The idea of returning trees to Krakow's Main Square, which is covered by a wide range of conservation provisions - from a local plan, a cultural park to a historical monument - is still a challenge. What can be done to speed up the process? The Greenery Board has come up with an idea.
The topic of the appearance of trees in Krakow's market square has been controversial until recently - on the one hand, it was met with overwhelming public support within the framework of the civic budget, on the other hand, comments on all the difficulties associated with introducing greenery to the area. After all, underneath the market's slab we have the basement where the museum is located. In addition, the market is protected by a number of conservation tools - local plans, the register of monuments, the cultural park and the Monument of History.
Trees in the Krakow market, however, would be nothing avant-garde - greenery in this part of the old city was still the norm in the 1960s, and the market was densely overgrown with trees. Krzysztof Kwarciak, the initiator of the project, referred to this period.
Trees are nothing new in the market space
© National Digital Archive
The plantings will provide some shade. With more trees on warm days, the Main Square will no longer be such a concrete pan. Increasing the biologically active area will cause a little less rainwater to run off into the sewer system, thus the changes will contribute to greater rain retention in a city center full of concrete. The social aspect of the project is also important," Krzysztof Kwarciak, initiator of the project in the civic budget, told A&B in an interview.
Questions still open are the selection of tree species, the timing of implementation, the use of solutions for the root ball, or, most importantly, the selection of the location of the trees. This is the problem that the Board of Urban Greenery in Krakow wants to solve.
Pots are located in places where trees have been proposed to be planted
photo by Wiktor Bochenek
prototyping the Krakow way
Tree pots appeared in Krakow's market square yesterday (September 7). The temporary installation is meant to show what the market could look like if trees were grown there.
Preliminary locations for the plantings have been determined, and until clear recommendations are made by the conservation services on the task, trees in pots will be set up in them, the Cracow Urban Greenery Board said in an official announcement.
In this prototyping process, it is worth asking a few questions - for example, why were pine trees, which are conifers, chosen in particular? The market in the planting of new trees will sooner see deciduous species than "conifers".
ZZM decided on coniferous trees, despite the talk of deciduous trees in this space
Photo: Wiktor Bochenek
It's equally difficult to understand how prototyping with small, unappealing pines that don't convey scale or provide shade to users would affect the decision of the Provincial Historic Preservation Officer. Moving the trees freely with pots is also out of the question, since their planting is dependent not on prototyping this solution, but on conservation justifications.
When will the trees appear in Krakow's Main Square? It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally - everything depends on conservationist arrangements. Placing pots in the square can hardly be considered an adaptive measure, as small pine trees do not even half reflect how important large trees would be for this space, for which we will wait for a while.
when will the planted trees in the market appear?
Photo by Ola Kloc
