Marlena Happach, director of the Warsaw Office of Architecture and Urban Planning, is interviewed by Alicja Gzowska about the strategy for addressing the climate crisis.
Alicja Gzowska: The dire prospects for our planet have actually been talked about for several decades. However, it has been translated into official policy on various scales with some delay. What does this issue look like in Warsaw?
Marlena Happach:Warsaw has for a long time had actions in its strategy that can be considered to address the problem of the climate crisis. Very interesting is the document passed in 2011 entitled "Action Plan for Sustainable Energy Consumption for Warsaw until 2020." It mentions, among other things, the modernization of public housing, the construction and modernization of heat sources and district heating networks, the introduction of facilities for public transportation and restrictions on individual traffic.
Alicia: On spatial issues - that is, your "plot". - only generally formulated goals were given. Let me quote: "Achieving sustainable spatial order in Warsaw; revitalization of degraded areas; revitalization of selected degraded areas of the districts, including those of historical significance, and revitalization of large-panel housing estates."We are in 2020 [the interview appeared in A&B's 11/2020 issue - ed. note], how do you assess the implementation of these demands?
Marlena:Achieving sustainable spatial order is not possible in the short term. It is an ongoing process. So is the adoption of local zoning plans. Two hundred and ninety-nine plans are in force in Warsaw. They already cover nearly 40 percent of the area of our city. It should be remembered that about 20 percent are areas for which plans will not be created and are not needed, as they concern forests, developed and protected parks, cemeteries and the like. Two hundred and fourteen plans are now in the pipeline. That's another more than 31 percent of the city's area.
Achieving the target state - sustainable spatial order in Warsaw, so badly experienced during World War II and for forty-four years of "planned socialist economy" - is more difficult than in other cities. Neglect and abandonment can be seen especially on the right bank of the Vistula; in Old and New Praga, Szmulki, Targówek. We have included degraded areas, including those of historical importance, with old buildings in poor condition, in the Integrated Revitalization Program for 2018-2022. We are renovating old tenements. We are connecting them to city networks, to central heating. We are adding bathrooms and toilets, which some apartments did not have. We are eliminating old stoves, the so-called "drafty" stoves. We are improving the quality of life of residents and improving air quality. We are looking for different ways to solve social problems. We are improving access to educational and leisure services. We are creating creativity centers and local cultural centers. Examples of such investments include the Museum of Warsaw Prague, the Targowa Creativity Center, the Siarczana Center, Konopacki Palace and many others.
Large-panel estates are cooperative and privately owned (proprietary apartments, housing communities). Renovations and revitalizations of such estates are carried out by managers and owners in their areas. The city invests in and implements various projects to improve the quality of life in public areas and spaces.
{Image@url=https://cdn.architekturaibiznes.pl/upload/galerie/48554/images/original/9f0916fedf132cee80a65a2cd605e7c6.jpg,alt=Park Skaryszewski,title=Skaryszewski Park}
Skaryszewski Park - being surrounded by greenery and water is good for one's mood, in addition, greenery and water lower the temperature in the city
Alicja: Climate issues are directly addressed by subsequent documents, such as the anti-smog resolution adopted in 2018, and the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the City of Warsaw until 2030 (with an outlook until 2050), adopted in July 2019. A few weeks ago - on October 9 - the City of Warsaw acknowledged the state of the climate crisis. A Warsaw Climate Panel is reportedly coming up. Are these just declarations? There have already been allegations that the Strategy lacks concrete solutions.
Marlena: City Hall is planning to organize a Warsaw Climate Panel, but the epidemic situation does not allow it. Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski has already presented many specifics. He announced a reduction in our city's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 and a move toward climate neutrality in 2050. The city is developing a sustainable energy consumption plan for the next ten years.
Warsaw was the first city in Poland to join the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's "Green Cities" program. The goal of the joint action of many metropolises is sustainable development, protection of the environment and the health of residents. Under the program, Warsaw will prepare a long-term (ten-fifteen years) strategy for sustainable development. This one is yet to be created. But the already existing strategy for adaptation to climate change is being used in the work on the new Study of Conditions and Directions for Spatial Development of Warsaw.
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A path for running and recreation along the Vistula River
Alicia: The strategy mainly addresses the issue of increasingly frequent heat waves and droughts, strong winds, heavy rainfall and flooding, and the effects of inefficient infrastructure and supply networks. In light of this, what proposals and solutions will be included in the Study?
Marlena: Climate issues in the new Warsaw Study are very important. The layout of green areas and watercourses has been recognized as one of the key elements of the so-called blue-green infrastructure. That is, it is no longer only roads, subways, streetcars or city networks that are important - also trees, squares, allotments, lakes, canals and channels, floodplains. The design of more subway sections and facilities such as station exits and fan rooms is done in such a way as to cut down as few trees as possible.
Non-standard forms of greenery, such as green roofs and green walls, are also important. The city has made an inventory of green roofs. We have more or less fifty of them in Warsaw. This is certainly the future, especially for downtown areas of the metropolis. They are not only another green space, important because of the urban heat island, but also rainwater retention. So-called swamp gardens, which are practically "green" retention basins on the roofs of buildings, are becoming increasingly popular.
We want the city to be a bit like a sponge, not a compact lump of concrete, asphalt, glass and steel. That's why when new development plans are made, we try wherever we can to find space for rows of trees along streets and sidewalks that are being repaired and delineated. During hot weather, they give relief to all city users. They lower the air temperature. They hold water in place, preventing it from escaping into storm drains. During periods without rainfall, they give up moisture, and improve air quality.
We remember that climate change also requires appropriate selection of tree species. Violent windstorms easily break old poplars, for example, which used to be readily planted because they grew quickly. The Standards for Maintaining Greenery in Warsaw, adopted by the Warsaw Council (an appendix to the Environmental Protection Program), are now in effect. They specify both the preferred species for particular plantings and the standards for planted plant material. This ensures the proper quality and resilience of greenery to urban conditions, specifically our Warsaw conditions.
laureate of the competition "Warsaw in flowers and greenery" - estate "Under the Crown of the Republic"
Alicja: I understand that green areas will be increased as part of the fight against heat islands - how are locations being developed for this purpose? Are other aspects of green space policy being implemented related to regular maintenance of existing trees, establishment of flower meadows, among others?
Marlena: The green areas for which we are responsible in the city must be and are being maintained. Climate change, violent storms and windstorms force us to check the condition of trees even more carefully and frequently, so that they do not pose a threat to residents.
We mow lawns less often, establish flower meadows, support and implement "green projects" submitted under the civic budget. Thanks to Green Swietokrzyska in the center or the modernization of the square on Karol Szymanowski Street in Praga-North, Warsaw is better, friendlier and more resilient to climate change locally. A lot of information about the ecological changes that are taking place in our city can be found on the website of the Warsaw Greenery Board.
Squares, pocket parks and large green spaces are increasing in the city. One of the most interesting and already completed projects is the EKOpark on Kazimierza Gierdziejewskiego Street in Ursus. The park covers an area of 5.5 hectares, although new houses and neighborhoods in the vicinity are only in the plans or at the beginning of construction. Green infrastructure is ahead of other investments.
We are also expanding Warsaw's forested acreage. Last year we allocated about 50 hectares for reforestation. This process will be continued by the municipal unit Municipal Forests - Warsaw.
Alicja: The strategy puts a lot of emphasis on grassroots efforts by residents for self-organization and self-sufficiency. Have any of these gone beyond the experimental phase and can we count on urban gardening, for example, becoming official city policy?
Marlena: We are implementing projects that, for the time being, are educational and are becoming a symbol of "green thinking." We are showing that good and healthy food can be produced in the city. We recently opened a Wege Park in Wilanów under the Warsaw Escarpment between Rzodkiewki and Orszady streets. This is a project from the civic budget. This example shows what residents want and what activities the city supports. There are more small but important projects that promote the idea of food production in the city. Experimental farm fields are operating successfully on the grounds of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences on Nowoursynowska Street - and have been for a long time.
There is food production within Warsaw's borders, including in Ursynów in the Kabaty Forest area. Small vegetable crops and apiaries are also becoming increasingly popular on the rooftops of commercial buildings.
