CUPA workshop - CUPA Krakow
Date: 12th - 14th of October 2011
Venue: Krakow Municipality Office at Plac Wszystkich Swietchy

The third workshop of the CUPA (Cooperative Urban Planning Approaches) project was held in Krakow from 12 to 14 October 2011. The topic addressed by the workshop was the more than 100-year-old idea of building a "Krakow Canal" on the Vistula, to protect the city against flooding from the river. Although this idea has not been implemented to date, the required land was earmarked for the project in the City of Krakow's Master Plan and was not used for any other projects. The aim of the CUPA Workshops was to develop possible uses for the land which has been reserved for this purpose up to now, taking account of two scenarios - realising the canal or using the land for construction projects.

In her opening remarks, Krakow's Deputy Mayor Elzbieta Koterba and the city's head architect, Andrzej Wysykowski, underlined the need for a development perspective for the project area, in order to counter the increasingly stronger pressure from international investors and development companies. Experts from Krakow presented previous ideas and plans for the area to serve as a basis for the group sessions during the workshop. This was complemented by a presentation by Rainer Müller on the results of a feasibility study of the Krakow Canal, which was conducted by TINA VIENNA, and a presentation on flood management in the Netherlands by Arjan Otten. Having been provided with a lot of new information, the workshop participants inspected the project area to gain a first-hand impression of the current situation.  

The information and impressions gained in this way formed the basis for an intensive analysis of the problem area, which resulted in the formulation of recommendations for the future use of the area. At the conclusion of the workshop, the results were presented to staff members of the City of Krakow, representatives of the press and external experts. The vision for the area developed by the international experts involves the conversion of the land previously reserved for the project into a green space, which performs a recreational function and links the area with the old town of Krakow. This green space can be used by the students of the nearby university campus and the residents of the surrounding residential areas.