The New Centre of Łódź covers an area of nearly 100 hectare in the city centre that is subject to widespread revitalisation and is considered the biggest urban renewal programme in the city’s history. The area covered by the interventions has been transformed into a business, commercial, and transportation centre with a special cultural zone. This cultural zone, among others, includes the renovated building of the first power station in Łódź, called EC1. This remnant of the city’s industrial past is now a place for cultural, artistic, and educational activities.
The New Centre of Łódź is located in the hearth of Łódź, around the railway station Łódź Fabryczna. It is a neighbourhood that is characterised by high concentrations of poverty. [3] One of the most prominent structures within the New Centre is the renovated building of the first commercial power station in Łódź, EC1. This plant was built in 1906 in the Art Nouveau style. During its almost 95-years of service, the power plant was an essential source of electricity, steam and heat for the city. In 2000, the plant officially ceased operations, and in 2003 the building came under the municipality’s ownership. Due to its historical and architectural status, it is under the supervision of the Provincial Conservator of Monuments, and it is now part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. [2;5]
Through the regeneration of this area, the municipality wants to revive the central part of the city in both economic and social terms by providing it with a new function and improved connectivity. One axe of intervention includes significant improvements to the local infrastructure, both in the form of reconstructed road access and through the build of a major underground transportation hub that will replace the current overground railway station. The new transportation hub connects national railway and long-distance busses with the city’s public transportation system. The regained urban spaces that will open up on the place of the current train station will be redeveloped with a mix of cultural, commercial and residential functions. [1;3]
Other axes of intervention are framed around the preservation and reuse of heritage structures and stimulating cultural activities. The prominent heritage structure in the area is the former power station EC1. This remnant of the city’s industrial past is now a place for cultural, artistic, and educational activities. It is home to Poland’s largest Science and Technology Centre, an educational institution providing workshops, educational events, and exhibitions. They have, among others, initiated the realisation of a state-of-the-art planetarium and a spherical 3D cinema. EC1 is also home to the Łódź Film Commission, the National Centre for Film Culture and the Centre for Comics and Interactive Narration, three institutions that connect artists, filmmakers and the general public. [1;2;3]
The regeneration of the New Centre of Łódź is initiated by the City of Łódź and managed by the New Centre of Łódź Authority, a municipal entity erected to coordinate the efforts of different local, regional and national public authorities across the various projects that are part of the overall revitalisation of the area. [5] For the realisation of the underground transportation hub, the municipality cooperates with the Polish Public Railways. In order to revitalize the fromer power plant, the City of Łódź has formed the cultural institution EC1 Łódź – City of Culture, which has been co-managed with the Minister of Culture and National Heritage since 2016. EC1 Łódź oversees the activities conducted by the other institutions in the building. [2;5] Throughout the process of regeneration, public consultation meeting have been organised by the New Centre of Łódź Authority. [5]
The reconstruction of the new underground transportation hub is estimated at €430.000.000. Approximately €100.000.000 of this is contributed by the City of Łódź. Other contributions are received from The Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment and European Development Funds. [6] The total renovation and reconstruction of EC1 have been estimated at €75.000.000, of which €20.000.000 has been received through a contribution from EU ERDF. [2;6] Moreover, a loan of €50.000.000 from the CEB, the Social Development Bank for Europe, was utilised. [4]
City of Łódź, municipal website, Luml.lodz.pl/en/business/get-to-know-the-fastest-developing-city-in-poland/the-new-centre-of-lodz/, accessed on 19/01/2022
EC1, organisational website, ec1lodz.pl/, accessed on 19/01/2022
Hanzl, M(2011)Redeveloping the City Structure–the Case of Lodz ‘New City Center’, Proceedings Real Corp 2011 (pp1-10), available at corp.at/archive/CORP2011_147.pdf, accessed on 19/01/2022
CEB, Łódź: financing urban renewal, available on coebank.org/en/news-and-publications/projects-focus/lodz-financing-urban-renewal/, accessed on 19/01/2022
Zaguła, A., & Grzelakowski, T(2021)The revitalisation of old factories area on the chosen example from LodzIn IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol1203, No3)IOP Publishing.
New Center of Łódź Authority (2014), presentation available at nws.eurocities.eu/MediaShell/media/2013-06_Lodz_prezentacja_EN_tampere.pdf, accessed on 19/01/2022