People active in public spaces and urban socialists often feel discouraged and frustrated by the low effectiveness of their actions. In Poland, political concrete is still harder to knock down than the concrete that senselessly lingers on our streets.
Activists from the Social Pedestrian Advocate Association drew attention to the excess of unnecessary concrete and non-functional asphalt around Niemcewicza Street and Powstańców Wielkopolskich Avenue in Bydgoszcz. So they decided to organize a social action to remove the heat islands. In place of the cracked slabs, which heat up to hellish temperatures in summer, flowers, shrubs and trees will grow. How did this change come about?
In place of the concrete slabs, the first plants have appeared
© Association of Social Advocacy for Pedestrians
We talk about the removal of heat islands in Bydgoszcz, the course of the metamorphosis, the coordination of grassroots activities and future plans with Paweł Piątkowski of the Social Pedestrian Advocate Association.
Wiktor Bochenek: Where did you get the idea to deconstruct Bydgoszcz? Were the heat islands that noticeable?
PawelPiatkowski (Social Pedestrian Advocate Association): The idea came from walking. This place is in the vicinity of Bydgoszcz's Music District and on the edge of Sielanka. This is a very attractive part of Bydgoszcz's Downtown built according to the garden city concept. The neighborhood has parks, green squares, tree-lined avenues and streets, and a botanical garden. Walking between these green places, an excess of useless asphalt was conspicuous. The potential of the place was absolutely unused.
This was a project that involved several people. The motivations were varied. We wanted to improve aesthetics and safety. Also the many benefits of replacing asphalt with greenery, such as temperature reduction and water retention.
Weyssenhoff Square has a beautiful frontage of townhouses whose fronts face south. Beneath the tenements is a sidewalk, followed by two lanes of roadway. Only farther away is the green shield of the intersection with trees, but they are too far away for their shadow to fall on the sidewalk during afternoon walks. On sunny days you can clearly feel the increased temperature in this place. We hope that in the future the entire square will see a comprehensive reconstruction, which would make room for green belts and a line of trees separating the sidewalk from the roadway, but such a task exceeded the funds available under the civic budget. So we decided to take care of a section that could easily be changed without reconstructing the entire square.
More than two hundred square meters of concrete were removed
© Community Pedestrian Advocacy Association
Wiktor: On what basis did you choose the locations where the elimination of heat islands took place?
Paul: In the association, we always have our eyes open for places that need improvement to make life in Bydgoszcz even better. This place was reported independently by two members of the association. This excess asphalt was very conspicuous.
Wiktor: How have the changes affected traffic?
Paul: Traffic safety has improved. Pedestrians now have only one narrow lane to cross after a pedestrian crossing. Previously, there was no designated crosswalk, and the roadway was almost ten meters wide. The safety of pedestrians at the crosswalk on Powstańców Wielkopolskich Avenue has also improved. Before the reconstruction, a driver coming from Niemcewicza could take a gentle curve at high speed, looking to the left to make sure no other cars were coming. Thus, a driver could find himself right in front of a crosswalk with his eyes to the left and fail to see it in time.
The current geometry of the intersection makes this dangerous maneuver impossible. The arc is much smaller, making it necessary for drivers to slow down to turn right. The smaller arc also means that it is not possible for the driver to have to simultaneously look left, toward oncoming cars, and right, toward the pedestrian crossing. After turning right, the driver still has twenty meters to cross and drives at a low speed forced by the geometry of the intersection. During the reconstruction, a bicycle contraflow inlet was also created.
The association promises to continue the fight for greenery on the streets of Bydgoszcz
© Association Social Pedestrian Advocate
Wiktor: What plants will be planted in place of these islands?
Paul: The plants are already planted. They are three trees (oak, linden) and several hundred shrubs that will bloom in the summer (barberry, rose, hydrangea). The Department of Greenery and Municipal Economy in Bydgoszcz helped in the selection of plants. We also had very good cooperation with the Board of City Roads and Public Transportation, which was responsible for the entire investment.
Wiktor: Are you thinking about further actions to reduce heat islands and green the city?
Paweł: Thanks to the votes of residents in the last edition of the Bydgoszcz Civic Budget, we will implement a similar project in Bydgoszcz's Szwederowo district. There, too, we will be stripping concrete and replacing it with greenery.
Wiktor: Thank you for the conversation!
safety on the streets is also expected to improve after the changes
© Association of the Social Advocate for Pedestrians
in search of de-concretizing methods
The problems of urban heat islands, the lack of sufficient greenery, are increasingly being felt in Poland. Public participation in such projects is more important than it seems. Bydgoszcz's grassroots response is an example of why it is worth getting involved and publicizing the problems. It is also worth citing other methods that make "green change" possible. In Klobuck, a special committee for greening was established, composed of specialists, local government officials and residents(see here). In Kalisz, it was decided to provide tax breaks for buildings with green roofs or facades(see here). Lodz relied on green walls created by the local government, and Czechowice-Dziedzice created a special plant bank open to residents(see here).
