Suburbanization: Community, identity and everydayness

The general goal of the presented project is to expand knowledge about the current process of suburbanization in the hinterland of the capital city. Research on suburbanization has so far been dominated by quantitative analyzes of basic processes (migration, construction, changes in landscape structures), which are viewed from the perspective of the metropolitan area. However, in an environment of dynamic change, under the influence of intensive migration, significant social transformations occur, the negotiation and creation of new identities, the re-evaluation of the relationship to the location and the (re)definition of the individual experience of home. The main goal of the project is therefore to analyze specific place-making processes and relationships in which individuals and groups of various sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, religiosity, social status, etc.) and related identities participate. These are further reflected in individual preferences, ideas or norms and confronted with the socio-cultural and institutional context in suburbia. The suburban space has a specific position in terms of socio-cultural aspects. On the one hand, a heterogeneous stream of immigrants with different experiences, worldviews and social status is evident, and on the other, there is a space where these incoming identities meet and interact with each other. The output of this interaction can often be an indeterminate hybrid conglomerate, or a transition to some kind of new form, an alloy, created by a combination of refurbishing these initial cultural elements. There is a negotiation and creation of new identities, a reevaluation of the relationship to the locality, the community, and a redefinition of the individual and collective experience of home. The central category of home is not a static, but, on the contrary, a processual – changing phenomenon.