Znaczenie innowacji technologicznych dla podnoszenia poziomu jakości życia mieszkańców miast — wybrane przykłady rozwiązań w polskich start-upach

The importance of technological innovations in raising the quality of life of city dwellers: Selected examples of solutions in Polish start-upsThe main goal of the study is to analyze technological solutions offered by start-ups, designed to im­prove the living standards of city dwellers. The text consists of two parts, theoretical and practical. In theoretical considerations, the author relies on selected literature items. The review of secondary sources first of all serves to define the concept of start-up, and then to expand and enrich the practical part with additional technological solutions for the described projects and this role is directly related to the purpose of the presented article. In the practical part, selected case studies were described and analyzed with reference to the results of the author’s own research. The research project was car­ried out by the author in 2016–2017 in cooperation with the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency. Its aim was to analyze the start-up ecosystem in Wroclaw and to try to find an answer to the question about the importance of start-ups for the quality of life of city dwellers. Recommendations for the local authorities in Wroclaw on how to support ventures in entering the market and remain­ing there were of additional value. The project consisted of three parts. The first two were analyses of secondary sources, on the basis of which the necessary information was collected related to the definition of a start-up company and the current situation of enterprises in Poland and Wroclaw, and quantitative research in the form of an online survey on asample of n=108 start-ups from Wro­claw. The last stage of the research project was the qualitative part. It was in the form of individual interviews with start-ups and industry experts. Seven respondents took part in this component of the study. The result of the research was acharacterization of the start-up environment in Wroclaw. Answers to the questions asked in the questionnaire, supplemented by expert interviews, allowed to determine, among others, the branches in which Wroclaw start-ups operate, to identify the products offered by them and to extrapolate the results of start-ups’ situation to the whole of Poland. Based on the obtained knowledge, it was possible to present the importance of technological solutions of individual start-ups for the quality of life of city dwellers. According to the results of own research and the analysis of secondary sources, it can be stated that the presence of startups in urban space improves the quality of life of city dwellers, while also supporting the construction of social capital.