Clune Park

• In those European cities located by rivers, port activities have often migrated towards the estuary.
• As port and city have separated, the challenge of what to do with central waterfronts has become pronounced.
• It is about restoring the landscape and mitigating the negative ecological impacts associated with former port and industrial land use.

Industrial decline along the Vistula river

• Gdańsk is strategically located on the Vistula river and the Baltic sea.
• Most of the industrial growth was concentrated in the Młode Miasto (which translates as “young city”) area, situated close to the river’s mouth, with construction also taking place on Ostrów Island.
• The industrial sector’s predominance in the communist bloc was evident in the shipyard’s continued growth and the addition of new landscape structures.

Transforming Młode Miasto

• As part of my research, I compiled a timeline of how Młode Miasto has been regenerated over the past 27 years.
• This complex, long-term project fits within the wider transformation of what is now known as the Metropolitan Area of Gdańsk Gdynia Sopot.
• Established in 2011, this is the largest growing urban agglomeration in northern Poland, comprising 58 municipalities.

From brown to green growth

• In December 2019, the European Commission introduced its Green Deal growth strategy, an initiative notable for directly addressing the ecological crisis.
• Making such a transition from brown to green growth effectively restores the landscape.
• Shifting from brown growth to green growth and restoring the landscape can greatly enhance our urban waterfronts.