Listen to the new Arqus Knowledge Pills podcast episode: Why are people moving back to the city?

How do our housing needs evolve as we move through different stages of life? What happens when the quiet life in the suburbs no longer fits the reality of aging or raising a family? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Katarzyna Kajdanek discusses her work in this episode of Knowledge Pills.

From the initial allure of a garden and extra space to the logistical exhaustion of car dependency, this episode explores the “life-course perspective” of housing. Professor Kajdanek outlines how suburban environments, often designed for young families, can become sites of isolation for teenagers and hurdles for seniors. She provides a deeper understanding of the “return to the city” phenomenon, where accessibility and independence become more valuable than a suburban backyard.

In this episode we discuss Prof. Kajdanek’s research into reurbanization and the challenges of aging in suburban Poland. She offers insight into why the suburban dream doesn’t always match reality, touching on surprising factors like environmental quality, social inequality, and the shifting definitions of success for newer generations.

About the speaker:

Katarzyna Kajdanek is an Associate Professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Wrocław. Her research focuses on the social-spatial manifestations of urbanization processes and issues of regional and local identity. She is particularly active in the field of applied social sciences, investigating how people move between cities and suburbs across their lives—and why. 

The episodes of the Arqus Knowledge Pills are published on a regular basis and can be subscribed to on Spotify and other platforms: