Background

Łódź, the second largest urban centre in Poland, is in the running for the European Capital of Culture 2016. The city is an important cultural centre, internationally known for its Film School and Museum of Art, with the best collection of contemporary Polish art in the country. The city is thriving, with business rapidly developing, shifting away from the textile industry, which has been in decline since 1991.

Piotrkowska Street is one of the major tourist attractions in Łódź. Strolling down the Street, you may visit a number of pubs and restaurants, many designer shops and numerous street monuments. Numerous festivities, fairs, artistic events and sports competitions take place there. However, the city’s promenade faces many challenges. Impermeable street and pavement surfaces cause flooding during heavy rainfall; there is a lack of green spaces and safe, attractive playgrounds. The noise, and the mess which is made and left by pub or club visitors, frustrate the residents. Piotrkowska is even perceived by many inhabitants of Łódź as unsafe, particularly in the evening and at night.

Objectives

The first Future City Game in Poland has brought together representatives of the city authorities, academia, local community, business and various creative industries to work out the best solution to the challenges Piotrkowska Street will face in 10 years’ time. The game was co-organised by Łódź City Council and Łódź Integrated Restoration Institute.

Two days of brainstorming and research led to three ideas to revitalise Łódź promenade. The majority of participants agreed that the idea of an environment-friendly Piotrkowska most efficiently copes with the city’s challenges. Furthermore, the winning idea, Eco-Piotrkowska, has been incorporated into the official development strategy for the Street. Since Łódź is bidding for European Green Capital 2010, the winning idea will also be proposed to Łódź Municipality as one of the possible strategies to win the title.

Winning idea

Eco-Piotrkowska – The Longest Green Street in Europe

Eco-Piotrkowska envisages the future Piotrkowska as a green, ecological promenade allowing inhabitants and tourists to relax on public benches among trees and lawns cultivated by the local community. The idea is to change Piotrkowska street into the longest green street in Europe.

The changes brought by an environment-friendly street would reduce noise and contribute to the reduction of harmful gasses. The idea makes better use of roofs, using them to produce oxygen – a green roof of 15m2 produces oxygen sufficient for 10 people. Concrete courtyards would be transformed into green oases, with green walls and green roofs, consequently transforming the city into a better place to live in.

From the practical point of view, the project would also introduce a retention program, remarkably increasing the scale of green belts and implementing ecological cobblestones which would filter water and guarantee constant irrigation for the plants. Experts in the field of ecohydrology and the Board for Roads and Transport co-operated in forming the idea, and the municipality decided to make it part of the official strategy for Piotrkowska Street.
 

Winning ideas from the other teams

Łódź – a Vibrant City of Culture and Entertainment

Łódź is still relatively unknown by people from other regions of Poland. The participants feel that the city needs a new image, and a consistent strategy that would take into account the needs and potential of the region and the city’s residents. Returning to Piotrkowska Street the status of the most attractive street in Łódź should be one of the main development goals demanding responsible co-operation between city council representatives and representatives of cultural organisations and the business sector.

The City of Tomorrow

The Future City Game brought together people from various backgrounds, thus enabling an exchange of ideas and opinions and strengthening co-operation among the residents of Łódź. The participants felt that a similar process should also be used to promote the participation of inhabitants in decision-making regarding the city’s development. The idea is based on an initiative to activate the local community of Piotrkowska Street in making Piotrkowska a better place to live in. The inhabitants of Piotrkowska should therefore become more active, should have more opportunities to exchange opinions and ideas and meet the decision makers involved in the city’s development. By enabling fruitful co-operation with Piotrkowska Street residents, they would feel co-responsible for the projects.