About the New Center of Hajnówka, housing and public transport
On April 20-21, 2022, we hosted in Hajnówka sector advisers from the Association of Polish Cities – Mr. Grzegorz Roman and Piotr Górka, who under the project “Hajnówka Renewal – Green Transformation” support the city in the implementation of projects related to the New Center of Hajnówka, housing and transport public. The visit was also attended by our permanent and invaluable city adviser, Agnieszka Dawydzik, to whom we owe the recruitment and organization of such professional field experts.
On the first day of the visit, there was a research walk around the city led by Ireneusz Kiendyś, Deputy Mayor. Visits to key places, which are both tourist and natural attractions and places for the implementation of development projects on which the New Development Path is based, allowed the ZMP advisors to better understand the city and feel its genius loci. The first day of the visit ended with a discussion and feedback from advisors from the local inspection with the participation of Mayor Jerzy Sirak and representatives of the City Hall departments. According to experts, the challenge of the city is its size, i.e. the vastness and the lack of a CENTER. Bus station – City Hall – Church – St. Trinity Cathedral – this is where the heart of Hajnówka beats and it is in this area that development activities should be focused. Additionally, it was indicated that the hard lever of Hajnówka’s development is:
- development of industry and entrepreneurship – concentrated and not dispersed in many parts of the city;
- connection to a key communication link, i.e. the national road DK19, which is to become an expressway in the future;
- multi-family housing.
As a project team, we can be proud of the correct diagnosis, which was reflected in the New Development Path of Hajnówka designed under the “Local Development” Program. The planned projects perfectly reflect the development needs of the city. During the discussion, a lot of interesting information and ideas emerged, which the city should focus on during the implementation of project projects. We discussed the details the next day during the workshops, which we divided thematically into:
- 1st workshop: NEW CITY CENTER – meeting with the participation of the Deputy Mayor – Ireneusz Kiendyś and representatives of industry departments of the City Hall. During the meeting, projects related to the New Center of Hajnówka, spatial planning and development, development and organization of urban space were discussed.
- 2nd workshop: HOUSING DEVELOPMENT – meeting with the participation of a local entrepreneur – developer – Janusz Panasiuk, director of Zakład Gospodarki Komunalnej – Anatol Łapiński, President of Municipal Services Enterprise – Jarosław Kot and Deputy Mayor – Ireneusz Kiendyś. The advisers presented the current state of housing needs and indicated the current trends in planning this type of cities and the costs of the future functioning of the city (social, financial, environmental, etc.) depending on the selected development model. Together, they discussed and searched for options to solve the problems, barriers and ideas for developing a housing program for the city, which would contribute to the city’s development.
- 3rd workshop: PUBLIC TRANSPORT – meeting with the participation of the President of Municipal Services Enterprise – Jarosław Kot and the Deputy Mayor – Ireneusz Kiendyś. During the meeting, the ZMP sector advisor Grzegorz Roman presented the communication policy for the city, in which drew attention to: the need to remove heavy goods from the city center, connect the city with the region (including cooperation with the poviat), the need to prepare a general concept for city transport, more sustainable mobility (improvement of conditions for walking and cycling), environmental aspect – switching to buses electric, development of a parking policy, electronicization of the information system of public transport, verification of the public transport schedule.
Energized and full of new ideas, we listened with great interest to practical tips in the field of spatial planning, city organization, housing policy and sustainable public transport. We are even more impatiently waiting for the next industry meetings with ZMP experts specializing in entrepreneurship. Our tutor and good spirit of the project, Agnieszka Dawydzik, is already working on the agenda for the next workshops. Soon, another report on the progress of the project “Hajnówka Renewal – Green Transformation”, implemented within the EEA “Local development”.