Warsaw authorities have announced the creation of the Golędzin Natural Park. The capital's largest park is to occupy an area on the Praga bank of the Vistula River that nature is slowly reclaiming. The transformation of the semi-wild landscape into a recreation site has met with opposition from the public side.
We wrote about the idea for the Golędzin Natural Park, announced by Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski in early June. The new park is to occupy 65 hectares of green land along the Vistula River between the Gdański and Grota-Roweckiego bridges. The main entrance to the park will be the Stone Educational Pavilion (designed by eM4. Pracownia Architektury. Brataniec), which will be commissioned in 2020. An architectural competition for the design of the park is to be announced later in 2022.
park area
photo ZZW
unnecessary interference
Just whether such a large investment is needed at all? Nature is doing just fine here. It is reclaiming areas occupied for years by man, and species expansions occur here organically. Hares and pheasants live in the wild meadows, uninterrupted by paths or alleys. Will the architects be able to restrain their ambitions enough not to design too much in this place? Also surprised are the residents themselves and Prague councilors, with whom no one consulted on the idea. They point out that due to the nature of the place, no new plantings can take place, and instead of interference and more human presence, the Golędzin meadows need protection and peace. Increased pedestrian or bicycle traffic and new routes in the area will certainly not have a calming effect on the area.
protection vs. appropriation
The accusations formulated by activists and councilors try to refute officials. They point out that the purpose of the investments is not to appropriate the site, but to protect it. The planned investments are to be limited to regulating existing paths and forecourts, building wooden platforms. They are to provide opportunities for closer human contact with nature and its observation. The question is, does every green area in the city, need such observation and contact from people? Pedestrian and bicycle traffic is to be concentrated on the existing path along the Vistula River, apart from it, officials want to introduce elements of small architecture there, put benches along the paths, an educational path and a viewing tower.
more important needs
Critics of the idea point out that there are other greenery needs in the city, with higher priority. Instead of building the Golędzin Natural Park, Justyna Glusman points out the deficiencies in the infrastructure of the Wawer Bend.
Similar accusations appear against Warsaw City Hall's investments quite often - suffice it to mention the footbridge over the Vistula River under construction and its lack of connection to the bicycle network, while suspended investments in cyclists' safety on the Poniatowski Bridge or the continuation of the footbridge on the Lazienkowska route. Green Towarowa - a project discussed and consulted on years ago to transform the main artery of the office district in Wola - has not been realized, and Green Marszałkowska, cut into stages, will be implemented for years, although the changes could be introduced more quickly, if only temporarily.
Education Pavilion Stone
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Warsaw City Hall.
