Studia KPZK

The article is part of the trend of research on revitalization. It presents the methodology of the process of diagnosis and separation of the degraded area from the revitalized one, for the needs of the Local Revitalization Program. The article describes the stages of the process, the examples of used measures, as well as problems appearing at diff erent stages of the study. The methodology is presented on the example of the small town of Wojkowice from the Śląskie Province.

This article presents the evolution of the approach to the indicative designation of revitalization areas in Poland at central, regional and local level. The introduction shows rational for monitoring of degradation in Polish cities, i.e. a continuous assessment of its condition, and not just the designation of areas where intervention is needed. Monitoring ensures the comparability of observations and allows to evaluate the results of undertaken measures. Without it, it is impossible to fully assess the effects of revitalization in the previous financial perspectives. The first chapter of the article outlines the requirements for determining areas for revitalization before 2013, the reasons for their adoption, and the indicators used in the delimitations at the time. The second chapter contains the results of a study carried out in the fi rst half of 2016 at the Institute of Urban Development concerning the designation of degraded areas and revitalization areas just after the entry into force of the revitalization law. The results of the study are conclusions confirming the use of cities, which first delimited the areas of revitalization from the possibility of individualizing the approach to the designation of those areas, which was introduced by the Guidelines and the law.

Art. 52 sec. 1 of the Regeneration Act of 9 October 2015 allowed municipalities which, at the time of its entry into force, did not have a valid revitalization program, to carry out revitalization activities on the basis of a revitalization program other than the municipal revitalization program. The choice of procedure was left by the legislature of the municipality, assuming that at the initial stage of the implementation of the law, only the municipality should test its instrument, referring to the nature and scale of its needs. The ROP Managing Authority in Małopolska as the only one in the country introduced the requirement of developing municipal revitalization programs for all municipalities that did not have a current revitalization program at the time of the entry into force of the Act. Therefore, these municipalities, in order to benefi t from EU funding under ROP WM 2014-2020 for revitalization activities planned in the programs, were not able to rely on the derogation contained in art. 52 sec. 1 of the Act. Regardless of the size of the municipality and the nature of revitalization needs, they were compelled to develop a document complying with the statutory procedure, the fi rst stage being the delimitation of the degraded area and the revitalization area and confi rmation by the resolution of the municipality council. As a result Małopolskie Voivodeship has become Poland’s largest laboratory of methodology of delimitation of these areas and development of revitalization programs. The aim of the article is to present the diversity of applied methodological approaches to the delimitation of revitalization areas in Małopolskie Voivodeship and to describe the most noteworthy, as well as to indicate the most common errors in the designation of these areas.

Within this article the method of delimitation of the revitalization area within the realities of the current Polish legislation was described. This method was presented on the example of the City of Wejherowo – a medium-sized municipality, being part of the Gdańsk Metropolitan Area. It includes both spatial and socio-economic analyses allowing selection of the areas suff ering from various types of degradation. In result, this method allows indicating the areas demanding the complex intervention, which – on the basis of the comprehensive analysis – shall be subject of further planning for urban regeneration.

This paper includes a description of both the mode of development and the final structure and contents of the Municipal Revitalization Program, which was developed for the City of Starogard Gdański. All key parts of this program were described as well as methods used for planning the diverse activities associated with revitalization of the municipality. These were based on both actual legislation – of both national and regional importnace – as well as on Author’s own experience in this matter. In result, the article can serve as the example of one of the possible ways of developing the complex program of urban transformation for the medium-sized municipality.

The Hamburg’s policy, as part of the ‘Leap over the Elbe River’ strategy, is an example of the current direction of the city’s renewal, falling beyond classical revitalization. Improvement of quality and refinement of urban structures require an unconventional approach in the problem areas, both in the phase of setting the target standards and at the stage of solution implementation. The districts located in the fork of the Elbe river, Hamburg’s left-bank post-habor areas, were given the IBA (International Building Exhibition) Hamburg status in 2006-13. The area of Wilhelmsburg has become the place of implementing an innovative urban strategy, under the slogan of a renewable city, which has prepared the Island for a modern policy of compact city model development. The conclusions from the analysis of the renewal process that had been carried out within the framework of the IBA Hamburg, described in this article, have been summarized with regard to the Polish conditions represented by the example of the revitalization process in the Nowy Port district in Gdańsk.

The article discusses the possibility of using the living lab model as tool catalyzing the participatory planning in revitalization process. To create more user-centered environment helps as well for better implementation of the smart city formula. Against the background of foreign-practice examples (USA, Germany), reference was made to the Polish experience gained by the Author being leader of the cooperation between research team at the Gdańsk University of Technology (KUiPR WAPG) and the Gdańsk Foundation of Social Innovation (GFIS) – a non-government organization acting as a facilitator of local community in one of the disadvantage Gdańsk districts Orunia – Św. Wojciech. The cooperation, going beyond the existing academic convention of relations with local neighborhood activists can be described as research on revitalization, in an informal revitalization model of the living lab (R_LLO). The research comprise a number of projects carried out in 2010-2018 which has helped to develop new forms of participatory planning such as urban mentoring and community planning academy.

In accordance with the principles of conducting revitalization activities specified in the Revitalization Act in force from 9 October 2015 and horizontal guidelines for revitalization in operational programs for 2014-2020, the preparatory phase of the revitalization process should include multi-layered analyzes concluded with deductions included in communal urban regeneration programs. The article describes the role of student architectural and urban competitions performed in cooperation between municipalities and universities as innovative analytical and conceptual activities that could form the basis for specifying recommendations in revitalization strategies planned by a given municipality. The infl uence of the student competitions’ results on the development of the city revitalization strategy is presented on grounds of periodic competitions organized at the Faculty of Architecture of the Gdańsk University of Technology in cooperation with the Department of Plans and Marketing of the City Hall of the City of Gdańsk.

According to the Grant Map of the Ministry of Development (MoD) as of March-April 2017, there were 1716 urban regeneration (revitalization) projects implemented in Poland between 2007-2013. Data from 11 voivodeships (out of 16 regions NUTS 2 in Poland) and 977 projects was sufficient to provide a representative sample (56,9% of projects presented in the Grant Map). The main methods used in the article included observation and review of MoD statistical data and literature on the subject. As observed by the author, between 2007-2013 the definition of urban regeneration (revitalization) was only mentioned in one of the footnotes to the housing guidelines, which was a poor legal basis for the regional managing authorities. Similarly, there was no solid basis in the strategic documents (national) for that period: they did not provide any definition of revitalization. It was in the interest of the beneficiaries, as well as – partly – in the interest of those managing authorities to satisfy the local needs, especially those needs which were not considered the result of the shift to the post-industrial era, but rather as a result of numerous institutional and political events.

Due to these features, the period 2007-2013 was dominated by infrastructure projects aimed at the quality of life but also efficient in terms of spending European money. It seems that there was an agreement between regional managing authorities and the benefi ciaries (potential voters) as to the way of spending the revitalization funding. This was understood differently at national level, but because institutions at this level were not involved directly in the urban regeneration (revitalization), their influence on regional units was minor. Even more so because the managing authorities were also interested in speeding up the process of spending European resources.

In the years 1990., after the collapse of communism in Poland, the public space in Wejherowo – like in many other Polish cities – was to a great extend degraded. In 2008 the Wejherowo city government elaborated and accepted the Local Revitalization Program for the years 2008-2015, which concerned mainly the city centre. It was to be financed substantially by the European Union. One of the most prominent public spaces to be revitalized was the historic palace and park, situated on the banks of the river Cedron, in the close vicinity to the main city square. That big residential complex was built in the second half of the 18th century by the aristocratic Przebendowski’s family and then rebuild by the noble Keyserlingk’s family in the Neo-Gothic style. All the complex was listed in 1971, and today the palace hosts the regional Museum of Kashubian and Pomeranian Literature and Music and the park functions as the public city park. The revitalization works in the park were carried on in 2009-2011 and were focused on the restitution of the historic natural values of the park, with its greenery, historic alleys and old trees. All those work were worth around 6.700 thousand zl, more than half of which came from the European Development Regional Fund. Though the project of revitalization included also the renovation of the palace, its interior and the historic building in its close neighbourhood, those works had not been started up until 2015. The Local Revitalization Program of Wejherowo is now being continued, in the framework of the project concerning the years 2015-2022.

The revitalization of brownfi elds and post-industrial facilities is a long-term and multistage process. In the first stage of revitalization, it is important to assess the material, emotional and utilitarian value of the preserved cultural heritage. On the example of a revitalization project that has been ongoing since 1996, the former areas of the Gdańsk Shipyard, where the remains of the Imperial Shipyard and Schichau Shipyard are located, the process of formulating the value of the preserved cultural material heritage has been presented. The impact of this process on the subsequent stages of the revitalization of the Young City in Gdańsk was also presented. Gdańsk Shipyard is the cradle of Solidarity, so the emotional value associated with the events accompanying the creation of the Solidarity movement was considered to be the dominant one. Only two objects were entered in the register of monuments; BHP Hall and Solidarity Square (Plac Solidarności). When the Local Development Plan has been passed many investments have begun by various investors without comprehensive integrated activities. The demolition of the preserved halls and the dismantling of shipyard equipment began. This caused that in 2015 the uniqueness of the survived post-industrial complex, qualifying it for inclusion in the World Heritage list, was appreciated. In 2018, the Provincial Pomeranian Monument’s Conservator began the procedure of entry of the preserved objects to the register of monuments. This resulted in the suspension of all investments that commenced legally in the area covered by the proceedings. Lack of proper assessment of the cultural value of material heritage at the stage of preparing the revitalization process led to the loss of part of this heritage and caused increase of the investment activities risk in this area.

The article indicates the potential of revitalization activities in the process of building the image of the city, associated also with its “brand”. It shows the role of city-marketing to create a city product, connected to the development of the cultural industries and the urban tourism. The article indicates common areas between the revitalization process and the creating the city brand, focusing on Gdańsk. Two main documents are taken into account: Brand Strategy Gdańsk until 2013 and Program for the development and promotion of the product off er of Gdańsk and the region in the 2014-2020 perspective. The article shows different types of revitalization activities aff ecting the image of Gdańsk, including: the spectacular investments in postindustrial areas, as well as residents’ and independent organizations’ activities, aiming to transform and to promote neglected, but valuable, areas of the city.

Both the landscape shaped and recognized as valuable, as well as the internally incoherent, low-value landscape are the basis on which the development and transformation of culture, social ties and ties with the place take place. Shaping the landscape is associated with among others, on identity, creativity and responsibility for the place. The social eff ects of building a valuable, attractive landscape, including the urban landscape, are determined by many activities, not only those related to building and functioning of the built environment. Communal revitalization programs emphasize the importance of the aesthetics of public places and undertake the eff ort to involve the local community in increasing the aesthetics of the neighborhood and semi-public spaces. However, landscape themes appear sporadically at the occasion of discussing the attractiveness of a place of residence and are intuitively intertwined with the issues of the quality of public spaces and green areas. The shaping of the urban landscape is signifi cantly associated with innovation [Bach-Głowińska 2014]. As a result of research into the relationship between space, the sense of belonging and innovation, there are some initial recommendations for providing elements that stimulate the user’s creativity while shaping the urban landscape. In the developed methodology of the smartest place, the determination of stakeholders takes place, among others thanks to the use of an online survey, then meetings are held with those involved in the co-creation session, which aim to definitively determine the form of landscape that best suits their needs and at the same time have the chance to stimulate their creativity

The purpose of his paper is to present the modern or the artillery fortification as a special group of historical constructions with their determinants, as possible subjects of revitalization. The fortifications constitute a large group of architectural monuments in Poland. Because of their structural characteristics, they are objects diffi cult to maintain and manage, so they have remained in state of irreversible degradation for many decades. Due to the political and economic transformation in Poland, over recent decades the problem of chaotic and aggressive investment has arisen, which the fortifi cations are falling victims to. The text discusses the fortification as a part of the cultural heritage, the dichotomy between notions of “revitalization” and “revalorization”, and shows prospects of contemporary civil functioning and revitalization of the artillery fortifications.

The aim of the article is to present the problem of revitalization of marketplaces in the context of the challenges they face in contemporary socio-economic conditions. This issue was developed based on desk research and inquiry conducted on a representative marketplace in Gdańsk Oliwa. They served to formulate guidelines for the implementation project aimed at improving the image and economic condition of traditional marketplaces in Poland. Despite significant importance for the local economy, traditional marketplaces are not able to compete with shopping malls and shopping centers, as a result of which they become unsustainable. The ongoing degradation of marketplace areas reduce their attractiveness and role they play in public spaces network. The authors of the project recognize that the solution to the issue of marginalization of traditional marketplaces is to strengthen their image in both physical and media realms. One of the proposed solutions is institutional support for marketplaces by non-governmental organizations involved in the revitalization and aestheticisation of urban areas.

The aim of the article is to present a Polish example of revitalization activities in the „recovered” areas in the city. The process described concerns the Garrison in Gdańsk Wrzeszcz. These areas were formerly occupied by the army, now for several years they have been carrying out construction works aimed at creating a comprehensive residential and service complex with a wide range of accompanying services. The revitalization of this area makes it possible to incorporate it into strongly urbanized city tissue. The location in the center of one of the main districts of the city, very good transport connections make it an attractive location for residents and entrepreneurs. The article refers to other implementations of this type of actions, stressing that the successful revitalization of the former military barracks in Gdańsk is to a relatively large extent carried out with respect for the existing historical tissue. The presented historical outline of the analyzed area makes it possible to get acquainted with its former character and its infl uence on contemporary design decisions. The methods of forming attractive urban spaces have been indicated.

The aim of the presented work is to prove that construction of large sports facilities in the urban space, can generate positive changes and revitalization of degraded areas. On the basis of comparative analysis of cases in which such activities took place, it can be concluded that locating these facilities in heavily degraded urban areas is one of the most eff ective methods of large-scale revitalization. This is mainly visible in post-industrial areas, which are usually well linked to canals, rivers and other waterways or reservoirs. The vast spaces around sports facilities create favorable conditions for additional recreational functions, such as parks and green areas, which in connection with water become a very attractive place for the residents of the city. Increasing interest in the area leads to new investments such as housing estates and gradual development of a multi-functional urban structure. One of the most important factors leading to this type of transformation is the modernization of the communication infrastructure which enables connection between revitalized areas and the rest of the city. A well-planned program of newly emerging sports facilities is also an extremely important factor. As research shows, large multifunctional sports and entertainment facilities, can function as a new kind of public space in the city. This leads not only to the establishment of completely new social relations, but also to the creation of jobs and the general improvement of the broadly understood image of the district.

The article presents empirical material obtained in sociological surveys conducted in the Wejherowo area in the year 2014. The purpose of the survey was to record the residents’ opinions on the needs and problems relating to selected functioning aspects of the town and its downtown district, the perception and valuation of the area, the town’s revitalization investments, both planned and in progress, and the perception of the changes taking place in selected spheres of the town’s life. The survey reveals that the dwellers of Wejherowo are capable of responding to the problems the town faces in intellectual and personal dimensions, they follow the postulates related to the ideas and concepts of a creative town more or less consciously, and have a preference for the town ensuring access to the broadly construed culture and entertainment. This encapsulates a vision of developing town cultures, with the focal point evidently shifted from the concept of a town as a place accumulating specimens of architecture and a symbolic space to the town construed as a complex of better facilities and solutions which make everyday life more convenient. More frequently than ever before, town identity becomes the function of negotiations between what is local and what is global. The quality of town life and the features of its ‘town-like character’ appear to be the outcome of continuous and subtle dialectics between the residents and the physical form in which they live, i.e. the town.

Short ancestry of the modern citizen of Gdańsk encourages reflection of factors constituting his distinctness. Rapid exchange of population after the World War II disrupted the cultural continuity of Gdańsk society. Despite immense damage, material substance of the city, life environment of both former and new citizens of Gdańsk, turned out to be potentially the only significant bonding element for their identity. With time, the initial national narration was replaced with a favourable overview of the past, which had been previously suppressed and has been escaping the desirable scheme of the Polish identity. Gdańsk inhabitants were accompanied by the city landscape throughout the entire period of changes in consciousness. The landscape, which was erected from ruins in its most prominent attributes, which was undergoing constant spatial changes in the following years, supported the continuity of the emerging common city identity.

In the Act on Revitalization of 9 October 2015, for the first time in Poland, the legal act introduced the necessity to apply the principles of universal design (Article 3 paragraph 2 point 3). The practice of investment processes in crisis areas shows that the requirements set out in the Act are not properly implemented. Regeneration processes require attention to improve the quality of life of residents. The article presents issues related to the implementation of universal design principles during revitalization processes. There is a noticeable lack of interest in this issue despite the fact that it is one of the three tasks set before local governments in the Revitalization Act, after social participation and support for people at risk of exclusion in the area of housing. The reasons for this state should be seen in a small knowledge of the issue, deficiencies in the educational process of designers and poor control on the part of local governments and central authorities. This is due to conservation conditions, which often misinterpret the right to protect cultural heritage. The self-government as its own task should guarantee the possibility of using the positive effects of the revitalization process, in particular the implementation of residents’ rights to an independent and dignifi ed life, which is required by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In the paper author discusses problems related to the leading role of architectural structures, as a part of the creating process within contemporary urban space. Architectural objects establish a continuous dialogue not only with their surrounding space, but also between each other. In this relation, the first plan comes with two factors, determining all spatial and functional solutions: the place in which a given project is localized and the time in which the urban designer came to the architect to create his plan. Based on the analysis of own projects and urban and architectural realizations, the author proves that the architectural dialogue in urban space must be respected in the context of the place and the time, but also in the creators moral responsibility. This responsibility is defined by consequences of design decisions not only for the urban space itself, but above all, for people and their coexistence with the space. For designers it reveals a necessity to comply principles of ethics and professing the value system in order to taking care of the urban space not only three-dimensional, but also “existential”.

Green spaces are an integral element of urban structures. They are not only a place of rest for their users, but also positively affect their well-being and health. The eff ect of these spaces, is the better, the smoother they create larger urban layout – stings of greenery. The introduction of urban greenery can and should be one of the basic elements of revitalization. Often, however, greenery is designed without multi-aspect analysis, enabling understanding of conditions and the use of existing potential in a given place. The use of computational design in conjunction with the use of generally available databases, such as numerical SRTM terrain models, publicly available OSM map database and EPW meteorological data, allows for the design of space in a more comprehensive way. These design methods allow better matching of the greenery design in a given area to specific architectural, urban and environmental conditions.

The paper gives an evidence that construction of contemporary objects at the interface with the historic urban space, may be a way to renew and revitalize areas which require it. Such action may be a strong and valuable catalyst for the functional and visual transformation of a given fragment of urban space. It can also contribute to the increase of social activity within it. Research shows that public facilities from the turn of the 20th and 21st century, which were built using innovative architectural technologies and constructional solutions, are the buildings which provide great opportunities to contrast with historical architecture. This can be achieved due to their significant scale and rank in the urban space. The analyzes show that design based on the principle of contrast is the right solution for the degraded historic urban space. The replenishment of the old tissue should be carried out with the emphasis on the identity of the times in which we live, without creating architecture which could literally imitate historical objects or compete with them. Because of this contrast and diversity, new fragments of the city can become a counterweight or a valuable background to the existing historical tissue. Contemporary buildings located in a historical context are not only enhancing the values of cultural heritage but can also become a grateful element of the urban space and a strong accent of modernity and innovation in the city.

The presence of art in historic representative buildings is widespread and common. It is not surprising, therefore, that it is a frequent tool used in the transformation processes of these structures. A surprise, however, may be a situation where, instead of the art from the period of the creation of a given monument, the contemporary, multimedia or engaging the viewer cultural activities occur. Therefore, the key questions are the role of such forms of intervention in the historical representative interiors and the possibility of co-existing old and new. It is not without significance for objects under conservator’s protection that there are special requirements that the intervention must fulfill to be installed. The subject of considerations in this work are case studies of the application of contemporary multimedia art in the representative spaces of historical objects. The purpose of the article is to examine types of such artistic interventions resulting from the relationship between a work of art and exhibition space and their mutual influence.

The article shows the need to take into account the principles of sustainable development in the field of the revitalization of space, and point out green roofs as a tool in this process. It is presented in the light of the green city concept, and the criteria of the European Green City Index. The article shows the ecological, social and economic benefits of green roofs (starting from the retrieval of green areas in the urbanized space, the reduction of heat island effects, up to the integration function of green roofs), which is illustrated by a few case studies of applying green roofs within revitalization projects. The article indicates also legal incentives, as well as programs directed to the development of green roofs around the world, pointing out a range of factors to consider also for Polish cities.

BIM (Building Information Modelling) is a tool and technology closely related to the planning, design, implementation and management of construction investments – both at the level of a building, as well as infrastructure or civil engineering. It combines advanced spatial modeling (using virtual representations of building elements) with management of information at every level, from the modelling of building’s components, through complex interactions between these elements, to the description of building processes and the behavior of users of the building. This is just a part of many possibilities, the full application depends only on the needs and skills of the system user. Construction dependencies are set at the level of the IFC (Industry Foundation Class) universal standard IFC, its syntax allows to describe not only the physical structure of the object, but also their mutual interactions. This is done in a hierarchical way, i.e. from the superior element there are subsequent, lower-level elements and interactions. So how can this tool be used in urban revitalization? The basic problem here is the excess of information related to and contained in the virtual model. In urban planning and design, most of this data is unnecessary. On the other hand, the data contained in the GIS (Geographic Information System) models, despite correlation with external databases, are insufficient. Basic location data, technical conditions of facilities and infrastructure, property dependencies are not enough to obtain a full picture of the urban space. The solution to the problem of linking these systems is CIM (City Information Modeling). It combines the description of an object derived from IFC with database support at the level of GIS systems. Such a broad approach allows for placing enough information in one virtual space for designing, modeling and analyzing urban space. The article is an attempt to demonstrate what conditions must be met by the CIM system, to extend its functionality to issues related to the revitalization of urban areas: whether and how the information contained in the spatial model can be used to determine the rules for the revitalization of space at the urban level?

The article presents how multi-layered urban lighting projects fit into the programs of integrated activities to improve the living conditions of the local community, the surrounding space, and its economic relations. The role of the electric lighting in revealing the night image of the city, its promotion and public spaces transformations offering new impressions to city residents is growing thanks to the use of the SSL technology. The authors focus on a role of outdoor lighting projects in urban regeneration within the selected urban areas. The paper describes how conscious shaping of lighting by analysing the goals and stages of the project can contribute to the improvement of quality in the processes of renewal of degraded urban areas.