Second day of the Congress on Regeneration of Industrial Cities
The second day of the Industrial Cities Regeneration Congress was about the future. It was marked by a discussion of urban and spatial policies in the face of the new organization of industry, trends, communications and the demographic and social situation.
The thematic blocks discussed were:
- 200 Years of Industrial Lodz - Roads to the Future,
- The new life of post-industrial sites and objects,
- Functional links and mobility within cities and industrial conurbations. Demographic and social situation of industrial cities,
- Demographic and social situation of industrial cities,
- Cultural heritage as a revitalization resource,
- Agroculture and food production in cities.
lecture by Prof. Andrzej Klasik
photo: Dobrawa Bies
The plenary session, held in the Machinery Hall, titled Urban and Spatial Policies Toward a New Generation of Industry, began with Prof. Tadeusz Markowski reflecting on what public policy is. He emphasized the distinction of terms, saying that it is not power, but actions. Adam Drobniak, Ph.D., spoke about contemporary challenges and programs for post-pandemic reconstruction, and Prof. Andrzej Klasik and Florian Kuźnik discussed integrated approaches and remedial and pro-development regeneration.
The future of Wesola
At the same time, discussions and lectures were held in the following rooms. The Generator hosted an important conversation, not only for Krakow, on the revitalization of the Wesoła district. Moderator Tomasz Jankowski (Chairman of the Council of the Institute of Civil Communities) invited representatives of several Krakow institutions to the discussion, they were: Dr. Jan Pamuła (President of the ARMK Board), Ewa Kryglon from the Urban Lights studio and Dr. Michał Wiśniewski from the Cracow University of Economics and the Cracow Institute of Architecture.
Panel Revitalization of the Wesoła district in Krakow
from left: Tomasz Janowski, Dr. Jan Pamuła, Ewa Kryglon, Dr. Michal Wisniewski
photo: Dobrawa Bies
The interviewees began with a brief history of the Wesoła district in Krakow. Michal Wisniewski pointed out that we are not talking about a post-industrial heritage, but a long history dating back to the 11th century. Interestingly, Wesoła is located in the very center of Krakow, and half of its 10-hectare area is occupied by greenery. Until recently, the site was associated with the University Hospital and universities, and now that the area has been purchased by the city, Wesoła is becoming a key and strategic location for the development of Krakow. Ewa Kryglon, who is in charge of consultations with residents, noted that above all, they want the green areas to remain and want to be co-authors of the space. On the other hand, they fear excessive commercialization and developers.
What about the Wesoola of the future? What is the potential and what are the threats? - moderator Tomasz Janowski asked.
We have been given a beautiful area, there won't be another one like it in Krakow. We would like to bet on slow development (about 10 years) and create a district where it falls out to be. It has to be a district with diverse development, built to connect it with Grzegórzki and to be economically successful. The threat is expectations and economics. How to finance all this? - Jan Pamuła answered.
Wesoła's location on the map of Krakow, tells Dr. Jan Pamuła
photo: Dobrawa Bies
Krakow to the pandemic has seen a steady increase in tourists about 14 million in 2020, we have also seen an outflow of residents. We hope that Wesoła is an opportunity to introduce a sustainable development model that will cause an influx of residents. We want to avoid the Venice syndrome," said Michal Wisniewski.
The potential is the high involvement of residents, the hope is that the discussion will be continuous. Ideas from residents are also a big challenge, Ewa Kryglon added.
The modern city is a public domain. The paradox is that the district's potential is also its threat. Wesoła is the city's training ground. Wesoła's success will be the creation of a space for cultural life, nightlife, rest and recreation surrounded by greenery. The quarter should be the laboratory of a modern city. We need to be able to make a story about this place," the interviewees concluded.
Next we were able to listen to Gustaf Landahl 's presentation on transforming Stockholm into a green city, and Anita Lindahl Trosdahl talked about development strategies used in Oslo. She stressed the importance of NGOs, community conversations, ambassadors and sustainability.
Panel discussion entitled New life for brownfield sites and objects
photo: Dobrawa Bies
At the same time in the Machinery Hall, a panel entitled The New Life of Post -Industrial Sites and Objects led by Dr. Edyta Masierek continued. Her guests were Jacek Karnowski (president of Sopot), Konrad Pokutycki (CEO of BSH), Katarzyna Szymczak-Pomianowska (Sustainable Development Department, Wroclaw City Hall) Krzysztof Witkowski (CEO ofVirako) Henryk Wojciechowski (director of Vantage Development) and Marian Ziburske (CEO of Westminster Group). Participants talked about building for residents, not the developer, discussed rising real estate prices and stressed the importance of sustainable development.
development has a spiraling nature
After such an intense and knowledge-rich two days of meetings and discussions, there was a conclusion and closing of the Congress. We were able to listen to Fokke Moerel from the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV. She talked about transformation starting from the middle of the city and how to use empty space on the example of MVRDV's realization.
Mayor Marcin Krupa talked about the transformation of Katowice, and Dr. Andrzej Kassenberg spoke about how cities can be leaders in the transformation towards a climate-neutral economy and society.
The First Congress on Regeneration of Industrial Cities closed with a short concluding speech by Professor Jerzy Hausner. He pointed out that the event tries to connect what is a city in terms of walls and a city in terms of communities and residents.
For every city, we need to find its path to transformation, and the answer to the search for transformation is to discover the usefulness of every component of the productive potential and integrate it into a productive and developmental cycle - this process is regenerative in nature, Prof. Hausner said.
Prof. Jerzy Hausner
© OEES
The Chairman of the Program Council quoted the English term resilience, which is a combination of security, resilience and development. He stressed that we need to make a transformation first of all in ourselves and our way of thinking.
Development has a spiral nature. What pulls us upward can pull us downward under certain conditions. If we want to avert this process, we must find a new grammar for thinking about development and discover the process that regenerates us [...]. Of particular importance is open territorialization, based on diverse generating potential and only that which is locally rooted. Cities are to be generators of green energy. We need to find the answer to how to reconcile private investment, public investment, the development of public services, including health, education, culture and the municipal economy with high competencies to trigger the regeneration process," Professor Jerzy Huasner concluded.
The professor also invited to continue the conversation about the future of cities at the next Open Eyes Economy Summit, which will be held in Krakow on November 16 and 17 this year.
All sessions and speeches from the Congress are available on the YT channel of Regeneration of Industrial Cities.
Architecture and Business was one of the three main media partners of the Congress, and as a side event we also organized the Festival of Open Architecture Studios. The last day of FOPY is ahead of us, tomorrow at 1 pm the medusa group studio will open its doors. You are welcome!
We would like to remind you that the latest June issue of Architecture and Business is all about Lodz, and you can download it for freeHERE!
