City Portrait Warsaw 2
deindustrialisation of several districts of Warsaw that in mid-2000s From post-communist to have become host to new business activities and housing. On the corporate - how the neo-liberal other hand, the unclear legal situation of majority of centrally pla- ced real estate due to the Bierut’s Decree and the lack of legislation forces are shaping the Warsaw efforts on the part of the state has led to unregulated or rather wild reprivatisation. Conditions of spatial and economic development of urban space Warsaw as a post-socialist city are therefore shaped by drastic eco- nomic pressures of global-scale corporate capital and the withdrawal of the state and local authorities from strategic navigation of this The determinants of spatial and economic develop- transformation. ment of Warsaw as a post-socialist city New economic trends Warsaw is one of those European cities that had been thoroughly destroyed during the military operations and demolitions of the Post-1989 Warsaw went through a major transformation from a Second World War. About 77 per cent of the city urban tissue ceased socialist industrial city to a neoliberal metropolis and became a part to exist. Immediately after the liberation, the regime set up the Capital of a global network of cities servicing the processes of international City Reconstruction Bureau (Biuro Odbudowy Stolicy) - an institution capital flows and accumulation. According to the Globalization and devoted to coordination and planning of post-war reconstruction of historic urban tissue of the city and rebuilding its main districts. Se- veral parts of the city centre were built anew in the spirit of socialist realism. The Old City was reconstructed according to historic plans. These large-scale projects were only made possible thanks to the so-called Bierut’s Decree according to which the Warsaw City Council could nationalise all properties within the limits of the city of Warsaw.
Image 2. Warsaw Downtown by Filip Bramorski, on Flickr
World Cities classification carried out at Loughborough University, Warsaw ranked 19th in the world and 6th in Europe in the classifi- cation of alpha class metropoles (higher than Zurich, Vienna, Barce- Image 1. Warsaw’s Old Town in 1945. Source: Warszawa stolica Polski, Społeczny lona or Berlin). The progressive growth of Warsaw’s importance in Fundusz Odbudowy Stolicy, wyd. II, Warszawa 1949, p. 101 the globalised economy was strengthened in 2004 by accession to The economy of the socialist capital was largely based on industrial the European Union and resilience to the effects of the 2008 crisis. activity. The population of Warsaw, drastically reduced during the war Warsaw’s global significance is in synergy with its capital function in to mere 480 thousand people, started to grow thanks to the influx a country characterised by centralized state administration structure. of workforce, reaching 1 million in 1955 and 1,25 million in 1965. In Central functions of Warsaw resulting from location of state institu- response to the population growth, the area of Warsaw was enlarged tions, power and decision-making bodies are a key location factor for in 1951 and new housing programs were established. However, since macroregional headquarters and branches of multinational corpora- they were not efficient enough, residency registration limits were tions as well as domestic companies. introduced. This concentration and synergy produces the so-called “St. Matthew The transformation of the city after 1989 has not been pre-plan- effect” (accumulated advantage), because it creates, for example, ned. On the one hand, the pressure of the market economy and the demand for creative services, which contributes to the concentra- deterioration of large parts of the city’s industry have resulted in rapid tion of not only advertising agencies in Warsaw, but more broadly the creative sector companies (film, computer games, media). The City Portrait Warsaw 3 largest research and development potential is also concentrated in słowy in the southern part of the city). Warsaw. It is most visible at the Ochota Campus created by several research organisations - science and experimental faculties of the Transformation of the service sector along the vector of increasing University of Warsaw, the Warsaw Medical University and the science added value favours the growth and cosmopolitanisation of the mid- institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. This area, similarly to dle class, which translates into demand for housing and expectations the office buildings of the financial sector in Wola, is woven into the of Warsaw’s urban functions (availability of leisure and quality-of-life global knowledge production system. Even though the R&D potential amenities). The process of suburbanisation, growing housing density of that area is high, it does not fully translate into commercialisation in post-industrial areas (maximizing capital efficiency per unit) and or growth of innovation-driven or high-tech start-ups. Its impact is urbanisation of former agrarian areas in peripheral districts (Bia- limited to generation of basic knowledge and human capital that can łołęka, Wawer) is constantly being accompanied by the process of only be processed into real products by global centres controlling the creating premium class housing in exclusive locations for the upper technological frontier. middle class and financial elite. At the same time, there is high invest- ment pressure on centrally located, working-class districts (Wola, Despite its nominally high and growing position, Warsaw holds mainly Praga), where modern, gated apartment buildings are increasingly subsidiary functions towards globalized capital with little impact on emerging between neglected tenement houses, creating a tensioned the creation of new technologies, organizational and normative pat- class-spatial patchwork. terns as well as innovations and trends. This situation will not change in the foreseeable future due to the distance from the technological The increasing fragmentation and complexity of this kind of metro- frontier and the weakness of the domestic capital. polisation and related transformations of the social sphere move urban development outside of the effective control of the city autho- rities, and this inefficiency is compounded by the municipality’s legal New urbanisation trends position. It’s even possible to identify a post-planning epidemic that results in spatial policy based on putting out fires and solving absurd The urban development of Warsaw is a result of interaction between problems that developers should have taken care of in the first place. processes that are running simultaneously, but often remain under One of the most visible impacts of this process is the underdevelop- tension. Growing importance of metropolitan functions causes a ment of communication, social and cultural infrastructure, which does systematic increase in demand for office space as well as housing not keep up with the transformations of urban space evolving along space. In combination with highly bureaucratic and time-consuming the vector of capital accumulation efficiency. As a result, Warsaw is planning procedures, reactive spatial policy and wild reprivatization, one of the few European cities noting the increase of the importance fast growth makes the city space chaotic, easily influenced by ad hoc of the car as the primary means of transport, with almost 9 cars per expectations, needs and interests of developers and wealthy groups. 10 people, which is much higher than Berlin (3/10), Vienna (4/10 ) or Frankfurt (4.5 /10). The increasing added value of services drives the development of Warsaw’s CBD and therefore causes relative devaluation of the exi- Does this chaos only result from disproportionate dynamics, or is sting secondary business districts, such as the so-called Mordor (an it an intentional strategy favouring capital over people, who are left office district with over 1 million sq m of space in Służewiec Przemy- to their own resources? Regardless of the answer, Warsaw and its residents have to face emergent phenomena - the consequences of
The lar The proximity of airport and buildings located in S u ewiec fast city railway (SKM). complex urban system growth, such as the decreasing air quality due subzone – over 1 million m2. Modernization of Marynarska The lar street and new public-private to the increase car traffic and intra-urban and suburban emissions. park in Warsaw – Empark partnership initiatives improving (107,000 m 2). of Suwak street. One of rent rates – attractive incentive High parking r packages for tenants. buildings. New social trends
SUPPLY (M 2) VACANCY RATE (%) RENT (EUR/M 2/MONTH) 1,338,300 16.2 10.5-15
SPACE UNDER 3-YEAR AVERAGE The single most important social phenomenon in today’s Warsaw is CONSTRUCTION (M 2) DEMAND (M2) 75,800 184,300 the process of evictions caused by wild reprivatization that followed BUILDINGS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND PLANNED Building Address Developer GLA (m ) Penta Investments the regime change of 1989. Many properties were given back to their Spectra Development Hines Polska pre - 2nd World War owners, who had been dispossessed in 1945. In
LARGEST TRANSACTIONS 2014-2017 Building Tenant Area (m ) Deal type some cases reprivatisation was a swindle and was based on counter- Konstruktorska Business Center PZU new deal Marynarska Business Park Netia renegotiation expansion + Astra Zeneca feit documents or legal tricks. Literally tens of thousands of residents renegotiation DEMAND – MAIN SECTORS 2014-2017* have been forced to leave their homes as a result of those dealings. PROFESSIONAL FINANCE SERVICES IT & TELECOMS INSURANCE MANUFACTURING 24% 20% 14% 10% Image 3. Secondary Business District of Służewiec Przemysłowy (aka Mordor) - the 10 As properties change owners and new inhabitants move in, many most concentrated back office space in Europe. Source: Colliers International based on PORF, Q1 2017. neighbourhoods are facing major social changes - the very Centre City Portrait Warsaw 4 and parts of Mokotów as well as Powiśle have become gentrified, and developers is most visible as well as the growing tensions be- districts such as Praga have witnessed growing tensions and con- tween the poorer population living in municipal and social dwellings flicts between the new and the old residents. The fastest growing and the new bourgeoisie and the metropolitan class. social groups are the ones of new white-collar workers (corporate staff) and - more recently - migrants, most of them from Ukraine, but The rapidly growing number of gated communities in Warsaw is a also from Asia or Africa. Both changes are determined by economic clear result of these tensions. In 2004, over 200 such settlements factors: mushrooming corporate offices (in Wola, the Center and Słu- were identified. By 2007, such settlements were twice as many and żew) and growing costs of labor. Although the new corporate workers the number has multiplied since then. Gated housing estates are built fuel the growth of a new urban middle class, their impact on Warsaw’s mostly in peripheral districts. Most of them exist in Ursynów, Białołę- urban tissue and its daily life is ambiguous as they also stimulate the ka, Ursus and Wawer, where new housing development is flourishing. growth of gated communities and add to high levels of air pollution It is also common practice to gate existing modernist quarters, that from traffic.Warsaw has been receiving both domestic and interna- had been purposely designed as open ones. This process can be ob- tional migrations. Some foreign migrants become victims of criminal served in the central districts (Śródmieście, Mokotów, Wola, and Żoli- activities that range from illegal hiring to virtual slavery. It has been borz). Young professionals constitute the largest group interested in recently revealed that a number of popular restaurants used slave living in gated housing estates. Their main reason for choosing a flat labor provided by a local “entrepreneur” who established a literal in that type of housing estate is to provide them with a sense of secu- slave camp in his villa in Mokotów district where he enslaved around rity, prestige and tranquility, thereby contributing to their image as an 60 workers.On the positive side, one can note growing civic activity accomplished member of a metropolitan class. Newly built housing and engagement. There are strong activist movements in Warsaw estates, often due to the multiplicity of investors, are divided internally that aim at reclaiming the city and pushing its development in a more and it is common practice to separate individual buildings within a egalitarian and environment-friendly direction. Syrena collective gated estate. This creates islands formed by individual blocks of flats. and the association Miasto Jest Nasze offer some good examples. Another problem of gated housing estates is often the lack of basic Warsaw launched its participatory budgeting mechanism a few years social infrastructure (kindergartens, schools or public spaces). ago. Though only a tiny fraction of its budget is decided this way, it has contributed to a growing number of progressive and positive city developments (new parks, bike lanes, pedestrian crossings, public amenities etc.).
Spatial patterns
Historical and structural determinants of spatial and economic development have clearly set a path-dependency framework for the Warsaw growth and metropolisation in the post-1989 market eco- nomy, which in fact took on a neo-liberal model. There are several visible patterns resulting from the above mentioned economic, urban and social trends that are part of the New Metropolitan Mainstream in the Polish capital city.
One of these patterns can be referred to as urban patchworking. High degree of deliberate social integration in the socialist era prevented Warsaw districts from being overly segregated by class or income. Also the industry areas were quite evenly distributed and present next to most of residential districts. Therefore, contemporary social
and economic transformations take on a patchworked pattern as 1 2 5 k m areas with visible gentrification are neighbouring poorer and deprived 1 : 100 000 areas, new corporate investments appear close to post-socialist big Image 4. Gated communities in Warsaw (broad definition). Source: own elaboriation block-of-flats quarters and trendy neighbourhoods merge into areas of growing privatisation. This process creates local spatial tensions resulting from reconfiguration of property ownership, especially in the All these observations lead to the conclusion that the neo-liberal city centre and two former working class districts - Praga and Wola. model of metropolisation of the city of Warsaw and reactive spa- The price pressures in these areas generated by the wealthy investors tial policy of the municipal authorities is trending towards a more City Portrait Warsaw 5 segregated and sprawled city with ineffective and unequal access to fitable seems very unlikely. It is surrounded by unused, vacant space public infrastructure and services. In other words Warsaw is moving that serves mainly as a makeshift parking lot. away from the European model of urbanisation towards a deregulated model typical for catching-up economies. Although technically the stadium was built on the site of an older one, as a matter of fact it was not a renovation, but a thoroughly new construction, hence its high cost. It would have costed approximately Case studies the same if a new stadium had been built in a completely different location - like Ursus for example with its large area of vacant post-in- While selecting case studies we decided that most interesting dustrial land and good communication infrastructure - and the site examples would be the projects and processes that have ambiguous so close to the city centre reused for housing purposes (Warsaw pa- impact on the city, its growth and social inclusion. These are also the infully lacks social housing). It is a planning curiosity to locate such projects that would evoke most discussions and among the Warsaw a huge sporting infrastructure so close to the centre, just 2 kms away NMM team. from the President’s palace and the Parliament. Such objects are Case 1: Stadion Narodowy as a failed flagship project usually placed on the outskirts of cities instead. What is even worse, the facility was fitted with an underground parking lot for 1,700 cars, Location: Praga Południe. so any major event provokes traffic jams in the neighbourhood. Purpose: built in the years 2008-2011 in the basin of the former Dziesięciolecia Stadium before the European Football Championship 2012. Cost: 1,976 million PLN (approx. 460 million EUR) To complete this somber image, it should be added that before Capacity: 60 thousand for games / 73 thousand for concerts / conference space for the new stadium was built there was a huge multi-ethnic open air 1,600 people / office and retail space is 25,000 sq metres /underground parking – 1,765 cars marketplace called “Jarmak Europa” on the site of the defunct older Cubature: 1,000,000 cubic metres sporting facility. It was one of the most interesting spaces of eth- Owner/Investor: The State Treasury nic, religious and linguistic diversity in Central-Eastern Europe with Architect: JSK Architekci Warsaw / Gerkan, Marg und Partner International GmbH traders coming from various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. That colourful space was an object of anthropological investigations and artistic interventions as well as an economic base and workplace for many family businesses. It was cleansed in a very violent way to make space for the architecturally dull white-and-red bowl of the new National Stadium.
Case 2: Wola, the new CBD extension
Location: West of the CBD, areas of al. Jana Pawła, Towarowa street, Rondo Da- szyńskiego Accessibility to centre: 10 minutes Population: 138 thousand Unemployment rate: 4,14%Office space supply: up to 1 million sq metres by 2020 Employment structure: up to 50-70 thousand corporate workers by 2020 Urban functions: growing western wing of the Warsaw Central Business District Image 5. National Stadium in Warsaw. Source: Przemysław Jahr / Wikimedia Com- mons
Though the National Stadium is completed, it may be treated as an example of a failed project as it does not serve any purpose that would justify its cost and size. Neither the city nor the country really need such a huge sporting facility. Polish football league is not strong enough to make use of it and major international events are rare.
The stadium was constructed for the UEFA European Champion- ship 2012 at the cost of roughly 500 mln euros, which is more than Beijing’s Olympic Stadium. It was a purely show-off investment, simi- lar in its failed concept to other “white elephants” left over after the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil or the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Warsaw’s National Stadium is not decaying, however it brings little Image 6. New western CBD around Rondo Daszyńskiego. Source: Adrian Grycuk/ economic profits - with the current income level, it will take a century Wikimedia Commons just to cover the construction costs; making it substantially more pro- City Portrait Warsaw 6
Wola exemplifies the epidemic of the New Metropolitan Mainstream happening in Warsaw. Especially the area around Rondo Daszyńskie- go (Daszyński Roundabout) is the most dynamically developing busi- ness area in Warsaw and probably in all Central and Eastern Europe. New high-rise construction is going on between the old substandard tenant houses of pre-war working class and former industrial plants. The area is transforming from a working-class area to a white-collar -dominated corporate district without the usual intermediary gentrifi- cation stages (bohemian, hipster or middle-class). Intensive develop- ment of the area has already brought a clear change in the character of this part of the city resulting in its new nick-name “Warsaw Wild West”. It is even said that the city centre is moving west.
The driving forces behind this process are the rising demand for office space located close to the capital’s CBD, relatively attractive Image 7. Communal gardens at Otwarty Jazdów. Source: Otwarty Jazdów rents and the availability of public transport – trams, buses and most importantly the opening of the second metro line. The office-space Otwarty (Open) Jazdów is the community of the Warsaw settlement demand and supply are further shifted by the Brexit and multinational of wooden Finnish houses, offering a social, cultural and environ- companies moving macro regional offices to Warsaw. For example, mental public program. Open Jazdów is both the name of a commu- the last two floors in Warsaw Spire were rented by Goldman Sachs, nity and actions undertaken in Jazdów settlement in Warsaw, just one of the largest investment banks in the world, which has recently behind The Ujazdowski Public Garden. After The Second World War, expanded the Polish branch. Moreover, lots of companies are moving the colony of Finnish houses that were constructed here served as a away from the secondary business district of Służewiec Przemysłowy residential area for workers employed by the Capital City Reconstruc- (graphically called “Mordor” in a corporate slang) due to overconcen- tion Bureau. A heated debate about the future of Jazdów Settlement tration of business functions, poor spatial planning and horrific traffic was held in the years 2011- 2013. The citizens battled to prevent the situation in the rush hours. place from totally disappearing from the map of Warsaw. The Sród- miescie district government decided to dedicate the area for commer- Wola district is also a field of wild reprivatisation, which adds to the cial purposes and public amenities. However, the residents, together context of the skyscraper city creation. Specialized law firms and re- with urban activists, created the Open Jazdów initiative to defend the al-estate claim collecting companies, put pressure on former property historic settlement and houses, which had survived till that day. The owners and speculate in centrally located parcels fulfilling the gro- Ambassador of Finland joined the ranks of defenders. wing demand of office developers. Businessmen and lawyers imme- diately understood that recovered buildings can be a source of huge Nowadays, thanks to that action and public consultation on the future profits. There are also the infamous „tenement cleaners” - people who of the place, Open Jazdów combines residential and public functions. specialize in expelling tenants from flats, often by illegal means. In 27 wooden houses and the adjacent gardens live and act next to each other: residents, non-governmental organizations, urban garde- The speed and concentration of office space developments are ners and beekeepers, academics and students, artists and workers of good examples of complete subordination of the city to internatio- businesses, cooperatives, embassies and public institutions. Its mis- nal capital with only reactive policy from the city council and local sion is to mix and match different groups to commonly develop public community. Real-estate analysts estimate that by the year 2020 there space, to create a social and cultural program available to everyone, will be 800 thousand square meters of new office space with 50-70 to practice alternative models of financing and sharing, to cultivate thousand new office workforce. Taking this into consideration, the the gardens and just to hang out in nice ways. newly opened metro station will not be able to handle a fraction of this traffic, even if the metro trains departed every 2 minutes. Disclaimer
Case 3: Otwarty Jazdów, an alternative urban model This city portrait has been produced by members of the INURA Warsaw group consisting of academics, activists, journalists, public Location: Jazdów street, 00-467 Warsaw (city centre) Purpose: social and cultural participation, culturing social public space in the city intellectuals, artists and experts in fields of economics, demography, centre, creating and developing the first community-led area in Warsaw social policy, environmental studies, sociology and antropology, urban Initiative period: 2011 and policy studies. These conclusions presented here are a result of Social groups involved: from unprivileged Warsaw dwellers to creative middle class series of meetings, debates and discussions based on evidence, rese- arch and broad experience of the group members, as well as field stu- City Portrait Warsaw 7 dies that revised data based on desk research. Yet, these reflections have intentionally been framed as subjective reflections by authors, who feel great responsibility and neccessity to express their critial voices, as they are concerned about trtajectories of social, economic and spatial development of the city of Warsaw. In this light we would like to thank Biennale Warszawa for taking this project under the institutional umbrella and Centre for European Re- gional and Local Studies (EUROREG) for academic support. biennalewarszawa.tumblr.com/eng www.euroreg.uw.edu.pl/en/
Warsaw team:
Jan Sowa Katarzyna Wojnar Edwin Bendyk Zofia Dworakowska Bartosz Frąckowiak Andrzej Leśniak Jan Mencwel Jakub Rok Marta Żakowska