A 15-minute city project involving the Gdańsk University of Technology at the UN summit | Gdańsk University of Technology

The World Urban Forum is the world’s largest and most important conference on the development and implementation of urban policies, held every two years under the auspices of the United Nations. The 13th session of the Forum (WUF13) was co-organised by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Government of Azerbaijan. The presentation of the project involving the Gdańsk University of Technology was one of the few Polish highlights of the event.

As Prof. Piotr Lorens, coordinator of the Polish part of ENACT 15mC, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP), the aim was to present the project globally; although it originated in Europe, the various challenges it addresses across its four areas of focus make it of interest to the international community.

“In Gdańsk, it is a post-industrial site; in Trondheim, a shopping street with large-scale retail outlets and car parks; in Valencia, the old town; and in Oxford, a housing estate dating back to the 1920s and located on the outskirts. Different contexts, yet the approaches, contrary to appearances, are quite similar. This shows that regardless of the context, including cultural or geographical factors, we can similarly approach the issue,” explained Prof. Lorens.

As he said, the project, which ran from December 2023 to the end of November this year, was divided into four stages. The first stage involved identifying the tools: what the 15-minute city concept entails, how it can be planned, and how it is implemented in other cities around the world. The second part involved an analysis of the local context, i.e. an examination of all the conditions affecting the Young City area of Gdańsk.

Next, between June and December last year, an extensive participatory process was carried out to shape the desired functional and spatial structure of the site. A report on the participatory process has already been produced, along with a proposed strategy for the Young City; conclusions are currently being drawn for use in planning practice.

The coordinator of the Polish part of the project, who is also the architect of the city of Gdańsk, pointed out that although conditions in Poland make it virtually impossible to translate the concepts developed in this way directly into specific solutions, the aim is to ensure they are translated into the political sphere, where city mayors and councils play a leading role.

“If the concept we have developed is, so to speak, accepted, adapted and understood in terms of what we are aiming for and the direction we should take, then the various municipal departments will proceed differently to implement it, for example, in negotiations with landowners or developers,” Prof. Lorens pointed out.

He clarified that what is meant here are certain soft measures, such as engaging the local community, generating a critical mass of discussion on the subject, and then holding talks between the city and investors. He gave the example of a school in the Young City area, where, as a result of such arrangements, two local investors are starting the first phase of construction on a municipal plot under the special act on facilitations for housing investments.

He also indicated that the city would be responsible for initiatives such as preparing public spaces, redeveloping Wałowa Street to make it more resident-friendly, constructing a tram line along it, and the long-planned extension involving the construction of a tunnel under the river. However, a number of these objectives, with public participation, can be achieved in cooperation with private landowners, who dominate the Young City area.

During the ENACT 15mC presentation as part of the WUF13 networking events, a resident of South Africa spoke out about the project’s Eurocentrism and the inadequacy of the 15-minute city concept to the problems faced by residents of other parts of the world (she herself, as she said, has to travel several dozen kilometres just to have a simple document issued).

In response, Prof. Lorens assured that he was familiar with the situation in South Africa (among other things, the Gdańsk University of Technology accepts PhD students from a similar institution in Durban), and also suggested that the principles of the 15-minute city concept could be a solution to such issues.

Later on, in a conversation with PAP, he also emphasised that he confirmed the circumstances described by the South African interlocutor and noted that this was another reason why ENACT 15mC representatives felt it was appropriate to present the project’s

assumptions to the international community. “After all, if there is no flow of knowledge and awareness, there is a much smaller chance that anything will happen anywhere,” stated the researcher from the Gdańsk University of Technology.

The ENACT 15mC project, which stands for ‘Envisioning Neighbourhoods and Co-Creating Thriving Communities in the 15-Minute City’, is coordinated by Oxford Brookes University in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Technical University of Valencia, as well as several other partners, including local authorities, industry and civil society organisations.

On the Polish side, the project is co-funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) under the European partnership Driving Urban Transitions DUT Call 2022. (PAP)

Source: Science in Poland