Noise, solicitors, illegal trade and an increasing number of apartments for short-term rent - these are just some of the ills in downtown Gdansk. Residents saw hope for improvement in the creation of a Cultural Park, but the city of Gdansk unexpectedly put the draft resolution in a drawer two years ago. Now the idea is back and with it the questions: will it be possible to improve the quality of life in downtown Gdansk and stop the fleeing residents?
This is the second approach to creating a Cultural Park in Gdansk. The previous attempt, launched in 2021, came to nothing - and this despite the fact that the work was already advanced and the draft resolution was ready. At the time, the park was to cover the very center of the city, i.e. the area between Wapiennicza, Grodzka, Podwale Staromiejskie, Targ Drzewny, Wały Jagiellońskie, Okopowa, Podwale Przedmiejskie, Szopy, Szafarnia, Na Stępce streets.
The idea returns two years after the Cultural Park was abandoned
The idea was to organize the space of the City Center, but also to make life easier for local residents. The draft resolution, which officials eventually put, unfortunately, into a drawer, among other things, banned door-to-door sales, go-go club activities, was supposed to put an end to solicitors (they could operate only at the place of business). The provisions also limited the opening hours of food gardens - until midnight on Fridays and weekends, and until 10 pm on other days, which did not please pub and restaurant owners.
Although a lot of effort was put into the preparation of the draft resolution, numerous meetings, workshops and discussions were held in April 2023. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the mayor of Gdansk, announced that "there will be no Cultural Park for the time being." Among the reasons she cited were the renovation of the Long Embankment and the fact that due to staff shortages in the police, the regulations could not be effectively enforced anyway. However, there was speculation in the city that the main reason was somewhat different: the creation of the Cultural Park was opposed by downtown businesses, and the city bowed to their pressure.
Aesthetics will improve, some of the nuisance will remain
In May, announcing the return of work on the Park, the mayor of Gdansk said that while the Park "will not fix" all the ills of the heart of Gdansk, the city wants to clean up aesthetic issues with its help, such as those related to street trading around the former LOT building. What won't the park help with? In dedicating more apartments to rooms for tourists. Although the Ministry of Sport and Tourism is working on new regulations for short-term rentals, it is still unclear when municipalities will get the tools to regulate this issue.
What is known, however, is that the proposed boundaries of the Park will change. It will include the Main City, part of Granary Island and the Szafarnia and Ołowianka regions. Transit streets such as Waly Jagiellońskie and Podwale Przedmiejskie will be excluded, as well as a section of Ołowianka with a pumping station.
The city authorities announce that the resolution will help sort out the issues of aesthetics, meleks, and enable the introduction of uniform rules also on private land. Later in May, councilors will vote on a draft that will begin work on a new concept for the park.
The consultation process will then begin anew, and this means that the results in the space will have to wait a long time. The city is giving itself a year to work out new solutions with all interested parties. The trouble is that the Cultural Park is an undertaking that is needed yesterday.
