Between disorder and livability. Case of one street in post-socialist city

•We focus on the changes on one of the streets in the post-socialist city of Poznań.•With many new investments Poznań public spaces, streets and neighbouring areas keep changing their look.•We can observe simultaneously processes connected with disqualified places and efforts made to improve their quality.•’Livable places’ appear beyond anyone’s control, they are not addressed to all inhabitants.

Livable places are highly desired localities in modern cities. In some cities of the world such areas are being created and, in others, authorities, urban planners and physical planners discuss their formation. In this article, the authors join the discussion about livable places and analyze the case of a single street in a large Polish city. In their research they seek to establish the potential of this street as a livable place and, in consequence, identify the mechanism responsible for the emergence of ‘livable’ or ‘disqualified’ places within the Polish urban conditions. They differentiate between starting spatial potential (SSpP) and starting social potential (SSoP). By combining the two potentials, it is possible to determine the starting potential of a place (SSpP + SSoP = SPP). Having completed the analysis, the authors distinguish three possible ways in which livable places can appear in a city: by maintaining a balance, by building barriers and walls and creating conflicts, and as a product of uncontrolled processes in the city.