Introduction

According to forecasts for the years 2008–2035 made by the Polish Chief Statistical Office, Silesian Voivodeship will be the subject of dynamic demographic aging from now till the year 2035. Between 2009 and 2035 the percentage of elderly people in Silesia will rise from 17.2% to 28.2%, which means that in 2035 a little more than one fourth of the population in the Voivodeship will be men and women at the age of 60 plus. The demographic aging in Silesian towns will have a very similar dynamics – the percentage of people at this age in urban areas will rise to 28.3% (Waligórska et al. 2009).

Taking the forecasts into account, the demographic aging of different urban environments, such as, for example: large housing estates, some other settlements and town quarters (districts) should be expected. Such processes are shown by some Polish authors (Kowaleski 2006; Frąckiewicz 2004), as well as in the studies conducted by sociologists from Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Kabisch 2007; Haase et al. 2004). Considering also the fact that the older we are, the more time within a day we spend in our flat, the quality of life of the elderly should be correlated with their residential and urban environment. According to some Polish authors such correlation can be observed (Halicka 2004; Halicki 2010).