Łódź is the third largest city in Poland, located in the central part of the country, with a population of 665.000. It is a city with very strong industrial roots, based on the textile industry. Nowadays, it is one of the most dynamically developing cities and part of a very strong metropolitan area, with an academic and cultural centre (over 70.000 students, 19 universities) and with significant economic potential (Dell, BSH, MIELE, FUJITSU). The city increases the attractiveness of central areas by reconstructing the historical city tissue and equipping it with new functions. The biggest challenges we are facing and successfully tackling include:
- Improvement of the quality of life of residents
- Reversal of adverse demographic trends
- Regeneration of urban space
- Introducing Local Green Deal work
According to the adopted Strategy 2030+, the guiding concept for the city's development is defined by Łódź as a living organism in which the potential of its residents is not wasted.
It is based on 4 pillars:
1. A strong and resillient Łódź;
2. A Łódź with economic and social development;
3. A Łódź that responds to the expectations of all stakeholders; and
4. A delightful Łódź.
The strategy was prepared with a consultation process; the main guidelines prepared by the City constituted a formal legal and economic framework resulting from the expert knowledge of officials. However, it was the inhabitants who decided how to fill this framework, formulating recommendations and issuing opinions on solutions. Starting with a TEDx-type event, during which the Mayor of the City of Łódź presented the main points of the strategy, the project continued with numerous local meetings and concluded with online workshops and meetings, including children and youth.
During an event organised by the City of Łódź' public consultation for the New Development Strategy – Co-Created City, more than 1,500 stakeholders decided the direction of the city’s development and defined the tools needed to implement the city’s co-management future. The consultations were conducted in Polish, English and Ukrainian, so that anyone interested could take part in them. This approach recognises mutual competencies and optimises their use in development planning over a ten-year scale. For the first time, the city sought residents’ input on the strategy, rather than their opinion on the document itself.
The strategy will lead to the implementation of the shared vision of the city’s inhabitants, thus initiating the reconstruction of trust and social capital. The strategy is primarily to support building a friendly and open city. It is supposed to be a resilient strategy, preparing the city for even the most difficult challenges.
For this initiative our city has been recognised with a prestigious award: Innovations in Politics 2021 category: Democracy - Consultation of the Łódź 2030+ Strategy, Co-Created City.
Moreover, the city of Łódź is well known for its business friendliness and received the Emerging Europe Award – Business Friendly Cities Perception 2020 - for the most business friendly city.
One of the main ideas for the city's co-transformation is the revitalisation of the historical city centre. It covers social-oriented projects, urban tissue refurbishment, energy efficiency modernisation and public space regeneration with greening. An agreement has been signed between public and private actors to implement ecological actions (Ecopact).
Our experience with revitalisation shows that it is necessary to unite social and business forces and to develop a course of action giving the social sector the chance to be involved in the processes determining our common future. What distinguishes Łódź from other cities in Poland, and Europe, is the scale of complex regeneration, which covers an area of almost 1.800 ha in the city. It has been divided into 20 projects. Of these, eight are being carried out using EU funds.
Our goal is to create a resilient and strong community. Social economy, effectively and permanently included in revitalisation processes, is a means to this end. Projects are carried out with the broad support of various stakeholders.
In line with the concept of integrated governance, the regeneration processes in Łódź not only place a great deal of emphasis on building economic and social governance, but also implementing elements of the European Green Deal. Many new elements of urban greenery are being put in place and facilities and incentives for people using green transport are being introduced. In addition, the development of climate awareness and social responsibility is a priority.
The numerous regeneration projects are a response to demands for a green city, a city with high accessibility to nature, a city with high quality of life, and a tolerant, inclusive and safe city where every resident fully benefits from public spaces and goods and feels they belong to the local community.
The idea of building an environmentally friendly city together is the basis of the Łódź Ecopact, a form of cooperation between businesses, institutions, schools and residents.
Thanks to the CSR concept, we are opening a new chapter in business: green cooperation and supporting the creation of green jobs. So far, 30 entities have decided to cooperate with the city, donating money, time, knowledge and their commitment.
This project started in 2020 and already has experienced a number of concrete results:
In cooperation with an energy company, a network for air quality sensors has been installed in the city, an environmental education project for residents (repair cafés and planting trees) was also implemented. With NGOs and a commercial network, we have planted 14.000 forest tree seedlings in one of Europe’s largest urban forests: Łagiewnicki. Horticulture companies have funded several thousand square metres of wildflower meadows and a chocolate manufacturer has set up insect habitats. Together with entrepreneurs and cultural institutions, we are developing an apiary network to support urban beekeeping and with one of the schools, we are creating community gardens. The Ecopact also sees whole areas handed over to entrepreneurs to be redecorated with greenery. All these activities bring pro-climate benefits to everyone, while those involved in their implementation can consolidate their environmentally friendly business profile and positive image of being a “good neighbor”. In order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality, it is necessary to create a full synergy between the City, the common good, and private entities whose activities impact the climate regardless of their scale and should be in line with new sustainability patterns and circular economy.
As the city strategy and the revitalisation process are both human-oriented, the most significant impact is in the human sphere. Those actions have changed the perception of the historical centre of Łódź. While it was formerly regarded as polluted, unsafe and offering poor living conditions, it is now seen as a green and renovated area. It can be seen not only in direct research (the survey conducted by the city shows that the share of people that see Łódź as a good place to live has risen to 71% from 27% a decade ago), but also in growing investments in the central area. There is now a huge number of housing investments in the city centre (earlier it accumulated in the suburbs) and there are also a lot of small entrepreneur businesses along the revitalised streets, like cafes or crafts.
In 2022, a new tool for implementing the strategy and stimulating social involvement was established. The city opened the area called “City Activities Factory”. It is a kind of city-lab situated in the former textile factory building, open for citizens' activities and ideas. A separate department of the city office was also created to operate the place and the participatory processes.
The strategy implementation pattern contains the verification of approximately 50 indicators covering different areas and aspects. It is reported every year to show progress. The city will create a special application to collect and compare the indicators online.
The main challenge is to maintain the process and continuously add new incentives for citizens. Without that, co-creation would not be seen as a livable process. In response to the needs of residents, and climate change issues, the City of Łódź established new units to implement the provisions of co-creation and the implementation of the Local Green Deal. Good practices of the city will be continuously developed, especially in the fields of innovative projects on inclusivity, green solutions or social revitalisation. Initiatives such as Citizens' Panels, public consultations, and the Factory of Urban Activity are core values in building a city of good quality.
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
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