the years 2002–2012, share of respondents working in agriculture

In three out of the researched municipalities almost half of respondents declared that they worked in agriculture: Gdow, 47%; Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce, S5%; and Suloszowa, 44.5%. Hence, it seems worthwhile to compare the opinions of respondents working and not working in agriculture (Fig. 3).

Figure 3

Respondents who worked in agriculture declared they had concerns about newcomers from the city more often than others. They also constituted the majority within the group of respondents who gave unspecified answer.

Among farm owners, those who had large farms exhibited the most fear of newcomers (Fig. 4). Strong concerns were declared by 23% of respondents who owned farms larger than 10 ha.

Figure 4

Impediments encountered by farmers due to the increase of built-up areas were divided into two groups:

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infrastructural: difficult access to fields (new fences); construction sites on, so far, unused plots; narrow public roads; obstruction of so called private access roads; construction of residential buildings within a short distance of livestock buildings and agricultural buildings (inter alia manure storage facilities, silage silos);

The other question designed to evaluate attitudes toward newcomers was: Did you ever feel that the new inhabitants consider themselves “better” than others? (Fig. 5). Results show that direct contact with newcomers seemed to arouse certain fears. A positive answer was given by 26% of respondents, regardless of the fact that only 14% answered that they have concerns about newcomers from the city. The largest proportion of respondents that shared negative feelings were found in Gdow, 41%; and Mogilany, almost 34%; whereas the lowest were in Brzeznica, 16.5%; Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce, 16.9%; and Suloszowa, nearly 20.6%.

Figure 5

Respondents from the Mogilany and Gdow municipalities, who have experienced the highest net migration during the last 10 years, were most exposed to contact with new inhabitants (see Table 1). This frequency of contact with new neighbours, as well as certain assumptions, may shape prejudices and fears. In contrast, little contact with newcomers from the city resulted in less defined answers among respondents from Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce and Suloszowa.

Taking into account another variable – income – sheds new light on the analysis of the answers to the above question (Fig. 6). The largest proportion of respondents who felt that newcomers consider themselves better, were those who declared the lowest income per capita in a household – below PLN 800 per month. Inhabitants earning PLN 1600–2400 per capita in a household were the least concerned about newcomers.

Figure 6

The diversity of answers due to income may be explained by the stereotype, which is well rooted among villages, of associating an urban origin with higher social status. Low income, contributing to low self-esteem, may even intensify this stereotype.

A strong attachment to land, often called patrimony, is observed in rural areas. The inhabitants of villages, particularly those in southern Poland, used to treat land as their sole source of food production, they were reluctant to part with it and rather tended to pass it down from generation to generation.Therefore, an attempt was made to investigate the attitudes of indigenous inhabitants toward newcomers from the city. An indirect question was asked: Would you mind selling your building plot to a person coming from the city? The answer to such a question may also indicate acceptance (or its lack) of having an immigrant from the city as a neighbour (Fig. 7).

Figure 7

More than 18% of respondents declared that they would not sell their building plot to a person from the city. This proportion was larger than for the question on fear of immigrants, where 14.3% of respondents answered that they were afraid of newcomers. Likewise, the proportion of undeclared respondents was higher, 13.7%, versus almost 8% for those who had no opinion on concerns about immigrants. At the same time, the distribution of answers by municipality forms an interesting pattern. The largest group of respondents who declared a readiness to sell their building plots came from Gdow. Although only 3% definitely agreed with it, it should be stressed that they were the same respondents who expressed the most of fear of newcomers from the city. Presumably, the economic factor is of a greater importance than anxiety. The opposite situation was observed in the Tokarnia municipality. Here up to 18.5% of respondents declared that they would not sell their building plot to a newcomer from the city (rather no, 10.5%), whereas only 5.5% expressed strong fears toward new residents (rather yes, 9.5%). The share of declared answers was highest in Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce – almost 50%. The answer “definitely yes” was dominant, 35.7%, however the proportion of those who responded with “definitely no” was also significant – 11.6%.

Respondents assessed the level of newcomers’ integration with their new place of residence. They were asked the question: Are the new inhabitants willing to integrate and identify with the village? (Fig. 8). Inhabitants of the Mogilany municipality experienced the least amount of effort by the new residents in trying to integrate; only 24% of respondents noticed such efforts. In contrast, more than half of respondents from Gdow municipality experienced a willingness by newcomers to integrate with the new place of living. Such a difference in perceptions among respondents may derive from the specific features of these two municipalities. The rural character of the Mogilany municipality has undergone substantial transformation. For many years suburbanisation processes have been affecting the functional and spatial structure of municipality. An intensive inflow of urban population, whose needs are limited to residential functions, may intensify the sense of a lack of willingness when integrating the new and the old residents. On the other hand, the buildings in Gdow are dispersed, with new inhabitants building their houses among the existing ones, and the greater distance from Krakow forces newcomers to fulfil part of their needs in the places they are living; thus, they have more possibilities to make new contacts and integrate with the local population.

Figure 8

The perception of a newcomers’ integration and identification with a new place of residence is also affected by how long the respondent has lived in the villages under research (Fig. 9). Respondents who had lived in a certain village for the shortest period of time declared that they had had very few experiences proving that newcomers are willing to integrate and identify with a new place. Such judgements of newcomers may result from the respondents’ own behaviours and distrust about integrating at the beginning of their own lives in the village. Due to their personal experiences they might be more critical of other new inhabitants, including those coming from the city.

Figure 9

The inhabitants en the researched municipalities assessed if there was a dependency between the inflow of newcomers from the city and the disappearance of regional culture and tradition. A positive answer to the question, Will the inflow of people coming from outside the village cause the disappearance of regional culture and tradition?, was given by 18% of respondents, out of whom 5% definitely agreed with such an opinion (Fig. 10). However, significant differences occured between municipalities. In Gdow a positive answer was given by one-third of respondents (definitely yes was more than 11%). Despite the fact that a substantial proportion of inhabitants from this municipality shared the view that the newcomers were eager to integrate and identify with the village, they see no influence of this in the maintaining of regional culture and tradition. The smallest number of respondents who recognised a relationship between the inflow of urban population and disappearance of tradition and culture came from Igolomia-Wawrzenczyce, Mogilany, and Brzeznica municipalities. Respondents with unspecified views comprised the largest group in Mogilany municipality (30%).

Figure 10

The perception of the strength of urban norms that are being brought by newcomers from the city was compared with indigeneous inhabitants’ engagement in different types of social activities (Fig. 11).

Figure 11

Only a slight difference is visible between the opinions of inhabitants who are socially engaged and those who are not engaged. Undecided answers were recorded more frequently among inhabitants who do not engage in the social life of a village, 18.5%, versus more than 14% for those socially engaged. The latter group was clearer about the dependency between the inflow of newcomers from the city and the disappearance of tradition – nearly 22% versus 17% among those not socially engaged.