"Locals" is not a book about architecture, but about phenomena that indirectly have a great influence on it. A sobering experience for those who still believe in the widespread success of local self-government. For others - a starting point for thinking about changing the situation. An item worthy of attention - in spite of considerable overkill.
Polish local governments are still put in contrast to national politics. They serve as an example that something worked in the Third Republic: a local authority that solves real problems. One that knows how to rise above coteries and politicking. That it is not so beautiful is visible to the naked eye; the knowledge that local government in smaller centers can be very bad is less common. Andrzej Andrysiak's "Locals" is about just that. It's a cold shower for optimists, while for realists - a challenge: to find and describe less grim counter-examples.
For "Locals" is a study of a specific case: Radomsk - a 45,000-strong city between Lodz and Czestochowa. The author, an experienced and inquisitive journalist, returned to his hometown after his successes in Warsaw and publishes the "Radomszczańska Gazeta" there. Now, after more than six years, he shares the stories he has collected in a book - reliable and polished, if a bit too saturated with details and research results. Of course, this is evidence of Andrysiak's competence and journalistic integrity, but also of the difficulty of selecting the material - burdened to this sometimes by the style of the Polish school of reportage. A superfluous procedure, because, firstly, there are so many facts that there is no need to mend them with a weathered manner, and secondly - it makes reading more difficult.
it can't be otherwise?
Be that as it may, there is no shortage of well-documented evidence in "Locals" to support all the fears and conjectures about local deals, buying of positions, conspiracies of silence, general leaderlessness, etc. etc. More than one story is probably reminiscent of cases in other cities, which may leave the reader with the conviction that it can't be any different in Poland.
Social, political and historical issues come to the fore in "Locals." However, there is a chapter that will be of more interest to those who care about the quality of space and architecture. It's a description of a conference for local government officials, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, at which - when it comes to discussing urban planning and revitalization - a handful of participants are left in the room. The invited specialists thus speak to many empty chairs. Andrysiak reports:
The organizers make a good face in front of the guests, but inside they are panting with rage [...]. After all, the topic did not come out of nowhere, local government officials wanted it themselves.
Thus, for no one knows for which time we realize that the space being decorated today will be a long-lasting testimony to the local tussles described in "Locals", the level of those in power and the filling of positions with people without competence, vision and imagination. But this, in principle, was clear and before reading. Worse, hope for change is being lost. Ignorant people, and those who are aware of their incompetence, do not want to learn anything, even if knowledge is handed to them on a golden platter.
This, by the way, is not uncommon in larger cities either. Decision-makers, heads of departments, presidents of municipal companies, invited to discussions to expand their knowledge of space and architecture, are usually absent. This makes it easier for them later, after being confronted with creative proposals from outside the office, to throw around slogans such as "it can't be done," "it's not done that way," "it won't work out at our place," or - in a fit of sincerity - "the first I see."
something for balance
For this sad, but nevertheless anecdotal case, the antidote can be, fortunately, other, also non-representative, but positive examples - taken no longer from "Locals", but from life. Such as a recent conference on the development of small towns in the Greater Poland city of Pleszew. Not only were the gathered academics and local government officials able to talk lively and competently about the most important challenges and opportunities, but there were also creative ideas for turning failures into successes.
For example, according to Dr. Przemysław Ciesiółka of TUP, the shrinking of some cities need not always be detrimental. Sometimes it can represent an opportunity. There was also much in Pleszew about the importance of the leadership and substantive competence of local government officials, who, even under lame laws, can do a lot of good (there was evidence of this!).
Thus, reading "Locals" sets a gloomy mood, but also provides a contrasting backdrop for more optimistic examples. A year ago here we leaned on the book "Collapse" by Marek Szymaniak - a cross-sectional look at small towns that, according to scientists from the Polish Academy of Sciences, are threatened by progressive depopulation (Radomsko is on this list). "Collapse" situates itself somewhere between despair and hope. "Locals" is the dark side of power. For mental balance, it's time for a book as reliable as both these items, but this time from some exceptionally successful city.
