A2P2 together with Spolecznie Zaangazowani, a local NGO, developed a street redesign brief for five street sections in Stare Polesie district in Lodz, through a participatory process. The process was part of a pilot project of the inner city regeneration strategy for Lodz. The overall aim of these projects is to build new tools and design methodologies for the other Polish cities.

The consultation process was initiated to allow the future users and residents to get involved in a discussion on a street design at the early stage, well before the preparation of the detailed architectural and transportation project. The streets selected for the project: Lipowa, Prochnika i 28^th Regiment of Strzelcow Kaniowskich are all located in Stare Polesie, the inner city district of Lodz. The strategic objective of the project was to transform car dominated streets into tree lined, pedestrian-friendly public spaces. Our project implements the objectives of a larger Municipal strategy of improving the streets and open spaces in the whole district – ‘Green Polesie’ (Pol. Zielone Polesie).

The A2P2 together with our partners at Spolecznie Zaangazowani developed own tools to build the joint vision for the streets. They included a series of workshops, starting from general discussion about the potential development options to more detailed, technical workshops with the models. A series of surveys and meetings with professionals from the municipality, local services, entrepreneurs and residents has been carried out as well. Spolecznie Zaangazowani provided the consultation point as well as ‘local ambassadors’ who helped to invite and inform the residents about the workshops. Information boards on sites were also used to share updates on the results of the discussions. The result of the final workshop was translated into a design brief for the tender.

Client: The Bureau of Regeneration and City Development and the Management of Municipal Development, City of Lodz

Design Team:

Urban design and public consultation: A2P2

Local partner: Spolecznie Zaangazowani, Lodz