Ecology is one of the priorities of revitalization - interview with Hanna Zdanowska

Katarzyna Jagodzińska

08 of July '22

Hanna Zdanowska

...

The interview comes from A&B magazine 06/22

Łódź is a laboratory of urban change in all possible fields and on a huge scale. Preservation challenges, social challenges, financial challenges, climate challenges, image challenges and a great determination to create an attractive brand based on a great heritage - textile, film, creative industries. A city of contrasts and a city of delights.
Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of Lodz, is interviewed by Katarzyna Jagodzinska.

Katarzyna Jagodzinska: What slogans, in your opinion, best describe Lodz today?

Hanna Zdanowska: Łódź strong and resilient. A Łódź that delights and responds to the expectations of its residents. An open Łódź, a Łódź of many cultures and a Łódź of tolerance. A revitalized city, rebuilding after the collapse of the textile industry in the 1990s, a city co-created by its residents, a difficult but beautiful city. This is how I see Łódź. As a new promised land looking anew for its place among cool cities to live and work, which will no longer make the mistake of the old days: industrial monoculture being first its lever and then its curse. A city building its identity and investing in education, jobs, but also in good leisure activities. A city that is not obvious, and thus increasingly attractive to tourists. I am glad that more and more often also the citizens of Łódź themselves see the city this way.

Katarzyna: Lodz is hosting the Urban Regeneration congress for the second time. What are your expectations from this event - the solutions presented, the discussions, the questions that will be asked?

Hanna Zdanowska: I'm very happy that the congress is once again being held in Lodz, because it's a truly unique event for exchanging experiences, presenting good practices, both domestic and foreign, and above all gaining inspiration for introducing such changes in the city that will be most beneficial to its residents. Because, after all, this and only this is what it's all about - how to create cities that are resident-friendly and comfortable to live in. This year's congress is dedicated to the policy and processes of urban regeneration seen through the prism of adaptation to climate change, which is one of the biggest challenges we will all face in the coming years. So I hope that through the solutions presented at the congress and the discussions held, we will be better prepared to meet this challenge, and develop the best recommendations to serve the local adaptation strategy. And this is a powerful challenge.

Katarzyna: The process of revitalization of Lodz is a massive, comprehensive investment planned for years. At what stage is it now? How much is still to be done? What key projects are waiting to be implemented?

Hanna Zdanowska: Revitalization is a huge investment challenge for Lodz. The city has undertaken it in a comprehensive way, covering eight areas of the Greater Metropolitan Zone. We are consistently aiming to make the entire fragments of Łódź multifunctional, seeing in such an action the way to the acceptance of residents and the success of all revitalization intentions. With a huge revitalization area, and with a special focus on preserving the entire cultural heritage, we have focused on three key areas for investment.

Lodz around Piotrkowska Street is betting on building woonerfs, reducing car traffic and significantly increasing the amount of greenery in the city center.

The first is public spaces and technical infrastructure, i.e. streets, squares and parks, and, above all, systemic warming of the city. In the near future, we will implement the general reconstruction of Liberty Square, theconstruction of Northern Boulevards (Ogrodowa and Northern streets ), the reconstruction of Legion Street with Cemetery Street, the reconstruction of Schiller Passage.Reconstruction of the Old Town Square, Polesia Street into green woonerfs will continue,and two of the downtown streets - Moniuszki and Wlokiennicza- are in the final stages of implementation. These aremeasures that give them a completely new, pedestrian-friendly character. Each of these projects ischaracterized by the introduction of cascading greenery, trees and low plantings, whichhas had little orno placein thecity'sexisting arrangement.

Północna Street will soon be transformed into resident-friendly boulevards, Staromiejski Park will be thoroughly rebuilt for next year's 600th anniversary of Lodz

TheOld Town Parkwill undergo a major reconstruction , with the newdevelopment incorporating historicalelements of buildings demolished during the German occupation. This will restore the memory of the "lost district" encompassingparts of theLitzmannstadt Ghetto. Another goal is the revitalization of Helenow Park, which will berestored to its 19th century character of the first representative urban garden. The second group of revitalization projects are public facilities. The best-known facility is, of course, the complex of the historic EC1 power plant with a very wide and unique service offer, which is still being expanded. Other important facilities currently under construction are the Mediatheque and the new headquarters of the Pinocchio theater, adapting old post-factory buildings for its purposes. A large part of the functional shaping of services are the numerous community centers embedded in areas of residential development.

Północna Street will soon turn into resident-friendly Boulevards, Staromiejski Park will be thoroughly rebuilt for next year's 600th anniversary of Lodz

The third and most numerous group of revitalization investments are magnificent historic residential buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, which are undergoing full technical redevelopment technical with preservation or restoration of the original architectural detail, as well as adaptation to the functional and social needs of modern residents. Among the many such activities is the complex of buildings for the workers of Scheibler's factory in Księży Młyn, which, together with the revitalized service facilities and the spaces around them, will soon constitute a magnificentlypreserved historical complex of a workers' housing estate from the late 19th century.

Katarzyna: Please tell me, in this complex multi-year process, does Lodz look to other cities for models and to learn from their mistakes?

Hanna Zdanowska: We try to look atthe experiences of many cities, both Polish andforeign. Wedraw a lot of inspiration from solutions implemented in Gdansk, Włocławek, but also inother cities of the so-called model revitalization- a project run by the Ministry of Development. We also exchange experiences through international contacts, forexample,in the Urban Regeneration Mix projectimplemented under the URBACT program, we shared solutions developed in cooperation with residents, for whom we established a team of atypical officials: Social Lighthouse Keepers and Area Hosts, with cities such as Braga (Portugal), Bologna (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), Toulouse (France), Baena (Spain) and Birmingham (UK). We ourselves also drew on their experience of managing an investment project in a participatory way, from Toulouse, and the work of a localcommunityorganizer, in Birmingham.

hanks to the revitalization of the uniquely beautiful tenement built for Konrad Haessner at 17 Roosevelt Street, the building has regained its splendor and serves the citizens of Lodz as the seat of the House of Literature

Katarzyna: To what extent are patterns from other cities, especially from abroad, where many revitalization processes started earlier, transplantable to Łódź?

Hanna Zdanowska: The very idea of integrated revitalization activities and working with the local community is modeled on good practices from abroad. However, since the beginning of our activities, we have been trying to share experiences with partners from Poland and other countries. Using the materials developed as part of two pilot projectsfinanced by POPT and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, we havealready implementedpilot projects since 2014,including analysis, research or interventions in the form of three programs: animation, participatoryand educational. We have also developed a number of model solutions for carrying out revitalization activities - cooperation withresidents, how to conduct removals or rules for settling renovated tenements. On the basis of these experiences, a Lodz-based portal called theRevitalization Knowledge Center (centrumwiedzy.org)was created ,which can be used by anyoneinterested. We were the leader of the aforementioned Urban Regeneration Mix project . Our experience is also an inspiration for the partners of the T-Factor project implemented under Horizon 2020, which aims to develop solutions fortemporary space management inurban renewal processes. Here ,Kaunas ,Bilbao and Lisbonin particular are drawing onour experience in revitalization .

he newest tourist attraction in Lodz - the Orientarium (fauna and flora of southern Asia) in the City Zoological Garden built at a cost of 230 million zlotys, designed by ArC2 Design Factory.

Katarzyna : Can you point to Western solutions which, although attractive, will not work in Lodz?

Hanna Zdanowska: We are often asked whether people from revitalized tenements stay where they live. In the West , the aim isto help people where they live. In Lodz, due to the scale of the modernization, residents had to change their place ofresidence for the duration of the renovation. Although we offered them the opportunity to return, only a fewtook it.One reason was their reluctance to bear the hardships of moving again. However, a large part of them settled in tenements in the center.

Catherine: The title of one of the sessions at the congress was "Climate Resilient and Climate Friendly City." Is that what Lodz is? Let's remember, a post-industrial city. How is the climate positioned in the process of urban revitalization?

Hanna Zdanowska: Ecology is one of thepriorities of revitalization. Transforming the urban fabric isinextricably linked to introducinggreenery and launching solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are determined in Lodz to achieve the goal of climate neutrality. On April 28, the European Commission announced that Lodz has been selected as one of a hundred European cities that, with EC support, will become regional hubs of ecological innovation and achieve full climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest . Lodz will thus soon become a model ofblue-green innovation.

We are conducting a number of green projects also in the areas directly covered by the Area Revitalization Program. Thanks tosubsidy programs and cooperation with ourbusiness partner Veolia,we aregraduallyreducing the number of fossil fuels and connecting more and more buildings to the municipal heating network. An important initiative is the EuPOLIS project Restoring Nature in Cities. As part of it, an urban planning methodology is being developedusing nature-based solutions.

The Księży Młyn workers' housing estate from the days of Lodz's industrial power, thanks to revitalization, is a gem comparable to Katowice's Nikiszowiec

It assumes the synergy of apeople-centered approachand their health with the significant environmental and economic benefits of eco-friendly blue-greensolutions. The EuPOLIS project aims to replace or combine traditional, costly engineering systemscreated to protectthe environment with natural systems to prepare resilient urban ecosystems whileimproving the quality of life for residents.

We are also working on the concept of a blue-green network assuming the creation of a coherent system of about 120 kilometers of green routes -parks, squares and forests connected into a single node.

Catherine: What climate challenges do you see in the context of revitalization? Where are the barriers?

Hanna Zdanowska: The problem is primarily thescale of the challenges we face. Lodz is the largest tenement building stock in Poland. There aremore than four thousand tenement houses in thecity'sstock. More than a thousand of them are in a state ofwear and tearexceeding seventy percent. We need billions, fat billions, to restore the urban fabric ruined by nearly fifty years of PRL. And just the same - by far thebiggest barrier to implementing the green deal is finance. It is calculated that in order to achieve climate neutrality at theEuropean level,we will need at least 360 billion euros more in fundingannually - the entire Union There are also legal barriers due to the city' s history and the unregulated ownership of many properties, which makes it difficult to carry out green investments as well. But I repeat - money, money and more money. Without them it is impossible to carry out fundamental changes to our cities, I have no doubt about that.

Catherine: These are unimaginable amounts of money. So how does the scale of needs compare to the real possibilities when it comes to revitalization?

Hanna Zdanowska: Łódź is a unique cityin terms of revitalization needs. The Greater Urban Zone contains more thanten thousand buildings built before WorldWar II, including as many as three thousand eight hundred valuable front tenements, two hundred factories andworkshops, twenty-seven factory owners' palacesand forty-seven villas. In addition, Lodz has the largest stock of townhouses in the country, not only expressed in absolute numbers, but also in terms ofpopulation. Similar in population to LodzBroclawhas half as many public housing units. The city of Lodz owns more than five and a half thousand residential andcommercialbuildings, mostly located in the city center. Almost forty thousand communal housing units are located in them .Asa result of decades of neglect, most of them are in need of modernization. Without support from external funds, we will not be able to implementmeasures on our own on thescale that is needed

Thecost of the next stage of the Area Revitalization of the CityCenter of Lodz, conventionally calledprojects 9-20 ,we initially estimated in 2021 at nearly PLN 1.7 billion, since then the investment costs have skyrocketed. And we are only talking about the area between Sterlinga, Targowa, Mickiewicza,Żeromskiego, Ogrodowa and Północna Streets, i.e. the smaller part of the entire revitalization area.In the next EU perspective, we have applied to the Office of the Marshal of the Lodz Voivodeship toundertake fivemore area projects. Unfortunately, the currentassumptions of theProgramming Contract for the Łódź Voivodeshiptake into account only one quarter of those submitted. Let me remind you that today we are implementingeight integrated projects in the center of Łódź and additionally two in the Księży Młyn area. This is therefore a very clear reduction in thecommitment of planned funds from theregionallevel .We will be looking for otherfunding opportunities forthese activities.

The massive Orientarium building seen from the perspective of the penguin pool

Catherine: How do revitalization efforts affect the perception of the city - on the one hand by residents and on the other by visitors?

Hanna Zdanowska: Therevitalization activities, or rather their effects, are receivedvery positively by visitors. We often come across reports of discovering an interesting andamazing in its fabric turn-of-the-centurycity, with authentic architecture from the era, which is being restored to itsaesthetic and functional splendor after years of being underestimated .

Thepossibilities offered by the adaptation of post-factory buildings and the space of streets deprived of significant traffic, as well as of thecourtyards of tenement houses characteristic ofLodz,are receivedby visitors to the city with admiration and appreciation. From conversations with visitors to Lodz, it isclear that they encourage their relatives and friends to come and get to know a citythat bearswitness to the power of industrial development, that respects its past, but is also capable of creating a city that meets modern requirements.

Residents of Lodz, despite the difficultiesarising from the implementation of revitalization programs that exclude parts of the city from normal use and functioning, accept them, for which I am extremely grateful. Forall ofus, putting into use more places, tenements, streets, parks is the best reward for the time of hardship and sacrifices.

The people of Lodz especially appreciate the giving of anew high quality topublic spaces, which are vibrant on warm and sunny days. These spaces especially appreciate theplanting of trees and shrubs, which Lodz's streets never had, and thanks to which they have gained an interesting and needed form.

Katarzyna: At the end of last year, Łódź was ranked in the "National Geographic" Best of The World 2022, it was awarded in the Sustainable Development category. For me, it's one of the most interesting tourist destinations in Poland, with a great heritage resource and lots of attractions, but not many people see Lodz this way yet. Is creating a tourist attraction the city's goal, or is it primarily to create a city that is good for its residents?

Hanna Zdanowska: We are very proudthat Lodz will be at least glimpsed throughout Poland. The article in "National Geographic" dedicated to our city and just beingon the prestigious Best Of The World 2022 list is a great motivation for us to keep working on the image of the city - also as a touristdestination .As for the second part of the question, oneabsolutely does not contradict the other, on the contrary, the two goals complement each other. A city that isgood for its residents can thus become increasingly attractive to tourists. Conversely, a city that isattractive to tourists is a city that is getting richer and richer , andtherefore better and better for its residents. We haveno mountains, we have no sea, we are not a resort.

The daily bath of Asian elephants in the Lodz Orientarium attracts thousands of tourists every day to the newly opened tourist attraction

Tourism in Lodz is supposed to be primarily thematic tourism - for whole families. Andbusiness tourism. For the latter , there is a growingbasein Lodz in theform of decent hotels andconference centers, excellenttransportation infrastructure, excellent cultural andevent facilities. For theformer, we have more and more fantastic facilities to see and visit, such as the only one of its kind in Poland, the just-opened andfull of attractions Orientarium, which in the first five days was visited by fifty thousand guests from all over Poland. I invite you to visit Lodz.