Poland is one of the few countries that has a national “Act of Revitalization” to guide community renewal.
This August 2019 paper by Dr. Joanna Kusiak at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Geography at King’s College, Cambridge, UK recognizes the key role of the notion of “revitalization” in the development of the multi-sectoral approach to urban renewal in Poland over the last 15 years.
Thus, while acknowledging the important limitations of revitalization programs to date, it aims not so much to reject or criticize the current model revitalization, but rather to “revitalize” the notion of revitalization itself.
Based both on interviews with engaged practitioners of revitalization in Poland and on a review of practices existing elsewhere, this paper seeks to infuse the Polish imaginary of revitalization with transformative policy agendas.
Photo of downtown Łódź in 2001 is by Storm Cunningham.
Our thanks to Marianna Ulanicka-Raczyńska (marianna.ulanicka@gmail.com) for bringing this research to our attention.