Representatives of Gdask, investors who own land in Young Town and the Gdask University of Technology spoke on one side of the auditorium and the provincial conservator replied on the other side of the auditorium. This is a symbolic expression of the conflict that exists between the parties involved in the development of this part of Gdańsk.

This situation occurred during another discussion on Young Cities, this time taking place in the assembly hall of the Gdask University of Technology (GUT) as part of the GUT Chancellor’s Economic Convention entitled “Young Cities – present and future”.

A similar incident occurred in the auditorium of the university of technology more than three years ago. Since then, a number of other discussions and meetings have taken place.

The brake restorer investment

– After 20 years of discussion, we are basically in the same place – he started to heat up the meeting temperature Wieslaw Bielawski, until 2018, the vice president of Gdańsk was in charge of spatial policy. – But how investors operate, such as Echo Investment, which has a plot of land behind the ECS and a valid building permit, but when the investment is about to start, the entry in the list of monuments begins. The author is the authority [urząd konserwatora – red.]who does not assume any responsibility, even financial, for the decisions made. Wisdom is the basic criterion for its operation, and in addition, changes introduced to the Act on the protection of monuments may contribute to the corruption of this body.
Despite this bitter assessment, there is a lot of voice in the statements that describe the stagnation of long-term investment in the shipbuilding field as … their success. Thanks to this, there is no such thing as a big shopping mall or more tall buildings with failed architecture, like the four towers Wałowa . Fort.

– For the future of this area, it is important to activate the city as a partner that helps to implement this big project. Meanwhile, the idea of ​​including Young Cities in the UNESCO World List emerged, which slowed down the investment process on the south side of Popiełuszki Street, but also thanks to this, many circles around the Young Cities began to integrate, which is a huge advantage and also changes the way we think about the area. this – summarizes the events surrounding Young Town in recent years Krzysztof Sobolowski, president of the company Stocznia Centrum Gdańsk, which owns most of the Young Town area. – However, the lack of cooperation on the part of the conservator is a very big obstacle, I haven’t seen the conservator for months, which I regret. We hope this will change soon.

Investors and cities that don’t think about inheritance

An hour and a half late for a meeting Igor Strzok, Conservator of Monuments of the Pomeranian Province, refers to the opinion heard, also about himself. But he did not take the speaker’s place on the pulpit in the auditorium. He spoke to the assembled crowd standing behind them, that is, across the auditorium rather than the place where all the other meeting participants spoke. It’s very symbolic.

– There is no discussion here about post-industrial heritage, Solidarity heritage, about monuments, about cultural values, about the message that Solidarity and shipbuilding gave to Europe, and maybe even to the world. This view has been present in public discussions in Gdask since the early 90s. It is assumed that Kota Muda will be a business, office, residential and service district. Everyone knows who does not want the shipyard to be included in the UNESCO World List, because this person clearly said that including Gdask on the UNESCO list would be a problem for the developers and economic development of the city. I really want to talk more broadly in the discussion, which will discuss the extent to which the legacy of Solidarity and the history of Gdańsk makes sense, but this is an economic congress – said Igor Strzok bitterly. – President Bielawski critically cited modifications to the monument protection law, claiming that it is now corrupt. Well … in Gdańsk, the word corruption has been a topic that has come up so frequently over the years that, having been here for only three years, I feel incompetent to speak on this issue.

In the application subject for the entry of the Gdańsk Shipyard to the UNESCO World List Piotr GrzelakThe Vice President of Gdańsk, who is currently in charge of the city’s spatial policy, recalled that no more than two years ago, the city joined in the preparation of the application.

Let’s recall: for the second time, after the extension of the conservation protection in post-shipyard areas, the application for UNESCO listing was submitted in January 2020, then received a positive response in January 2021, but in the middle of last year the decision to enter was postponed at the UNESCO summit in China. ).

– We are delighted that the Gdańsk Shipyard is included in the UNESCO World List. We are working very hard with the ministry on applications for UNESCO admission. The Gdańsk Development Office has prepared an electronic model showing how this entry should be implemented – says Piotr Grzelak. – However, today, the main issue is deciding what to do next with this entry, to allow the city to develop further – underline the vice president.
There are no interesting conclusions, good ideas that can increase cooperation or create a new discussion forum after the convention in the PG hall there isn’t any.