Pocket parks, new squares or the Tri-City's first woonerf... Officials are increasingly willing to respond to residents' calls for attractive public spaces and more greenery in the city. Unfortunately, there are also still many examples of putting the comfort of drivers before the welfare of pedestrians.
The idea of woonerfs was born in the Netherlands in the 1970s, while the first Polish city to bet on "streets for living" was Lodz. A woonerf is a space shared by pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. The boundary between the sidewalk and the roadway is blurred here, traffic is calmed down, while the whole is complemented by greenery, small architecture and places for recreation. The goal is simple: to make residents happy to spend time here.
woonerf in Gdynia
The first to change its face in this way was 6 Sierpnia Street in Lodz. The pavement was replaced, new urban furniture and plantings appeared. Łódź, where other woonerfs, or backyards, quickly began to spring up, was envied by activists from the Common City Association in Gdynia. As part of the civic budget, they submitted a project to create a woonerf on a 100-meter section of Abrahama Street, located in the city center, near such attractions as Kosciuszko Square and the Musical Theater.
Gdynia's Abrahama Street before the renovation did not encourage walking - grayness, lack of greenery and sidewalks torn up by cars were its everyday reality
photo: Common City Association
Previously, the landscape of Abrahama Street was no different from a typical street in a large Polish city: narrow sidewalks, lack of greenery and attractive small architecture, and ubiquitous cars. Today, a short walk is enough to see that the PLN 3.8 million woonerf, voted for by one thousand five hundred people in the civic budget three years ago, is a very successful investment. The space between the buildings has gained new life - where cars used to park, food gardens have grown, and pedestrians have settled comfortably on the seats.
First, in a competition for young architects, the concept by Maja Bazylko and Tomasz Jazdżewski was selected, while the detailed design was prepared by a consortium of NANU Architektura and A2P2 Architecture & Planning, using the expertise of architect Bartosz Zimny.
Awoonerf created in a part of Abrahama Street in Gdynia - pedestrians have priority over cars here
photo: Ewa Karendys
The key to success is, among other things, the surface - the boundary between the sidewalk and the roadway has been blurred so that pedestrians can move freely throughout the street. Formally it's a residential zone, where the speed limit is twenty kilometers per hour, while parking is only allowed in designated areas. Importantly, these have been severely restricted - there are only six parking spaces. Instead, lawns, benches and trees have appeared along the street.
It is also worth mentioning that the implementation of the woonerf on Abrahama Street was preceded by numerous meetings with residents. The latter had been familiarized with this street revolution for about two years - at the stage of the civic budget, and later at the stage of conception and creation of the project. Residents are to be commended for the fact that they approached the changes without much concern, and there were no protests against limiting space for cars.
drivers need to be educated
However, the Gdynia experiment also exposed some habits. The woonerf on Abrahama shows that comfortable public space, created with pedestrians in mind, is still unfortunately not the order of the day in Poland. Although in a residential zone pedestrians can walk in the middle of the street, as they have absolute priority over cars, many feel insecure, unlike drivers, who, it happens, rush through the street, shouting at pedestrians. Hardly, drivers still happen to park in places that are not intended for this purpose. The designers have done their job, but what is still needed is driver education and effective action by the municipal police.
Fortunately, there is hope that the project on Abrahama Street will be a milestone in the direction of further realizations, because officials, encouraged by the success of this street, are thinking more and more boldly about the next woonerfs (on Starowiejska, Peacock and Nowodworcowa streets), which will reduce the dominance of car traffic.
parks at your fingertips
There are more interesting public spaces that have recently been created in the Tri-City. Last year, Gdansk gained two pocket parks. One of them appeared in the place of a neglected square at the corner of Partyzantów and Matki Polki streets in Wrzeszcz. Not much was needed: decorative bushes, wooden platforms, benches and chairs to create a small enclave of greenery along a busy street in a place that mainly served alcoholic beverage enthusiasts.
One of the first pocket parks in the Tri-City was created at the intersection of Matki Polki and Partyzantów streets in Gdansk Wrzeszcz
photo: Ewa Karendys
Large wooden deck chairs, grass, a surface of granite grit - not much was also needed to breathe life into the island of Olowianka, surrounded by the waters of the Motława River. The breakthrough for this part of the city was the drawbridge completed in 2017. The new waterfront square, opened last September, has made residents even more eager to spend time here.
The new square on the Motława River on Olowianka Island attracts residents and tourists with its well-designed space
photo: Ewa Karendys
In August this year. Gdynia lived to see the opening of Central Park. Although this is only the first of three stages of developing the vast area between Pilsudski Avenue and Swietojanska Street, it can already be seen that this part of the investment, on which the city has spent PLN 7.6 million so far, serves residents well. The space was designed with various users in mind: seniors, parents with young children, amateurs of physical exercise or... planting, as well as dog owners.
Opened in August this year, the first stage of the Central Park in Gdynia was designed with various users in mind and is very popular today
photo: Ewa Karendys
tied to four wheels
Unfortunately, it can be seen that Tri-City officials, while increasingly listening to residents' demands for recreation and green space, still often put the interests of drivers above those of pedestrians. Indeed, under the banner of the Central Park, the authorities of Gdynia, in addition to developing the three-hectare area, want to push through in the final stage the construction of... an underground parking lot for two hundred and seventy cars. The idea has aroused controversy from the beginning, because - according to estimates - this part of the investment will cost about twenty million zlotys, or.... more than half of the amount to be consumed by the entire hyped park. Gdynia did not listen to city activists, who demanded that the costly parking lot be abandoned, and the money saved be spent on greenery, for example.
The beautiful trees in the square at Podwale Staromiejskie in Gdansk will go to be cut down, because a private investor intends to build an underground parking lot there
photo: Ewa Karendys
There is no shortage of emotions about infrastructure for cars in Gdansk either. At Podwale Staromiejskie, located in the center of the city, in a place where Danzigers and tourists like to relax, there is now a line of several dozen-year-old trees. They are going to be cut down, because a private investor in a public-private partnership with the city wants to build an underground parking lot there for three hundred and thirty cars. The investor's assurances about new green space above the garages are not believed by residents. It will take years to restore the tall trees. Also, the very idea of building a parking lot in the city center instead of on its outskirts seems outdated today. This is because the decision was made... sixteen years ago. Since then, the outlook on the city has changed a lot, and today it is obvious that the number of cars in the downtown must be reduced, while at the same time limiting their entry into the center.
The Coal Market, located next to important Gdansk landmarks such as the Golden Gate and the Cathedral, is today cluttered with cars
photo: Ewa Karendys
There is still a lot to be done in Gdansk, and this is clearly visible in the Coal Market, which is adjacent to important monuments such as Złota Brama and Katownia. Although the need to develop this square has been talked about in Gdansk for years, for most of the year it wastes its potential, serving precisely as a parking lot. So far, the city authorities have lacked the vision and courage to change this.
Ewa KARENDYS
Journalist for "Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto"
