Wspólnota mieszkaniowa jako przedmiot zainteresowania socjologii
Homeowner associations as a subject of sociological interest

Summary/Abstract: The article calls attention to homeowner association (HOA), that is a new organisational form of multi-family housing development. The main reason to take on this subject is a growing popularity of HOAs in Poland and world-wide. They are becoming a common element of urban landscape and their spread is described as the main institutional change in the city [Foldvary, 1994; Webster, 2002]. That raises questions: Are they really becoming the major components of the social, economic, and political system of cities throughout the world [Pacione, 2006]? The aim of the article is to present the aspects of HOA’s activity that can be a subject of sociological interest, especially urban sociology and sociology of organization. It focuses on the impact of HOAs on dwellers’, their civic angagement, govarnance process and the relations between HOA and it’s surroundings. Literature review indicates perspectives and arguments in the academic debate: shareholder democracy, club economy, private urban governance. The article also tries to determine if foreign schollars’ observations will be usefull in Polish context. The answear is based on the results of the cross-case study of seven HOAs, conducted by the Author.

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