During this term, the city's TBS is tasked with building 1,000 apartments. I want architectural competitions to be held where possible. I am also pushing other solutions, such as graduate housing and cooperatives. The idea is to achieve the greatest possible mix of different types of housing and places to live. I will also push for the introduction of social commissions in large developments carried out under the housing specs law," Agata Twardoch, Urban Planner of Gliwice, announced in an interview with AiB.
Ewa Karendys: - You said that in another city you wouldn't have taken up the role of urban planner. Why exactly Gliwice?
Agata Twardoch*: - Gliwice is my city. I love it and know it very well, since I have an opinion on the functioning of cities I have been involved in its life. Once, on the occasion of an election campaign, I even interviewed all the candidates for the post of mayor. It seems to me that it is more difficult to implement yourself in such a role if you do not know the city and its problems well.
The center of Gliwice with a market
Marcin Baranowski/UM Gliwice
What urban planning problems are Gliwice facing today? And to what extent are they related to the high-profile media problems of large cities?
The main problem today is the attrition of residents, who are moving out to the suburbs and to other cities. I think this is related, among other things, to the fact that Gliwice is not perceived as a friendly city. For a long time the city built its attractiveness for industry and business forgetting about the people. Today we are one of the wealthier Polish cities, wages are quite high in our city compared to others, unemployment is low, and housing prices - looking at average prices in Poland - come out pretty well. We need to analyze why we are nonetheless losing residents and how to keep young people here. Gliwice has a reputation as a city for families with children, for the elderly. Many young people, on the other hand, are leaving for Katowice, studying there, some are already moving to high school. How to retain young people, on whom, after all, the further development of our city depends, is a great challenge today.
Have you already made your first decisions in your new position?
For the time being, I am completing the office, we are currently looking for a landscape architect/architect, and we are also looking for the optimal form of cooperation with other departments, so that together we can improve the quality of space in the city. Among other things, I want my office to be a link between the "silos" of the various departments. In the current system of Polish self-government, each department has a precisely defined set of competencies and responsibilities and can't really go beyond them. I am free and much more flexible in this sense. I can coordinate topics between departments and, using the knowledge of officials with more experience, look for improvements that will bring an increase in quality. We are currently working, among other things, on developing a manual for handling green spaces, which will set standards for all city units. Perhaps it can also be disseminated among communities and cooperatives.
What activities are particularly close to your heart and what is worth tackling first?
I have divided my work into three areas, I think they are all equally important.
First are current topics, or so-called firefighting. Quick consultations of investments carried out by other departments, mediation between residents and developers, and talks with the latter where soft measures are needed - mainly at private investments whose projects, although in compliance with technical conditions and local plans, do not guarantee spatial order. These measures are aimed at achieving high quality in minor issues - because these are often the most important for residents - if they affect them directly.
The second issue is concern for the continuous maintenance of a high level of development, that is, the development and introduction of documents and procedures. One such development will certainly be a landscape resolution, the second manual I have already mentioned. I am also thinking of audits of public spaces.
Gliwice will finally clean up advertising in the city?
We have the green light from the city authorities to prioritize this work.
The third category is large investments and competitions. In the near future, we will be announcing a competition for a project to revitalize the so-called "Ruins of the Theater," a fascinating building that has remained in the form of a permanent ruin since the end of World War II, when Soviet soldiers burned it down, and yet hosts impressive events - concerts and performances.
Old Town in Gliwice
Grzegorz Ozga/ UM Gliwice
What about restrictions on cars? Will Gliwice become a more pedestrian-friendly city?
This is already partly happening. Gliwice was the first city in Poland to introduce a smart traffic control system. While such a solution eliminated traffic jams, it also made it difficult for pedestrians to move around. Changes to the system are currently being planned to make traffic easier for pedestrians as well - so that they don't have to press the controversial buttons at crossings. Priorities in the system are being changed to favor pedestrians, cyclists and public transportation over motorists. We also plan to narrow several streets in the center and complete the bicycle path system. We are working on transfer centers around the city - we want it to be convenient to leave your car and be able to transfer to a bus or bicycle.
In addition, the city is participating in a pilot program to analyze clean air zones into which the most air-polluting cars could not enter. We are examining what benefits and challenges such zones would bring. The topic is not a zero-sum one, as it may involve the exclusion of the indigent.
Academically, you are concerned with affordable housing. How much in terms of housing will the city's urban planner have competence?
In this term, the city's TBSis tasked with building 1,000 apartments. We are collaborating on site selection, urban planning concepts and bid selection. I want architectural competitions to be held where possible. In other cases, we hold tenders in which 50 percent of the points are awarded for the concept and 50 percent for the price of the documentation, so it's easier to control quality, too. Anyway, Gliwice-based ZBM - TBS has been keeping the level of its investments for years. I'm also pushing other solutions, such as graduate housing and co-ops, which I've always been a big advocate of. The idea is to achieve the greatest possible mix of different types of housing and places to live. I will also strive to introduce social commissions for large investments carried out under the housing specs law, or ZPI (integrated investment plans).
TBS buildings on Dworska Street in Gliwice
Michal Buksa/ UM Gliwice
Meaning.
Agreements with developers, specifying additional investment tasks to be carried out together with the basic construction, when the latter requires a change in the local plan or proceeds under the so-called developer's lex mode. For example, the construction of a pocket park within the development's reach, but accessible to all residents. Such an action is aimed at redistributing the proximate profits that the investment brings to the general population. We take care, of course, that the conditions are not prohibitive for investors.
In your report, "Models for Involving the Private Sector in the Supply of Affordable Housing," you described several ways to involve developers in the construction of affordable housing, such as through an apartment-for-land program or through public-private partnerships. Such solutions could appear in Gliwice?
I would certainly like to see them appear.
But isn't an advisory function not enough to bring about real change? Should urban planners have a stronger position in our local governments and more influence?
It seems to me that no. After all, if they want to have a stronger position they can run for office, because the main people in the city should be elected democratically. On the other hand, this advisory function is very important, and in Poland there is no such duty, no such official role, such as urban planner or city planner. Some cities are testing such positions on their own. I'm not objective, because I've always been in favor of appointing urban planners or architects, and now I have such a role myself, but I think this function is the glue, the glue that is sorely missing in thinking about space and the future of the city. It's also a missing competence, because other departments don't need a designing urban planner-architect at their place.
Besides, the advisory function has a real impact on reality if it is combined with the confidence of the mayor. This is the case for me.
Plebanska Street in Gliwice
Optimedio/UM Gliwice
The question is to what extent the mayors will want to take this voice into account. The examples of the positions of city architects show that with this it sometimes varies.
As long as there is no obligation to appoint urban planners in cities, the mayors, who will not want to take such a voice into account, will not create such a function. It seems to me that this is what happened in Wroclaw, where the new mayor dismissed long-time city architect Piotr Fokczynski and did not appoint anyone new to the post. Fokczynski had investments such as Nowe Żerniki to his credit, so it's a shame.
In Gdansk, on the other hand, the city's architect Prof. Piotr Lorens has largely taken on the role of a visionary who thinks about the future, organizes competitions and debates. He has a lot of trust from the authorities and real influence. I would like it to be similar in Gliwice. I try to think big and put broad perspectives on the city. Without this, development and change are not possible.
In Gdansk there are study competitions for key spaces in the city. Will it be similar in Gliwice?
Yes, I would like there to be as many competitions as possible. We definitely want to announce some kind of competition for the design of one of the new TBS investments, there will be a competition for the Theater Ruins. We will be working on a system of pocket parks, and here we are wondering whether to bet on a competition or on closer cooperation with male and female residents through consultations, workshops.
Zwycięstwa Street in Gliwice
Marek Kolton/ UM Gliwice
Which areas in Gliwice have the greatest potential and should change first?
Certainly the city's main street - Zwycięstwa Street - needs changes. Several concepts have already been developed, there was a study competition, so we have a lot of materials on the basis of which we will make a decision and order a construction project. And this is probably the most important space at the moment. I hope to get a building permit in 2025.
Of the small things, we have chosen locations for a system of pocket parks that will complement the existing green space system. We want to stop thinking of such solutions as spot measures, and start looking at them on the scale of the whole city: do they meet all needs, do they create: a coherent system, ecological corridors, walking routes. I would also like to see recreational and play areas better tailored to the needs of teenage girls. Today such offerings are lacking.
*Agata Twardoch - Urban planner of Gliwice, architect, urban planner, professor in the Department of Urban and Spatial Planning at the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, member of the Society of Polish Urban Planners. She is the author of the books "System for housing - perspectives on the development of accessible housing" and "Women architects. Will women design better cities?". Leader of the report "Models for the inclusion of the private sector in the supply of affordable housing" developed for Habitat for Humanity Poland.
