Alicja: It's easier to make changes with new developments - but what are the plans for existing developments? You can read in the Strategy that the zones most threatened by the effects of climate change include the densely built-up areas of southern Praga-North and western Praga-South, Zoliborz and the eastern part of Mokotow, where both heat islands and the problem of flooding occur. In such locations, are only micro, spot measures involved, or are larger infrastructure solutions being considered?
Marlena: We act on both the micro and macro scales. Greenery will not take care of all the problems for us. In places that are prone to flooding during floods, additional walls and barriers are being built. In Praga-North, we are rebuilding the Szczecińskie Coast and the Hel Coast (from Okrzei Street to the Gdański Bridge). Flood protection is being built - concrete fortifications, which will also allow additional mobile dams to be erected in case of emergency. This will protect residents, their belongings and floodplains in case of increased water levels.
We are analyzing where, in densely built-up parts of the city, "hard" pavements can be removed and replaced with greenery or surfaces that are more permeable to water.
We implement the ideas of a city with local centers, services, and jobs on site. We promote them in the framework of the Warsaw Neighborhood projects. For mainly post-industrial areas, we draw up concepts for multifunctional areas of the city. We plan not only residential houses on them, but also schools, kindergartens and other public facilities, as well as squares, parks and plazas. We have such studies ready, among others, for the areas of Szwedzka Street, Stare Świdry, the post-industrial areas of the former FSO Żerań or Żerań Port.
Retention basins are slowly becoming a standard in the design of new housing developments and office buildings. We observe this on the example of investments submitted to the Architectural Award of the President of the City of Warsaw. Investors and users of the Jasminowy Mokotow II housing development or the Vector+ office building boast of collecting and using rainwater.
In the case of public investments, we point out that energy production from renewable sources is possible and can reduce electricity bills. For example, a wind turbine is in operation at the Służewski House of Culture at 15 Bacha Street.
panorama of Warsaw from the Praski Port side
Alicja: The recurring failures of city infrastructure [heating network, sewage system], despite the rather high investment in modernization, are worrying. Is the city interested in local, easier-to-maintain solutions?
Marlena: The failures of district heating networks are especially related to old pipe sections. The companies that supply hot water to our homes are responsible for investments and repairs.
An analysis of the causes of the failure of the sewage transmission network from the left bank to the right bank and on to the Czajka sewage treatment plant is underway. Everything points to mistakes that were made at the design and construction stage. Arguably, it is better to have several such facilities, rather than one so large that serves most of the city. The South sewage treatment plant in Zawady is working flawlessly and meets the needs of residents and users of the southern part of Warsaw on the left bank of the Vistula.
Alicja: If the bleakest scenario comes true, i.e. the average annual temperature will rise by almost 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, areas such as Zielony Ursynów will turn into Warsaw's Venice. Do you see opportunities to flexibly adapt such areas to the new situation? Or are we betting on an intra-urban climate migration scenario?
Marlena:I am in favor of thinking globally, but solving problems locally. If this turns out to be impossible on a small scale, you have to look for other solutions - on a city-wide scale.
I hope that Green Ursynów will never become similar to Venice, and that the streets there will not turn into canals. I am convinced that right there many decisions and investments made locally and with the participation of residents will help solve the problems that can be seen with the naked eye after heavy rain. Less concrete and asphalt, more green areas, rain gardens that will keep the water in place and not push it onto roads and sidewalks, leading to local flooding, will save us from Venice in Warsaw.
Alicia: The strategy was adopted relatively recently, and planning is a long-term process. Do the already adopted local development plans contain any "anti-crisis" guidelines? If so, which ones?
Marlena: As I mentioned, green and blue infrastructure are among the priorities in both the new Warsaw study and the development plans we are working on. The issues of large green areas or water retention reservoirs are important. That's why model housing estates with low, two-story buildings are now being built on the land under the Skocznia (between Skarpa Warszawska, Wilanowska Avenue, and Gen. Sikorski Avenue). Biologically active areas on native land on them account for as much as 60 percent. Residents of these houses have a park at their disposal, and a pond serves as a retention basin. "Green thinking" can also be seen, for example, in the plan of Stegien, in large housing estates made of large plates, or in the plan of the Sluzewska Valley park, which adjoins a busy thoroughfare on one side and blocks of flats built with "H" frame technology on the other. The Sluzewiec canal flows through it, which in times of heavy rains flooded the nearby neighborhood.
Some of these plans were enacted in 2008. They make good parts of the city to live in, which are doing a great job today of being well adapted to climate change.
Alicia: What will the Warsaw Sustainable Building Standard be?
Marlena: Developing the Sustainable Building Standard is a process. We are checking on specific projects how the criteria and the evaluation sheet we already have work. We examine investments, buildings, neighborhoods, and even parks entered in our competition Architectural Award of the President of the City of Warsaw for climate-responsible solutions. We take into account the development and use history of the plot. Biodiversity, management of water on the site and in the building, reduction of the heat island effect are important. We should check the number of trees before and after the development, water retention within the plot boundaries. We assess whether the site is accessible, if there are fences, whether they are openwork and with facilities for small animals. We examine whether there are green roofs, and if so, what kind - extensive or intensive? We take into account the broad criterion of mobility, accessibility to public transportation, pedestrian and bicycle traffic, parking for cars and for bicycles.
The potential of a building to change its function is also important. For example, can an office building, if it turns out that we have too many or too many of them concentrated in a small area, be converted into a hotel or apartments to create amixed-use space, developed in a more diversified way.
Thewhole investment process is also about minimizing negative environmental impacts, aiming for a closed-loop economy. If the change in function also requires demolition, preferably as little as possible, the rubble and demolition materials should be reused, preferably on site (e.g., rubble as aggregate). There are many more of these criteria that facilitate the eco-assessment of buildings: energy efficiency,air tightness of buildings, reflectivity of sunlight on the roof and facade, shading elements to prevent overheating in summer, type of heating and ventilation, emissions, energy efficiency, management of water consumption (whether some of it is in a closed loop), light pollution and so on.
These examples show how broad the issue of sustainable design and construction is. The climate is changing, cities and buildings need to better respond to the challenges of today.
The green roof of the UW Library and Vistula
Alicia: If so, does the City have the tools to support modern technology to counter the effects of climate change, such as facades or paving slabs that collect rainwater?
Marlena: A simpler way to collect and use rainwater is rain gardens, green areas, basins adjacent to trees, retention basins. Less concrete, more greenery - next to houses, in parking lots, in residential areas!
Alicia: The mentioned reuse of rubble is one of the solutions in the spirit of the 3Rs (build less, use as long as possible, revitalize). When new urban developments or building permits are issued, is it realistic to apply pressure to use this type of solution, including adaptation?
Marlena: In various urban developments we already apply the principle: use what you can find on site and what you can. Produce as little waste as possible. Recycle the recovered elements. Use them again. One of the latest examples is the aforementioned EKOpark in Ursus on Kazimierza Gierdziejewskiego Street. Construction waste (rubble) found on the plot was milled and used as a foundation for park paths with mineral and permeable surfaces. During the modernization of a neglected square on Karol Szymanowski Street in Praga-North, we used already existing landscaping elements, such as bicycle racks. After renovation, they were reinstalled. The materials used are selected in such a way (wood, steel) that in the future they will not end up in the trash, but will be used within the framework of a closed (circular) economy.
Alicia: Speaking of the climate, it's hard not to mention transportation in the city. What changes in this area can we expect?
Marlena: We are betting on the development of rail transportation - the expansion of the subway and streetcar lines - as well as a modern fleet of buses. The low- and zero-emission ones are arriving. A Clean Transportation Zone will be created. It is to cover Nowy Świat Street (from Jerozolimskie Avenue to the north), Krakowskie Przedmieście, as well as the Old Town area between Miodowa, Schiller, Bonifraterska, Świętojerska, Franciszkańska, Koźla, Mostowa and Bugaj streets up to the Royal Castle (to the Śląsko-Dąbrowski bridge). As Rafał Trzaskowski, Warsaw's mayor, said: "Warsaw is suffocating from cars. Climate change and smog are a real threat, hence the significant changes in transportation policy.
An example of thinking of a city to be more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, and greener, is the announced reconstruction of the so-called Five Corners Square at the intersection of Krucza, Bracka, Chmielna, Zgoda and Szpitalna streets.
Alicja: Between 2021 and 2022, Poland is to receive 18.9 billion euros to combat the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Officially, it is said to be money for "green transformation," i.e., among other things, sustainable mass transport and infrastructure promoting active mobility (cycling and walking). If such additional funds were to come to the city, what would you allocate them to in the first place?
Marlena: I would spend the money earmarked for green transformation on eliminating stove-burners as soon as possible and supporting lighting and heating systems that use renewable energy. I would encourage the establishment of new parks, expansion of bicycle paths, and facilitation of pedestrian traffic. Investment in public transportation and its preference for traffic would reduce smog. Private car owners would find that it is faster and more convenient to commute by subway, streetcar, train or electric bus.
In fact, all this is already being done, but big and additional money would significantly accelerate the process of transforming Warsaw into a greener, safer and healthier city.
interviewed: Alicja GZOWSKA
Illustrations courtesy of theCity of Warsaw
