How to Deal with Crisis? Place Attachment as a Factor of Resilience of Urban–Rural Communes in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The phenomenon of place attachment as a community resilience determinant requires a detailed study and, as such, is not sufficiently explored in the literature. This study analyses both resilience determinants and resilience tools in order to provide local communities with optimum courses of action and decision makers with postulates concerning local development policies. Our goal is to determine the effect of place attachment on the activity of the local community in the process of the reconstruction of a local territorial unit following a crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) situation, as well as determine the symptoms of the crisis exemplified by urban–rural communes in Poland. Empirical research was carried out with regard to all 87 urban–rural communes in Poland with their seat in a small city with district rights. The respondents in the survey included individuals in governance positions: mayor/deputy mayor/secretary. Comparative analyses were performed on the entire group by juxtaposing communes located in peripheral regions (19 units) of the Eastern Poland Macroregion and the remaining communes (68). In light of the empirical research, communes located in Eastern Poland’s peripheral regions were more severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis than ones situated elsewhere in Poland. In urban–rural communes located in peripheral regions, actions supporting the “ability to absorb” shocks are taken more frequently than those promoting “positive adaptability in anticipation of, or in response to, shocks”. Less frequent were proactive measures of innovative nature, involving “restoration and use” of the existing local resources, e.g., new methods of the use of natural resources by the households or new activities in the creative industry based on individual creativity, skills and talents. An analysis of all units reveals a generally low level of pro-resilience activities of the local communities in the communes investigated in the study except for the application of modern technologies/forms of remote communication. It was demonstrated that, in local communities with a high level of place attachment, activities aimed at building resilience are more frequent. For local governments, the results constitute proof of the importance of place attachment in building community resilience in local development policies. We should highlight the need for activities integrating urban and rural residents in urban–rural communes in order to create a shared space with which they could identify while strengthening bonds, thus raising the level of social capital. It is also necessary to look for ways to use IT, not only for communication processes, but also for managing crisis situations, in parallel with activities aimed at strengthening social capital.