In the shadow of the urban regeneration megaproject: Urban transitions in downtown Łódź, Poland

National Science Centre, Poland based on decision DEC-2011/03/N/HS4/03145 and no. DEC-2014/15/B/HS4/01940.

The Nowe Centrum Łodzi project that was completed in 2007 in Łódź, Poland is one of the biggest contemporary large-scale urban (re)development projects in Europe and the largest project of this type in Central Europe. The principal goals of the mega-project in question include the regeneration of degraded post-industrial and post-railway land in the city centre of Łódź and the enhancement of competitiveness and the metropolitan position of the city. The authors seek to identify spatial and functional changes at a mezo-scale, i.e. in the so-called immediate neighbourhood of the urban regeneration megaproject (URMP), which have accompanied the implementation of the Nowe Centrum Łodzi project over the years 2013–2016. The other aim was to classify urban areas neighbouring the URMP based on features of spatial and functional transformation identified in these areas. The studies allowed the researchers to identify three categories of urban area in the immediate neighbourhood of the URMP which revealed differences in spatial and functional transformations. We indicated that the transformation of the immediate neighbourhood of the URMP involved not only the local authorities responsible for the overall improvement of the quality of public space but also other users, inter alia, residents, local urban activists, the business community, public institutions, and NGOs, that in most cases complemented efforts initiated by the municipality. From the methodological point of view the authors use a case study including desk research, an urban planning inventory, and direct observation.