Transformation of social space in the city on the example of Rzeszow street names

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present a consideration of the changes in the social space of Rzeszow in the last 50 years. The analyses will focus on changes in the names of Rzeszow streets. The starting point is the assumption that streets and their names are an important element of urban symbolic space. Street names are a reflection of the ideas and values preferred by residents. For the purposes of the study, two main types of street names were distinguished: socially marked and socially unmarked. The term "socially marked names" refers to names that are given or adopted by communities or groups of people, usually to reflect their identity, history, culture or values. The analysis covered the level of saturation of street names with meaningful names, the main categories of meaningful names, and the spatial variation in the occurrence of meaningful names.