Social-Ecological Urbanism as a Research Perspective to Analyse Transportation Inequalities in the Region of Łódź, Poland

The systems perspective enables the understanding of complex transformations which take place in urban regions. Social-ecological urbanism is an analytical methodology that integrates the systems perspective and unpacks relationships between the social-ecological and socio-technical subsystems of urban regions. In this article, we look for the most suitable approach to analysing the transformations of a tramway system and its impacts on public transportation inequalities in the metropolitan region of Łódź, Poland. As a departure point, we use the classic methods of communicative planning theory. The presented method uses a detailed case study analysis that carefully follows all the activities, stakeholders, and processes. We complement this approach by looking at the ongoing transformations of transportation equity through the lens of socio-ecological urbanism and by analysing the stakeholders’ roles and attitudes within the process. Our analysis indicates the role of public participation in the process, which affected and strengthened the transformations. This approach is greatly enhanced by the application of the social-ecological urbanism framework, with its analysis of services performed by various system components. Understanding their specific roles helps in planning future redevelopment. Our key finding is the necessity of combining communicative planning methods with strategic planning of the systems transformation process.