Centra handlowe wobec miejskiej przestrzeni publicznej – nie tylko imitacja[Shopping centres and urban public space - not only imitation]

Contemporary, postmodern cities are cities of consumption, rather than of production. While for industrial cities typical spatial model was a factory, for consumption cities it is a shopping centre – a place where people can meet all their needs, not only by shopping and entertaining, but also by social interaction and creating and confirming their identity. Although shopping centers are privately owned, they are perceived and used as public spaces – mostly because they look like traditional urban spaces (shopping streets, markets etc.). Shopping centres not only visually imitate public space, but also functionally substitute it, and physically and symbolically appropriate. Shopping centers are also major competitors for traditional shopping streets, both in economic and social dimension, also by increasing standards and users’ expectations. The aim of the paper (in Polish) was to analyse relations between shopping centres and urban public space based on the results of qualitative studies on Warsaw shopping centres.