Malgorzata TOMCZAK
Great projects
One of the most important grand projects for Krakow was the so-called Regulatory Plan of Greater Krakow. In 1909, the City Council, under pressure from public opinion, decided to hold an urban planning competition for the concept of developing the new districts annexed to Krakow. The president at the time was Juliusz Leo.
Today we return to the subject of grand designs. In Cracow, a new district - Wesoła - is being created on the grounds of the former University Hospital. In Wroclaw, New Żerniki has been being designed for more than a decade, Elbląg is still conducting its retroversion.
We also present the project of a great and spectacular transformation of the Museum of Photography - a new stage is opening for this small and provincial until recently institution: three branches and a proper place on the map of Polish museology. Such development of an institution in such a short time is hard to find in Poland.
Big projects require big visions. These, in turn, require time. It is not enough to act in accordance with the law, because this is not another developer's estate with a square in the middle and parking lots all around. In addition to public consultations, it's worth reaching for tools such as urban planning workshops or an urban planning competition. They give an idea of how to define the local plan. They show what the possibilities are in shaping the spatial-use plan. Wroclaw has benefited from this, and more recently Dabrowa Gornicza. Krakow has not benefited so far. However, there is still time (but also hope, after all, the one dies last) to follow in the footsteps of Kraków's great presidents.
