A 77-hectare South Park is planned in the chaotically developing neighborhoods of Gdansk. Only the seaside Reagan Park is larger. Although documentation is being produced, residents are still waiting for results on the ground. Green promises clash with urban reality: spatial chaos and a deficit of services.
Park Południowy is a new park planned for the southwestern part of Gdansk. However, it will not be created from scratch, but based on existing greenery and reservoirs. It is to stretch over an area of about 77 hectares, which will make it the second largest park in the city, after the seaside Reagan Park.
Instead of development - more greenery
The construction of the park was announced by Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, the mayor of Gdansk, in 2021 on the wave of the raging coronavirus pandemic. Previously, the park, according to zoning plans, had an area of 51 hectares. It was four years ago that the city decided to add 26 hectares of greenery at the expense of land for residential construction.
The epidemic showed that the need for close access to greenery is one of the key values for many of us, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz reasoned.
Perhaps the city also envied Gdynia, which created the Central Parkin the city center piece by piece between 2018 and 2023. The investment cost about PLN 83 million (we wrote about Gdynia's park here), and it wasn't created from scratch either - there were already green areas here.
The South Park area from a bird's eye view
photo Jerzy Pinkas/Gdansk.pl
The announcement of the construction of the park in Gdansk was followed by concrete actions, but despite the passage of time, the results are still not visible in the space. The architectural and landscape concept for Park Południowy, commissioned by the Office of the City Architect in 2023, was prepared by the Rayss Group studio (we wrote about the assumptions here). But the A2P2 studio had already handled the development for the area. Now the city is taking the next step - in August the tender for the project was awarded. The company selected was JAZ + Architects, which offered a price of PLN 2.68 million. The first studies will be ready in the first quarter of 2026.
South Park is to be a place for rest, sports and meetings - with ponds, alleys and natural character. This is an investment that will change the south of Gdansk for generations," commented Piotr Borawski, deputy mayor of Gdansk, on social media.
Green impulse or urban slice?
How much the investment, announced on a grand scale, will cost - the city still does not know.
The developed documentation will allow to determine the estimated cost of implementing all planned activities in the main part of the South Park. The funds will come in part from the city's budget and external funding obtained," explains Zygmunt Golab of the Gdansk Roads and Greenery Authority, which is responsible for the park's implementation.
Karol Spieglanin, president of the Forum for the Development of Gdansk Agglomeration (FRAG), says that while everyone will be happy to hear the slogan "we are building a great park," according to the organization, the decision to invest was not based on actual needs.
Gdansk's southern districts mainly lack order and services, allowing residents to meet their needs locally. And only secondarily greenery," Karol Spieglanin says in an interview with AiB.
And he adds that the priority should be street greenery, micro-parks, and not a huge park to which some residents will probably come by car, "and which will truncate the long-standing plans to build a real neighborhood center."
The south of Gdansk is the fastest growing part of the city, which badly needs a large, green public space. The South Park is to become a place for daily walks, activities and meetings of residents, while at the same time responding to the challenges of adapting to climate change. It's a space that will increase rainwater retention, protect local biodiversity and preserve valuable natural habitats," says Zygmunt Golab.
And he stresses that the city also sees other needs of the district - services or transportation.
We are working on their development, including a competition for the concept of the South Center, which was decided last November. The park is a complementary investment - because a high quality of life in the city is not only access to stores and roads, but also to nature and safe places for recreation, says Zygmunt Golab.
Yes, at the junction of the Jasien and Ujeścisko- -Łostowice districts - the South Center is planned, but the project still remains only on paper. At the end of 2024, the urban-architectural competition for the concept of shaping the Center South in Gdansk South was settled (more information here). No winner was selected, two second and two third prizes and an honorable mention were awarded. The results are to be used to prepare the assumptions of the local plan. The project would be carried out by a private investor under a public-private partnership formula (similar to the development of the northern tip of Granary Island).
South Park development boundary
photo: Gdansk City Hall
Similarly, the realization of the park is today a melody of the future: Gdansk Board of Roads and Greenery does not give specific dates. All that is known is that the park will be created in several parts "so that the investment can proceed smoothly and not block the entire area."
We can see actions towards the construction of the park, but they are heavily delayed," adds Karol Spieglanin. - I have the impression that we are more fond of chasing the rabbit than catching it, and many topics in the city are hype consulted and visualized, but not necessarily implemented.
