New Indicators of Spatial Chaos in the Context of the Need for Retrofitting Suburbs

The article is dedicated to the phenomenon of spatial chaos in the suburban areas of Polish cities, which, due to uncontrolled scattering of buildings (urban sprawl), require urgent retrofitting. These activities should contribute to the gradual densification of buildings and the more frequent functioning of suburbanites in the local environment, close to the place of residence. The authors claim that the retrofitting of suburbs can be accomplished by impacting two dimensions of spatial chaos: limited pedestrian mobility around the place of residence (walkability) and low access to basic services. The article proposes a set of ten indicators and a synthetic index of spatial chaos that allow measuring the level of disorder in particular suburbs, and therefore on a smaller scale than a municipality, and at the same time refer to the features of the living environment typical of Polish suburbs. These indicators are a direct reference to the abovementioned dimensions of suburban spatial chaos and allow to estimate the degree of compactness of suburban settlements in its functional aspect. The research proved that the more sprawl-like features, the higher the level of spatial disorder.