This seminar was titled “Sustainable transformation for resilient coastal city”, focusing on three areas of the hosting city of Gdańsk: two parts of the harbour zone and the area next to the football arena built for UEFA Euro 2012. The aim of the seminar was to provide new functional visions for these areas, prepared by the teams of international experts from UBC member cities in line with the hosting city’s strategic objectives. The event attracted over 60 participants from 14 UBC member cities, and was organised by 2 Commissions involving Gdańsk city departments from both sides – city planning and environmental protection.
The Secretariat of the UBC Sustainable Cities Commission was represented by several experts who were sharing throughout the event the best practices and materials from the projects running in the Commission: SUMPs for BSR, Climate-4-CAST, EMPEREST, and BALTIPLAST.
UBC family meeting in Gdańsk
Taking place in the heart of UBC community, the seminar was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk for Sustainable Development and Economy Piotr Grzelak (Vice-President of UBC), the Secretary General of UBC (hosted in Gdańsk) Paweł Żaboklicki, and the Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk for Spatial Development and Housing Emilia Lodzińska.
On the photo: Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk and Vice-President of UBC Piotr Grzelak opening the seminar.
The city has a long history of smart development and international cooperation, as well as ambitious goals for its citizens: creating a city of short distances, improving transportation system, protecting and strengthening local nature. At the same time, together with other BSR cities, Gdańsk is facing significant climate-related risks, for example, heavy flooding requiring responsive mitigation measures and a net of retention systems and adaptation plans. Gdańsk also has a vision 2030 of becoming a Green City, which reflects the need to introduce new green urban areas, increase waste recycling and reuse, boost environmental education, and address air pollution.
All these focus areas require not only careful planning, devoted implementation, and large investments, - for such transformation to take place, it’s crucial to take citizens on board. Public participation needs to take place as early as possible and continue throughout every planning stage. These challenges were continuously considered throughout the seminar by international experts in city planning, architecture, and sustainability.
Case studies and expert presentations
Mindfully steered by the Chairperson of the UBC Planning Cities Paulina Szewczyk, Head of UBC SCC Secretariat Agnieszka Ilola, Deputy Director of Environmental Department of the City of Gdańsk Dagmara Nagorka-Kmiecik and the Architect of the City of Gdańsk Piotr Lorens, the seminar started with inspirational, thought-provoking, and informative expert presentations. These helped to set up the understanding of the city contexts and enriched the audience with various case studies on harbour development, a.o. from Malmö and Turku. In fact, the Turku development of the maritime vision, presented by Anna-Leena Jokitalo, was a direct result of the previous year’s joint Commissions seminar. The plans resulting from the workshop of 2023 marked the start of the strategic discussions and became the base for further design of the areas, which now form the sea-side Turku vision.
On the photo: Head of UBC SCC Secretariat Agnieszka Ilola presenting the book about the Maritime Vision Turku to the Gdańsk hosts.
Many presentations focused on sustainability aspects, which are vital to consider early at the planning stage. Prof. Marcin Wołek, representing the University of Gdańsk and the SUMPs for BSR project, in his keynote speech “Developing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans” emphasized that transport is one of the primary sources of emissions, and underlined the importance of SUMPs in reaching the climate goals. SUMPs will be obligatory for urban nodes by 2027 under the updated TEN-T regulation, and they will aid in improving the quality of life by shifting focus from car infrastructure to human-centric, walkable cities.
Six visions for Gdańsk areas
After the guided tour to the workshop areas, the practical part of the seminar had begun, where all the gained inspiration could find an application on a concrete area map. Each workshop area had 2 groups working on it, merging the expertise across different cities, countries, and professional fields. At least one expert from the Secretariat of the UBC Sustainable Cities Commission and its Advisory Board joined every group to discuss the sustainability factors that could make the planned areas energy-positive, climate-resilient, and green.
The resulting plans were presented on the last day in the Town Hall. All groups approached the planning very creatively, merging the residents’ interests for safe and attractive public spaces with investment values and, of course, green and blue infrastructures. Creating a sponge city, providing access to water in 5 senses (touch, hear, taste, smell and see), establishing new low-emission connections, ensuring inclusive and safe neighbourhoods, and focusing on history and culture – these were just few examples from the comprehensive plans. All developed plans also ensured that sustainable urban mobility infrastructure and planning were incorporated early in the development stages.
The joint seminar of the UBC Sustainable and Planning Cities Commissions emphasized once again the value of cross-sectoral cooperation, forming a creative space for direct exchange and hands-on application of the best practices among UBC cities. We warmly thank the hosting City of Gdańsk for the wonderful event and look forward to further sustainable developments in the city!