The Making of the Gdańsk Metropolitan Region. Local Discourses of Identities, Powers, and Hopes

QUAESTIONES GEOGRAPHICAE 33(4) • 2014

THE MAKING OF THE GDAŃSK METROPOLITAN REGION. LOCAL DISCOURSES OF IDENTITIES, POWERS, AND HOPES

Mariusz Czepczyński

Spatial Management Department, Institute of Geography, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Manuscript received: February 3, 2014 Revised version: June 5, 2014

Czepczyński M., 2014. The making of the Gdańsk metropolitan region. Local discourses of powers, identities and hopes. Quaestiones Geographicae 33(4), Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań, pp. 57–66. DOI 10.2478/quageo-2014-0049, ISSN 0137-477X.

Abstract: The process of metropolitanisation of the Gdańsk area is facilitated by public discourse involving local and regional politicians, media, and inhabitants. The discussion is based upon historical narrations, but also local ambi- tions, hopes and emotions, as well as infrastructural projects and investment attractiveness. Foucault suggests that modern power is a dispersed set of micro-practices, many of which operate through the normalising gaze of surveil- lance regimes. Gdańsk metropolitan cooperation, competition and encounters make the core of the paper; local and regional unifying initiatives and processes are accompanied by examples of separatism, identity conflicts, and political disagreements.

Key words: metropolitan region, Gdańsk, cooperation, competition Mariusz Czepczyński, Spatial Management Department, Institute of Geography, University of Gdańsk, ul. Bażyńskiego 4, 80- 952 Gdańsk, Poland; e-mail: [email protected]

Introduction fears and ambitions of numerous actors on the local, regional and national scenes. Regional ur- There are three main approaches towards ban cooperation is based on combined benefits metropolitan cooperation. The thesis is based on and economic, social, and cultural value-added administrative, top-down decisions, often used synergies. Cooperation is not always easy, but in stronger social systems. The antithesis is to- the development goal is often one: a better fu- tal disintegration and internal competitiveness, ture – living, education, labour, infrastructure, typical of liberal systems. The synthesis – joint culture, increasing competitiveness and attrac- action of both; the most efficient and sustainable tiveness at the regional, national and European (Judge et al. 2005). Metropolitan growth is based levels. However, governmental initiatives, like on compromises, coalitions and negotiations proposals of a new urban policy, show some to make the best of combined connections and ‘metropolitan fear’ – ignoring the fact of the rap- mobility, cooperation and competition, flexibil- id development of metropolitan zones and in- ity and dynamism, while keeping identities and ter-metropolitan cooperation, and delaying any internal diversity. Metropolitan cooperation can legal solutions to regulate metropolitan cooper- be interpreted as a process facilitated by various ation. actors, both internal and external, placed be- Traditionally, metropolitan regions can be tween integration and cooperation, and between perceived as large production and consumption 58 Mariusz Czepczyński systems based upon extensive information and swer to global competition between locations. knowledge processing. They are usually charac- In recent years, cities and regions have begun terised by an “agglomeration of economic activ- to behave much like enterprises, competing for ities and by their intra-regional transport infra- investment and negotiating their places in mul- structure, facilitating very large movements of ti-national, but sometimes also inter-regional people, inputs and products within interaction networks of globalised prosperity (Herrschel, borders” (Klaesson et al. 2013: 1). Metropolitan Newman 2005). regions are large and multi-centred agglomer- A vast majority of urban regions are mono- ations of economies and societies in the form centric, built around a dominant functional and of a vast urbanised region characterised by a administrative hub. The other type – polycentric large integrated labour market, with a much structures – have grown with the rise of auto- more intensive commuting and search for jobs mobile and rail transport, and comprise a num- and workforce within the region than between ber of cities, towns, and other urban areas that, regions (Johansson 1997). More recently, their through population growth and physical ex- function as gateways to other regions has been pansion, have merged to form one, more or less stressed, thus linking economic actors in the re- continuous, urban and economically developed gion with those in other regions nationally and area (Knox, Pinch 2006). An urban polycentric abroad (Andersson 2000). system, known in America as a ‘metroplex’, is a The main aim of this paper is to investigate contiguous metropolitan area that has more than the level of metropolitanisation of the Gdańsk one principal anchor city of near-equal impor- region in Poland, to analyse its metropolitan tance. It is this ‘near-equal’ importance, special- character, and its anti-metropolitan features. isation and distribution of major functions that The discursive process of cooperation and com- makes regions polycentric. petition within the Gdańsk metropolitan area, The Tri-City name of the agglomeration of analysed here in terms of the antithesis and the Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot places a different synthesis, is a major development issue for the gloss on the term ‘multi-polar’ (or multi-cen- region and its future. The deconstruction of pro- tric, or polycentric), and makes the Gdańsk area cesses, actors and actions responsible for major somewhat unique in terms of general classifica- metropolitan features, its internal agglomeration tions of multi-polar agglomerations. Davoudi and linkages with external actors, together with (2005: 2) says: “At the inter-urban scale, the fo- the unification and disintegration of the Gdańsk cus is on the polycentric urban region with three metropolis can be seen as a diagnosis of the or more cities that are historically and political- on-going process. ly separate, have no hierarchical ranking, are in reasonable proximity to each other, and demon- strate a high degree of functional interconnec- The Gdańsk urban region in transition tions and complementarities”. The Gdańsk area meets two of these condi- Regional and especially intra-urban coop- tions, but fails on the remaining two. Much of eration is a complex and learning process fa- the agglomeration’s development has been cilitated by various local and regional actors. shaped by lack of interconnection and comple- Different conditions, goals, expectations and mentarity between its main parts, and Gdańsk ambitions create a distinctive network of hopes, as a regional capital is evidently ranked higher threats and opportunities which shape the fu- than Gdynia. This arose out of tensions which ture of a region. Ruling out the upcoming pros- still underlie much of the discussion of integra- pect of virtually and legally disjointed regions tion and policies in the city region (Judge et al. depends on the ability of local communities and 2005). Administrative divisions and borders cre- elites to overcome mental and imagined bar- ate virtual regions, while independent local mu- riers, and take advantage of possible forms of nicipalities and authorities make for dispersed collaboration. A dynamic expansion of a large powers and decision-making processes, control urban region is often viewed as a regional an- and responsibilities. The making of the Gdańsk metropolitan region. Local discourses of identities, powers, and hopes 59

This biggest agglomeration on the southern Poles, Gdynia was an artificial creation arising Baltic coast consists of the cities of Gdańsk and out of the 1919 Versailles Treaty. After the Trea- Gdynia, the resort city of Sopot between them, ty, the historic city and port of Gdańsk (Danzig) plus the surrounding belt of suburbs and satel- was given a more independent status from Ger- lite towns – altogether a population of about 1.2 many as a Free City to allow Poland access to the million. It is located at the mouth of the Vistula Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, in 1926, the Poles decid- River, about 350 km northwest of Warsaw. The ed to build their own Baltic port in the village of Gdańsk, or Tri-City1, agglomeration is Poland’s Gdynia, some 20 km north of Gdańsk. From the third largest urban centre, and acts as the pri- very beginning Gdynia was constructed as a Pol- mary economic, social, cultural, educational, ish competitor to the German Gdańsk/Danzig. transport and political focus of the northern part The new town expanded quickly to 130,000 in- of the country. The functional Tri-City agglom- habitants in 1939. During the Second World War, eration consists of at least 13 urban municipal- the Polish Corridor, including Gdynia3, and the ities and 27 rural communes2 covering more Free City of Gdańsk were incorporated into the than 2,000 sq. km, including Gdańsk (460,000), German Reich, and thus under the control of Gdynia (248,000), Tczew (59,000), Wejherowo one regional administration. A common public (50,000), Rumia (47,000), and Sopot (38,000). transport system was established to serve the en- The spatial development of the agglomeration tire area (Czepczyński 2009). is concentrated along the main and dominant The communist era brought enforced amal- transport corridor linking the main centres, go- gamation based on a top-down approach. The ing from Tczew in the south, via Gdańsk, Sopot transport system, port authorities, together with and Gdynia, to Wejherowo in the north-west all vital economic, social and cultural functions, (ca. 70 km). The core of the metropolis extends were integrated within the central and region- along a 20-km axis from Gdańsk through Sopot al planning projects. After the political shifts to Gdynia. A vast majority of key local and re- of 1989, the municipalities became more inde- gional central functions are concentrated along pendent and followed different development this axis, together with the main centres of the paths based on their path dependency. In 1999, conurbation: Gdańsk Centre, Gdańsk Wrzeszcz a new administrative system was implemented: and Gdynia Centre (Judge et al. 2005). The crea- Gdańsk was designated the capital of Pomera- tion of a polycentric agglomeration has been en- nia voivodeship (NUTS-2 unit), while all three hanced by natural conditions and the linear his- main urban municipalities, Gdańsk, Gdynia and torical development of Gdańsk, facilitated by the Sopot, became independent unitary authorities narrow coastal strip of land between the beach combining local and low-level regional (poviat, and the edge of morainic hills. NUTS-4 unit) functions. The Gdańsk area holds The past development and present structure most of the vital economic and social activities of of the conurbation is deeply embodied in local the whole region. Since the 1970s, the local com- history. While Gdańsk is an ancient port city and munity has been considered active, open-mind- Sopot was a fashionable nineteenth century sea- ed, anti-totalitarian, and liberal. This, together side resort patronised mainly by Germans and with the legacy of ‘the cradle of Solidarity’, has contributed to a strong localism. In addition, the 1 Tri-City, or Trójmiasto in Polish, sometimes spelled as regional economy has not been driven by strong 3miasto/3city, is a commonly known, though unoffi- foreign investment, and is instead largely the cial, name in Poland. For the first time it came as a le- outcome of an effective combination of local co- gal name in the Tri-City Landscape Park (Trójmiejski Park Krajobrazowy) in 1979. The term comes from the operation and competition. number of major municipalities: Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot. It is broadly used in national media, including weather maps, news, and others. 2 There are many functional and planning delimita- tions of the Gdańsk Metropolitan Area. The popula- 3 During the Second World War Gdynia was renamed tion of the functional urban area varies, depending on Gotenhafen and turned into a major base on the Bal- the estimation, from 750,000 to 1.3 million. tic. 60 Mariusz Czepczyński

The bonding role of the transport gration along the main transport artery as a spine network of the agglomeration. The backbone of the Tri- City is the inner highway between Gdańsk (Zwy- cięstwa – Grunwaldzka), Sopot (Niepodłegłości) As in other European cities, public transport and Gdynia (Zwycięstwa Avenue). It consists of in Gdańsk developed since the late 19th century 2–4 lanes in each direction. In 1975 a 40 km dual into an extensive tram system, extended to Sopot carriageway Tri-City Ring Road5 (Obwodnica in 1945, while trolleybuses were introduced in Trójmiejska) was constructed. It starts in the vi- Gdynia, or Gotenhafen, in 1943. The making of cinity of Pruszcz Gdański and goes through the a unified metropolitan region began in October western districts of Gdańsk to Gdynia-Chylonia. 1950 with the decision to build a separate railway During the 1970s an active and a passive policy lane for urban transport. A new improved rail of de-agglomeration was implemented when a connection was more than necessary to link the number of important industrial plants and large practically destroyed Gdańsk centre with resi- housing estates had been located in the outer dential districts in the northern parts of the urban zone of the agglomeration, but mostly along the region. On 22 July 1952, a two-track connection transport axis, notably in Pruszcz and Rumia from the Gdańsk Main Station to Gdynia Orłowo (Czepczyński 2005). Nevertheless, the cities of the was ready; in 1954 dual-track traffic reached the agglomeration developed largely autonomously, Gdynia Główna station. The completion of an keeping their own distinct identities. electrified Rapid Urban Rail (Szybka Kolej Miej- An important step in transport integration ska, or SKM) system between Gdańsk and Gdy- was the decision to construct a second line of the nia accelerated the agglomeration’s integration. suburban railway known as the Pomeranian Met- This major Polish urban train system accounts ropolitan Rail (Pomorska Kolej Metropolitalna, for ca. 19% of all Tri-City traffic and transports or PKM). In January 2008 the municipalities of ca. 35.2 million passengers per year4 – more than Gdańsk and Gdynia, together with the voivode- 100,000 passengers daily. The trains operate now ship self-government, decided to apply jointly at 7- (rush hours) and 15-minute intervals be- for EU structural funds. The new line, financed tween Gdańsk and Gdynia, with an hourly night by the voivodeship self-government and the EU service. Currently, the SKM is a limited compa- funds, will connect the Gdańsk airport with the ny owned by the Polish State Railways (47.8% of centres of Gdańsk and Gdynia, and will open shares), the Ministry of Treasure (22.6%), Pomer- new connections to the nearby towns of Żukowo anian voivodeship (12.8%), the City of Gdańsk and Kartuzy, which will further integrate subur- (9.6%), the City of Sopot (2.8%), the City of Gdy- ban centres with the core of the agglomeration. nia (2.6%), and the Urban Communes of Pruszcz The 55-km long PKM will have 18 stops (10 in Gdański (1.6%) and Rumia (0.2%). Some of the Gdańsk and 6 in Gdynia) in 2015. municipalities, like Gdańsk, are interested in The long process of creating a single public more shares and an active role in managing and transport system was facilitated by the Gdańsk planning further operations, while others, like Bay Metropolitan Board, initiated by the head Gdynia, take a more passive part in SKM devel- of the voivodeship in 2003. Four years later the opment. Gdańsk Bay Inter-Communal Transport Union Since the late 1960s, the process of planned re- was established, and since 2009 it has coordinat- gional development of Gdańsk voivodeship has ed the metropolitan public transport system con- contributed to extensive industrial and residen- necting eight towns (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Pruszcz tial suburbanisation of the existing urban centres, Gdański, Reda, Rumia, Sopot, and Wejherowo) thus furthering their functional and physical inte- and seven rural municipalities (Kolbudy, Ko- sakowo, Luzino, Pruszcz Gdański, Wejherowo, 4 In 2013 it was ca. 2 million less than in 2012 due to Żukowo, and Szemud). The Union offers daily an extensive reconstruction of the tracks and sta- and monthly tickets for all modes of public trans- tions (Weltrowski 2014). The peak of popularity was reached in the late 1970s, when the yearly number of SKM passengers exceeded 100 million. 5 Since 2012, the Western Ring Road. The making of the Gdańsk metropolitan region. Local discourses of identities, powers, and hopes 61 port, including urban trains, buses, trams and well as secondary and higher education, work in trolleybuses, operated by the state-owned SKM a single, metropolitan operational milieu. Local and municipal transport companies of Gdańsk, universities, research and IT centres, in particular Gdynia and Wejherowo. the dominant University of Gdańsk, have their The Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa International Air- campuses scattered across different locations in port can be a successful example of joint metro- the three cities. There is also practically one re- politan infrastructure initiatives. Located 12 km al-estate market, and commonly used health-care west-northwest of the Gdańsk centre, 10 km from and leisure facilities. One of the best examples of Sopot and 23 km from Gdynia, this third largest intra-metropolitan cooperation is the construc- airport in Poland serves ca. 3 million passengers tion and management of a Gdańsk-Sopot joint per year (2013). It is owned by the voivodeship venture: the Ergo Arena (or Hala Gdańsk-Sopot). self-government (31.45%), the City of Gdańsk The boundary between the two cities – Sopot and (29.45%), the City of Gdynia (1.14%), the City of Gdańsk – runs through the very middle of this Sopot (0.35%), and the Airports State Company multi-purpose indoor arena, opened in 2010, de- (37.61%). Another example of coordination of a signed to host up to 15,000 visitors. metropolitan transport system is Tristar – an in- The regional integration discourse has been tegrated smart metropolitan traffic management facilitated by some of the key local and region- system. The project, initiated by the Technical al actors, including investors, researchers and University of Gdańsk and begun in 2006, has been some politicians (Sagan, Canowiecki 2011). A supported by €156 million from the EU (ca. 85% distinctive role is played here by the active and of the total cost). The goal is to shorten the time of effective local media, including two major news- car travel on major roads by 20% by a smart use papers, four radio stations, regional television, of cameras, sensors, interactive road signs, and and a very popular Web portal www.trójmiasto. so on. The system is currently being introduced pl. Since all the media draw on the same sourc- to the main transport axis, and is scheduled to be es and offer one edition and programme for the completed by the end of 2014. whole of the metropolis6, they contribute to the fostering of metropolitan integration within the region. In 2005 the newspapers Gazeta Wyborcza Metropolitan hopes, or cooperation and and Dziennik Bałtycki as well as the state-owned functional integration Radio Gdańsk and the Gdańsk 3rd TV Channel organised public debates, meetings and pro- grammes promoting cooperation in the city re- After more than 80 years of both spontaneous gion. In 2006 the local edition of Gazeta Wyborcza and forced amalgamation, the Gdańsk metropol- initiated the “I love my city” competition as well itan area has become a reasonably integrated ur- as a Tri-City survey. In that pragmatically orient- ban region. Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot and the sur- ed assessment, the inhabitants of the region opt- rounding suburbs create a cohesive system based ed for a single network ticket for the region as on mass commuting across the entire polycentric the main priority. Also the local Dziennik Bałtycki region. The administrative borders are usually organised a “Let’s keep together” forum and de- barely visible, sometimes only in the form of size- bate to promote the idea of metropolitan coop- able welcome boards, an abruptly changing qual- eration (Szczepuła 2006). In 2013 local television ity of bike paths, or different styles of Christmas began a series of programmes under the umbrel- street decorations. Functional unity and physi- la of “We in the Metropolis” (My w Metropolii). cal proximity demand inter-city cooperation in Local NGOs have been very active in the Gdańsk many aspects. Current arrangements include state and regional entities, such as energy and 6 In the early 2000s Dziennik Baltycki had different local gas providers, or environmentally protected ur- editions for Gdańsk and Gdynia. After a few months ban forests. Economic partnership and common the readers clearly showed their disapproval of the disintegration of information, which was followed by labour, property, retail and wholesale markets, a sales decrease. Soon after a single Tri-City edition together with financial and banking services as was re-introduced. 62 Mariusz Czepczyński arena. Some of them, like the Lepsze Miasto (Bet- national model of a successfully transformed so- ter City) Foundation, try to play a key social role ciety and municipality, known for its vibrant and in the process of metropolitan integration. Other entrepreneurial milieu. Gdańsk was then torn by examples of somewhat enforced but most effec- social and economic problems of incompetence tive collaboration imposed by EU and national and corruption in local government. Competi- policies include the integration of tourism pro- tion, conspiracy, as well as a certain level of ag- motion and the Tri-City Agglomeration Air Pro- gressive rivalry developed between the cities; and tection Programme. the underlying virtual divisions became much There have also been more and more joint more ‘real’ in operational terms. The historical trans-metropolitan social and cultural projects and deeply rooted anti-Gdańsk fears in Gdynia inspired by the media and local mangers of came to be a significant part of urban identity, culture. In the early 2007 the biggest regional transmitted to another generation of Gdynia in- newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto organised habitants and enhanced by very effective local a Przystanek Trójmiasto (Tri-City Bus Stop) fo- and national Gdynia PR. The different historical rum, where vital problems of metropolitan de- backgrounds, visible in the cities’ different archi- velopment were discussed and analysed. More tectural appearances, are often used as symbols than 8,000 people signed the Tri-City Card as a of differences between them. declaration of closer municipal cooperation with The role of personalities and individual actors the metropolis. In March 2007 the declaration of is not to be underestimated. In general, it is not cooperation, inspired and facilitated by Gazeta institutional arrangements or structures that al- Wyborcza, was signed by the mayors of Gdańsk, low collaboration to emerge, but it is the personal Gdynia and Sopot, and by the President of the charisma and policy-making ability of individual voivodeship government. During the whole of key actors that can facilitate collaborative arrange- 2007, every Saturday the question “What next ments, with or without support by formal struc- with the Tri-City metropolis?” returned on the tures. Since the late 1990s, the management of local pages of the newspaper. In December 2007 and relations between Gdańsk and Gdynia have a new cultural initiative was initiated to integrate been changing. The current mayor of Gdańsk, the cultural life of the metropolis. Larry Ugwu, Paweł Adamowicz, in office since 1998, has been director of the Baltic Cultural Centre in Gdańsk, able to implement many sustainable economic organised a Metropolitan Festival of Culture un- and infrastructural programmes, including busi- der the title ‘Metropolia jest Okey’ (the Metrop- ness support systems, a technology centre, parks olis is OK) in three clubs in Gdańsk, Gdynia and and sporting facilities, and a bike paths scheme, Sopot. 33 local artists, performers and musicians in addition to many road construction and me- participated in this first integrated cultural event. ga-projects, like the infrastructure for the EURO The 2013 (sixth) edition gathered more than 50 2012 European Football Championship. Gdańsk musicians in seven clubs around the metropoli- and its elites are also important linking actors, at tan area and seemed to prove the merger of the the national and international scales. Since 2007, milieu, at least cultural, of the urban region. the Gdańsk mayor has been president of the ­Union of Polish Metropolises; he is also member of a number of international bodies, including Metropolitan fears or competition and the EU Assembly of Regional and Local Repre- complementary functions sentatives. Presently, Gdańsk is considered one of the most efficient applicants in Poland for EU structural funds. Gdynia’s development, regard- The evolution of self-governance in the less of some economic successes, seems to have Gdańsk area which followed the first post-com- lost its earlier ‘drive’. Sopot, much smaller than munist free local election of 1990 had been high- the other two cities, makes much of its image at ly uneven across different municipalities. In the the national level as an upmarket leisure and en- early 1990s, Gdynia, governed by Franciszka Ce- tertainment centre. This has translated into one gielska, a dynamic ‘iron lady mayor’, became a of the highest property prices in Central Europe. The making of the Gdańsk metropolitan region. Local discourses of identities, powers, and hopes 63

Presently, in general public opinion, the mayor nal competition, separatism and local ambitions of Gdynia is regarded as the main obstacle to the is the Gdynia Kosakowo airport. A navy airfield idea of closer and formalised inter-metropolitan has been reconstructed to serve civil and cargo collaboration7 (Szczepuła 2006). traffic, only 25 km from the expanding Gdańsk The competition concentrates in fields con- Lech Wałęsa airport. The airport has not been trolled or facilitated by the rival municipalities. opened, the European Commission having de- Three local development strategies, although cided that the public financial assistance of €22 based on practically the same regional strengths million for the Kosakowo airport was illegal and values, accentuate local differences and par- (Szczerba, Naskręt, 2013). The airport has to re- ticularities. The strategies are followed by sep- turn the money, which means immediate bank- arate communal organisations, unemployment ruptcy of the almost ready-to-use enterprise with and environmental policies, entrepreneurship a new terminal and a modernised runway. Short- support systems, place marketing and munici- ly before the negative decision was publicised, pally assisted investment, such as sports arenas the mayor of Gdynia published an open letter ac- or road construction. Gdańsk and Gdynia have cusing the EU of an anti-Polish policy. The pos- also different, complementary and somehow sible takeover negotiations by the Gdańsk Lech competing port authorities, two of the largest Wałęsa airport in the autumn of 2013 were bro- container terminals on the Baltic, and compet- ken by the mayor of Gdynia’s premature state- ing ferry operators and links to Sweden. There ment, sent in the early phase of negotiations to are two major technology and business parks in the European Commission, declaring an alleged Gdańsk and Gdynia, and science museums. Cul- comprehensive solution of the problem. tural and sporting events and festivals are hardly One of the major problems of cooperation coordinated and often compete with each other. seems to lie beyond infrastructure and current Gdynia, together with Sopot and other small- economic activities, and to involve local identi- er suburban municipalities, has established the ties. Gdynia, historically built as a Polish answer Chylonka Valley Municipal Union to manage the to the German Gdańsk, has for decades construct- heat, waste, water, and sewage systems. Gdańsk ed its urban narration on anti-Gdańsk distinctive- utilities, by contrast, are largely privatised and ness and identity (Sagan, Canowiecki, 2011). And managed by foreign firms.E ach of the major mu- even now, the historical reference to Gdynia8 – nicipalities has also its own unemployment and described as the ‘Polish window to the world’ entrepreneurship policies, as well as separate and the fastest growing city, just like in the 1930s chambers of commerce. The competition is addi- – seems to be stronger than in the 1000-year-old tionally facilitated by rival football clubs: Lechia Gdańsk (Czepczyński, Górlikowski 2014). The Gdańsk and Arka Gdynia. strong Gdynia identity is reflected in very high There are many examples of inter-metropoli- support for the local administration and residen- tan de-synchronisation, and many of them seem tial satisfaction. In a 2013 survey organised by to be connected with Gdynia’s individuality. In the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Gdynia inhab- 2013 the municipality of Gdynia organised its itants estimated their quality of life as the high- summer book-reading festival at the very same est in Poland (5.38 points), while the satisfaction weekend that Sopot organises its literature fes- in Gdańsk reached an average of 4.77 (Sandecki tival. The construction of the Northern Bypass 2013). Strong contentment is linked with local was accompanied by a hostile dispute between pride and a feeling of self-importance, considera- Gdynia and the neighbouring poviats. Probably the most visible recent illustration of the inter- 8 The historical reference to the quintessentially anti-­ Gdańsk local identity of Gdynia was the basis of the 7 The mayor of Gdańsk compared a metropolis to a author’s thesis in a local, broadly discussed newspa- ‘grand symphonic orchestra’. An influential local per article (Czepczyński, Górlikowski 2014). Coun- journalist, Barbara Szczepuła, followed the metaphor terarguments included mostly historical statements and called Paweł Adamowicz of Gdańsk ‘the first fid- (Gdynia would be much bigger than Gdańsk if the dle’, while Wojciech Szczurek of Gdynia – ‘the solo WW2 began 20 years later, or if Gdynia had been player’ (Szczepuła 2006). made the capital of the voivodeship in 1945). 64 Mariusz Czepczyński bly stronger in Gdynia than in Gdańsk or Sopot. have resulted in a national and regional policy Gdynia’s uniqueness, explicit urban milieu and shift in Poland. The government is working on a identity are usually confronted with the sup- new urban law and new metropolitan top-down posed economic stagnation of Gdańsk. The big- structures to match the new Integrated Region- gest local media – the Web portals trojmiasto.pl al Operational Programme scheme, while many and trojmiasto.gazeta.pl – despite the unity in the large cities prepare their own bottom-up solu- name, additionally enhance local separateness tions under the auspices of the Union of Polish on anonymous discussion forums, where the Metropolises. The national debate found the re- anti-Gdańsk and anti-Gdynia hateful comments cent acceleration in regional activities to formal- reach their climax while increasing the number ise inter-metropolitan cooperation. of Web visitors. It seems that despite the various The metropolitanisation of the Tri-City area levels of differences, including social, econom- was formalised on 15 September 2011 when the ic, infrastructural and historical ones, identity is Gdańsk Metropolitan Area Association (Gdański the primary challenging and challenged restraint Obszar Metropolitalny, or GOM) was estab- limiting the integration of the Gdańsk metropol- lished. The GOM is a legal association of 47 local itan area. Emotions, fears, past splendours and communes and poviats inhabited by ca. 1.2 mil- current prides have fed metropolitan discourse lion people and occupying an area of 6,605 km² for the last 20 years, while local leaders play the (Stowarzyszenie GOM, 2014). Its main goal is to identity card to prove their efficiency and com- coordinate local and regional development, share petence. the best practices, and enhance the development potential of the area. The association was initiat- ed by Paweł Adamowicz, mayor of Gdańsk, who Towards a Gdańsk Bay Metroplex invited local leaders for a debate on the form and scale of possible cooperation. Major projects Urban regionalism in post-socialist Central implemented by the GOM and benefiting most Europe faces a variety of challenges and obsta- members of the organisation include the Metro- cles. The transition from centrally planned and politan Job Fair and the Metropolitan Investment ruled voivodeships towards self-governed and Offer, Smarter City Exploration, the Social Econ- locally managed regions has been a long and omy Support Centre, and joint electricity bids. arduous way. Often, lessons are learned ‘on the Two days before the GOM founding meet- job’, from mistakes and lost opportunities. Tra- ing the mayor of Gdynia gathered a group of ditional hierarchical cooperation and governance 15 municipal leaders of the northern part of are supplemented by emerging horizontal and/ the agglomeration and introduced the NORDA or regional structures based on partnership and, Mayors Forum (Forum Wójtów, Burmistrzów i often, compromise. The process of horizontal Prezydentów NORDA), renamed the Metropoli- partnership in the form of regionalisation does tan Mayors’ Forum NORDA in 2012. The Forum9 not come easily or smoothly. Resistance against is an informal assembly of 22 mayors10, focused hierarchies and smaller centres’ fears of losing around five working groups: education, business sovereignty often dominate over practical con- and tourism promotion, energy, and waste man- siderations and the obvious need for neighbour- agement. Recent actions have mostly been lim- ly cooperation in the interest of more effective policy making. The interaction between these 9 formal, technocratic forms, and less technocratic, The NORDA uses Gdynia local government’s name of the agglomeration, consequently calling the sub-re- more flexible means of regionalisation is a crucial gion ‘Tri-City Metropolitan Area’, while Gdańsk can factor here as a route to regional development only appear as the name of the nearby Bay of Gdańsk. (Herrschel, Newman 2005: 220). 10 As of January 2014 (Norda Forum 2014). Some munic- The process of metropolitan cooperation has ipalities are both in the GOM and the NORDA, some- accelerated since 2011. The EU regional policy times as a result of local controversies, as in Rumia. A mayor can join the NORDA on his/her own will, and the perspective of the future funding pro- while access to the GOM must be accepted by the lo- grammes supporting trans-municipal projects cal council. The making of the Gdańsk metropolitan region. Local discourses of identities, powers, and hopes 65 ited to joint tourism promotion (Norda Forum of representatives of the local municipalities, uni- 2014). versities and NGOs, while operational activities The actors of the metropolitan discourse in- will be managed by the Board of six municipal clude, besides local governments and their agen- leaders. All decisions have to be made unani- cies, regional and national politicians, major pri- mously or with a 75% majority of votes (Szczer- vate, locally based investors, and media. While ba 2014). The ZIT procedures create a set of tools individuals and local leaders play a crucial role for comprehensive metropolitan cooperation, in local policies, they are always an emanation but threats of separatism and hostile activities re- of a the local community’s aspirations and atti- main very real. tudes when they represent elected bodies. Local communities and their representatives seem to be recently much more open to collaboration and Conclusions unification in the metropolitan region, but the historically based references and connotations Foucault suggests that modern power is a are still important factors which influence met- dispersed set of micro-practices, many of which ropolitan governance discourse. Over-reactions operate through the normalising gaze of sur- and reservations interrelate with contemporary veillance regimes (Dovey 1999). Often, a single market-driven forces and neo-liberal obstacles. influential person, or a network of a few key This is a challenging and demanding lesson for policy makers, can make a real difference, based both, local societies and the administration. Ne- on their own beliefs, experience and knowledge. gotiations and giving up some part of independ- This paper tried to trace a set of decisions and to ence come with difficulty, while a drive towards analyse their consequences. The Gdańsk metro- ‘Europeanisation’ and the necessity to fulfil -fis politan region is a functionally comprehensive cal requirements push the communities towards area in almost all social, economic and cultural unavoidable cooperation at the social, economic aspects, and as such it represents many aspects of and administrative levels. a metropolitan character. The Gdańsk metropol- The latest step towards closer cooperation itan area seems to partly meet the other elemen- has practically been enforced by new European tary metropolitan feature: the gateway function financial projects. Integrated Territorial Invest- and external linkages. Its port functions help to ments will practically be the main beneficiary of facilitate its opening and entry roles, but Gdańsk the EU funds aimed to coordinate development seems to me more open to national and inter- investments in 2014-2020. The clear statement by national linking – not only economic, but also the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development cultural and political. Gdynia seems to be much that the Gdańsk area has to create a single Inte- more focused on its internal, inclusive growth, grated Territorial Investment unit left no hopes which can hardly be seen as metropolitan, while for two separate zones. There was controversy Gdańsk activities can be perceived as more fo- concerning the shape of the future unit: the may- cused on its external linkages, international and or of Gdańsk opted for a new structure based national relations, and metropolitan growth. Ba- on cooperation between the GOM and NORDA, sic disagreements are built upon local identities, while the mayor of Gdynia went for individual enhanced by ambitions and fears of local politi- inter-commune agreements. Negotiations start- cians as well as municipal institutions and initi- ed towards the end of 2013, led by the head of atives. the Voivodeship Office. On 17 January 2014 an The Gdańsk Metropolis, as in many other agreement was signed, following a compromise regions, can be seen as an arena of struggle be- on the part of Mayor Adamowicz. The Gdańsk tween integrating and disintegrating forces. In- Area Integrated Territorial Investments (or ZIT) ter-regional cooperation is a learning process consists of 36 communes and poviats (from both facilitated by various local and regional actors. the GOM and NORDA) and will be managed by Different conditions, goals, expectations and am- a Gdańsk-based secretary. The organisational bitions create a distinctive network of opportuni- structure is based on the ZIT Council consisting ties and challenges which shape the future of the 66 Mariusz Czepczyński

Judge E., Czepczyński M., Wyszomirski O., 2005. Aspects of region. The upcoming prospect of virtually and the development of sustainable transport policies in the legally disjointed regions depends on the ability Gdańsk Agglomeration. In: Markowski T. (ed.), Region- of the local communities and, above all, elites, al Scientists’ tribute to Professor Ryszard Domański. Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw: 322–345. to overcome mental and imagined barriers, and Klaesson J., Johansson B., Karlsson Ch., 2013. Introduction. take advantage of possible forms of collaboration In: Klaesson J., Johansson B., Karlsson Ch. (eds), Metro- – to work out a feasible model of cooperation, re- politan regions: Knowledge infrastructures of the global econo- specting and taking advantage of the local differ- my. Springer, Heidelberg, New York, Dortrecht, London. Knox P.L., Pinch S., 2006. Urban social geography. Pearson, ences, and creating a new threesome quality. Harlow. Norda Forum, 2014. Online: http:// nordaforum.pl/ aktual- nosci.html (accessed 30 January 2014). Sagan I., Canowiecki Z., 2011. Między integracją a konkurencją. References Gdańsko-Gdyński Obszar Metropolitalny (Between integra- tion and competition. The Gdańsk – Gdynia Metropoli- Andersson A.E., 2000. Gateway region of the world – an in- tan Area). Scholar, Warszawa troduction. In: Andersson A.E., Andersson D.E. (eds), Sandecki M., 2013. Gdynianie zakochani w mieście (Gdynia Gateways to the global economy. Edward Elgar, Chelten- inhabitants in love with their city). Online: http:// troj- ham: 3–16. miasto.gazeta.pl/ trojmiasto/ 1,35636,15034485,Gdynia- Czepczyński M., 2005. De- vs. re-industrialisation of post-so- nie_zakochani_w_miescie__Prawie_wszystko_oceniaja. cialist city. The case of Gdańsk. Regions 259: 6–11. html (accessed 30 January 2014). Czepczyński M., 2009. Regionalisation in Gdańsk Area. Vir- Stowarzyszenie GOM, 2014. Online: http://www.metropoli- tual disintegration and functional cooperation. Interna- agdansk.pl/stowarzyszenie-gom/ (accessed 10 January tional Journal of Public Sector Management 22 (3): 249–259. 2014). Czepczyński M., Górlikowski M., 2014. Wojna gdańsko- Szczepuła B., 2006. Symfonia metropolitalna (Metropolitan -gdyńska. “Raj w cieniu większego brata” (Gdańsk vs. symphony). Dziennik Bałtycki 151 (30 June 2006): 16. Gdynia war. “Paradise in the shadow of the big bro- Szczerba P., 2014. Jest porozumienie Gdańska i Gdyni (There ther”) Online: http:// trojmiasto.gazeta.pl/ trojmiasto/ is an agreement between Gdańsk and Gdynia). Online: 1,35636,15253818,Wojna_gdansko_gdynska_Raj_w_cie- http://www.trojmiasto.pl/wiadomosci/Jest-poroz- niu_wiekszego_brata_.html (accessed 13 January 2014). umienie-Gdanska-i-Gdyni-Dostaniemy-na-inwestycje- Davoudi S., 2005. The northern way: A polycentric mega- 820-mln-zl-n76215.html (accessed 30 January 2014). lopolism. Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Review 15 (1): Szczerba P., Naskręt M., 2013. Lotnisko w Kosakowie ma po- 2–4 ważne problemy (Kosakowo airport in serious trouble). Dovey K., 1999. Framing places. Mediating power in built form. Online: http://www.trojmiasto.pl/wiadomosci/ Lotni- Routledge, London & New York. sko- w- Kosakowie- ma- powazne- problemy-Lotnisko- Herrschel T., Newman P., 2005. Global competition and city w-Rebiechowie-rozpoczyna-rozbudowe-n70503.html regional governance in Europe. In: Sagan I., Halkier H. (accessed 30 January 2014). (eds), Regionalism contested. Institution, society, governance. Weltrowski P., 2014. Spadła liczba pasażerów SKM (Decrease Ashgate, Aldershot: 203–222. in the number of SKM passengers). Online: http:// Johansson J.K., 1997. Global marketing: Foreign entry, local mar- www.trojmiasto.pl/ wiadomosci/ Spadla-liczba-pasaze- keting, and global management. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Bos- row-SKM-Winne-remonty-n76587.html (accessed 30 Jan- ton. uary 2014).