Drwinka River Park
- ©
City of Krakow
Drwinka River Park - ©City of Krakow
Drwinka River Park - ©City of Krakow
Drwinka River Park
Status
ongoing
City
Kraków
Main actors
City Government, Private Sector, Community / Citizen Group, Public Utility
Project area
Whole City/Administrative Region
Duration
Ongoing since 2009
Drwinka River Park is situated in the XIII Podgórze district of Krakow, Poland. Within existing planning documents, this area has been designated as a city park, reflecting its intended purpose. The current legal status of the area is the result of the dedicated efforts of the local community, driven by their strong commitment to preserving the area's relatively abundant natural environment, closely associated with the Drwinka River.
Being located in a highly urbanized region, this area faces continuous and significant pressure from both private sector interests and various organizations responsible for managing the city's technical infrastructure. Recognizing the importance of safeguarding this natural space, members of the local community who actively engage in its protection have united to form the Drwinka River Association.
This case study is from the CLEARING HOUSE project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement 821242.
Sustainable Development Goals
City
Kraków, Poland
Size and population development
According to Statistics Poland data, the population for the city of Kraków recorded in the 2021 census was 800,653. The city covers a surface area of 326.9 km2 with a population density of 2,450 people per km2 . Kraków record a 0.55% increase in annual population since the previous census in 2011. Most of the growth is based on internal migration and urbanisation.
Population composition
Statistics Poland data reveals the population is comprised of 53.3% females and 46.7% males. The largest share of population is within 18-64 years category (65%). The age category with the second largest population share is the 65+ group (19.1%). The age category with the lowest number of people is 0-17years (15.9%).
There is no official religion in Poland, however the Roman Catholic church is recorded at having 87% of the population as followers.
Main functions
Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland dating back to the seventh century. Situated on the Vistula River in a valley at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. The city’s Old Town with Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
In 2000, Kraków was named European Capital of Culture. In 2013, Kraków was officially approved as a UNESCO City of Literature. The city hosted World Youth Day in 2016and the 2023 European Games .
Main industries / business
Kraków is recognized for its diverse economic landscape. A leading sector is information technology (IT) and business services, with Krakow serving as a significant hub for IT outsourcing, shared service centers (SSCs), and business process outsourcing (BPO). Global companies such as IBM, Google, and Capgemini have substantial operations in the city. Krakow also has a strong creative sector, particularly in the fields of film, music, and digital arts, supported by institutions like the Krakow Festival Office. The city is also known for its educational and research sector, with Jagiellonian University, one of the world's oldest universities, located here. This strong academic presence fuels innovation and growth in sectors like advanced manufacturing and life sciences, which have a growing role in Krakow's economy.
Sources for city budget
The budget for the City of Krakow, like other municipalities in Poland, comes from a variety of sources including real estate tax, agricultural tax, forest tax, vehicle tax, inheritance and donation tax, and others. The city also receives a portion of certain state taxes, such as personal income tax and corporate income tax, which are redistributed to local governments. Another significant source of funding comes from the national government in the form of general and targeted subsidies, which are used to finance specific projects or areas of public services. The city's budget is managed with the aim of supporting public services, infrastructure, and other municipal functions to benefit its residents.
Political structure
Krakow, like other cities in Poland, is governed by a system that includes the City Mayor and the City Council The City Mayor, as the executive authority, is responsible for city management and implementation of resolutions of the City Council.
Administrative structure
The Mayor's functions include overseeing the municipal budget, city property management, and general municipal administration. The Mayor is elected in direct elections for a four-year term.
The City Council is a legislative body composed of councillors, who are also elected by the city’s residents for a four-year term. The Council's tasks include creating local law, determining the budget, and setting the strategic direction for the city. Together, the City Mayor and City Council work towards the development of the city, ensuring that it meets the needs of its residents.
Website
The Drwinka River Park serves as a prominent example of the broader challenges associated with the availability of urban green spaces in Polish cities. The concept of establishing river parks, as outlined by Böhm et al. (1996) and Böhm (2001) necessitated the delineation of their boundaries and formulation of usage regulations. For the Drwinka River Park, the following principles were proposed (Szwalko 2005):
1. Protection of Valuable Natural Habitats: The park designates certain areas as legally protected nature sites to safeguard their most valuable natural habitats. These designated sections are prohibited from hosting park facilities, such as extensive pathways (excluding one educational platform) or lighting installations.
2. Extensive Mowing and Restricted Recreational Access: Open areas within the Drwinka River Park are subject to annual or bi-annual extensive mowing, while recreational access is limited to paths that are maintained in the grass. Only highly frequented footpaths necessitate hardening in specific locations. Similar to mountain hiking trails, efforts should be made to prevent trampling of surrounding areas by reinforcing the natural surfaces with gravel or introducing stone and wooden reinforcements on slopes. Special solutions are required for the bicycle trail that runs along the park's borders.
However, the establishment of the park faced significant challenges due to unfavourable land ownership structures, primarily dominated by private landowners, as well as a lack of local zoning regulations and mounting pressure from developers. Public opinion was further swayed by the proposal to route major transportation solutions through the planned park, adding to the complexity of the situation.
In 2006, the City Office approved a unified ranking list of city parks, including river parks, which outlined their boundaries, zoning for protection and development, and criteria for prioritisation. While this provided a list of areas earmarked for protection against development, the absence of local plans over the years limited the effectiveness of attempts to counter developer pressures. It is important to note that, according to the legislation in effect at the time, park construction was not considered a public-purpose investment, which could be implemented through simplified procedures akin to road construction.
The initiatives concerning the Drwinka River Park trace their origins back to 2009 when a local zoning plan was established for the area. A significant milestone occurred in 2017 with the formation of the Drwinka Association. Their diligent efforts, supported by over 5000 signatures collected through a petition advocating for the protection of the Drwinka River Park, led to the formal safeguarding of this cherished space. Another crucial development took place in 2018 with the inception of the Green Ring of Podgórze concept Encompassing the interconnected river valleys, this green ring serves as a natural corridor, fostering ecological connectivity for flora and fauna.
It is worth highlighting that the Drwinka Association comprises dedicated naturalists who initiated the first comprehensive inventory of the Drwinka Park. They also played a significant role in co-authoring a study on the Natural Valorization of the Green Ring of Podgórze. In 2020 and 2021, workshops organized as part of the CLEARING HOUSE project further facilitated productive discussions about the park and its conservation.
Moreover, in 2022, local residents successfully submitted a project titled "Drwinka – let's get to know her better" to the Participatory Budgeting in Krakow. This initiative allowed for the organization of thematic and research walks dedicated to exploring the fauna and flora of the Drwinka River Park. As a result of this project's implementation, educational equipment, including information panels describing the park's plants and animals, was procured and installed. Furthermore, educational classes for children are now being conducted, fostering an appreciation for the surrounding nature and encouraging park visitors to actively engage in pro-environmental activities.
The Drwinka River Park is a key area for preserving biodiversity of this heavily built-up area of Krakow. It is a valuable area in terms of nature, with parts of the Park designated as areas of the highest natural values according to the Natural Valorisation of the Green Ring of Podgórze in terms of ecological connections. The Drwinka River Park includes areas designated as aquatic ecological corridors, which are very important for maintaining the cohesion of Krakow's ecosystem. The most significant natural values in this area include watercourses, marshy areas, diversity of habitats flora, fungi, birds, mammals and insects.
The current state of the Drwinka River Park was influenced both by formal actions taken by the City Office and the Municipal Greenspace Authority in Krakow (such as the adoption of the local zoning plan), as well as bottom-up initiatives, ranging from projects submitted by the Drwinka Association (research walks), through the activities of local residents, and also workshops organised as part of an international scientific project. Therefore, the cooperation of many stakeholders was crucial to protect this valuable area and preserve its wild character.
The formal protection of this area of high natural value occurred thanks to grassroots initiatives and the involvement of residents. In this case, informal institutions (i.e., an increase in social involvement, an increase in environmental awareness and a sense of the common good) have had a real impact on formal institutions and led to the establishment of formal protection through adequate provisions and the creation of local zoning plans. Such a mechanism of change is very important, because city residents are increasingly interested in what is happening around them and want to have a real impact on changes which take place in the city, and this includes the protection of nature and green spaces, especially those located near their place of residence.
An important aspect related to the preservation of the Drwinka River Park is the buyout of land by the city, which oversees the Municipal Greenspace Authority in Krakow. The buyout must be justified by a specific purpose, e.g., the Local Plan provides for a public park or afforestation within the framework of the District Forestry Enhancement Program of the City of Krakow for 2018–2040. A lot of time is also taken up by formalities related to the division of plots and the establishment of boundary lines in the case of river parks.
Another stakeholder, very involved in the creation and protection of the park, is the Drwinka Association. It is worth mentioning that the above mentioned successful participatory budgeting project – "Educational path in the Drwinka River Park" – a professional nature trail was created, designed by the Association and the collaborating environmentalists. The broader local community is also part of the stakeholder group, but its members have different expectations regarding the nature of the park and the way it should be made available, often conflicting with the Association's activities.
The Municipal Greenspace Authority in Krakow is a municipal entity acting on behalf of the City Council. Its main tasks include: management of green areas (including activities related to the reconstruction, modernisation, revitalisation, revalorisation of green areas), inventory of green areas and management of areas designated for the creation of new green spaces, as well as conducting and coordinating activities for the formation of a system of green spaces, programs in the field of maintenance of green spaces and nature protection, improvement of aesthetics and recreational development of Krakow.
This project has had several impacts, including:
● Thanks to strong social commitment, local zoning plans were passed, which protect green areas on an area of nearly 40 ha from development.
● Based on the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS), the Drwinka River Park follows development that is far from what is typically associated with urban parks, leaving maximum space for wild nature.
● The local authority responsible for energy infrastructure was forced to change the route of the planned course of the heating pipeline to protect the most valuable aquatic habitats and individual trees of the river park; the original course of the pipeline was to cut through the park, destroying nature on a section of over 250 m.
● Natural studies were carried out, which allowed for detailed documentation of selected systematic groups of fauna, flora and mycobiota (a total of about 700 species).
● Educational infrastructure was introduced, nature trails and a dead wood path were created, along with additional microhabitats for animals, including invertebrates. A program of outdoor educational activities for children and teenagers has been initiated (in 2022 alone it was attended by at least 2860 participants) and is currently being developed further.
● Activists from the Drwinka Association with local residents organized cleaning the valley several times a month, but vandals throw garbage (e.g., tires, mattresses, furniture fragments, burned cables, cut branches, beer bottles and cans) all the time.
Innovative aspects include the way the land has been developed, as the park encompasses a river valley and is developed in such a way that wild animals and plants can function here in the least altered environment. Such an approach is very important, because often when creating new green spaces, such as a park or a green square, it is overdeveloped, heavily transformed including cutting down trees and significantly reducing biodiversity, as well as adding paved alleys and a lot of (sometimes unnecessary) infrastructure, such as excessive lighting. In addition, the involvement of residents, their strong commitment and active participation in community life is something unique and needs to be highlighted. In this case, the residents fought to preserve the natural green area, which they still care for to this day.
The area where the Drwinka River Park is located is highly urbanized, surrounded by intensive residential and commercial development. However, thanks to the intervention of the Drwinka Association and the residents involved, and due to the presence of floodplains, wetlands, as well as steep slopes, the area has maintained its natural character. However, in the near future, investment pressure and the desire to take over this area, for example by developers, may appear. The first signs of this pressure are already visible
Due to the many stakeholders and potential users, conflicts are possible, especially since some residents do not share the opinion that this area should retain its wild character and call for the introduction of small infrastructure and equipment for recreation. Some residents do not respect this urban forest, throwing garbage there, burning bonfires, walking unleashed dogs, and otherwise damaging the ground.
In addition, there is a conflict of interest regarding the maintenance of the natural character versus more intensive development of this area (e.g., introducing park infrastructure, such as lighting and paved paths). Due to various visions regarding this area, it is necessary for the City Office to buy all the land and to cover it with local zoning plans, where appropriate guidelines can protect the valuable natural area and prevent its development or degradation. Grassroots initiatives and the involvement of residents, i.e., informal institutions, are very important, but it is crucial to protect such areas in the form of formal institutions that have a legal basis.
Additional challenges:
● Transformation of the park area into forest land use (forest use status will defend the park from over-management, limit the possibility of cutting trees and introducing infrastructure).
● Reduction of physical barriers, which are roads, e.g., Wielicka Street (creation of tunnels for animals), preventing new barriers in the form of new infrastructure.
● Reducing light pollution.
● Buyout of private land.
● Continuing educational activities among residents.
● Integration of the community living around the park.
● Updating educational panels with QR codes, adding descriptions in English and Ukrainian.
● Not adding an excessive number of panels (limiting information to QR codes) and park infrastructure (e.g., paved paths.
● Regularly need to clean up the park area of waste such as leftover furniture, tires, bottles or burnt cables.
The creation of the Drwinka River Park and its further development is an example of how the goodwill of various stakeholders and dialogue between the city and residents can bring tangible results.
Main lessons learned:
City residents can take an active role in protecting urban forests; however, they need the support of the City Office (from the formal, legal side).
Particularly valuable natural areas need to be protected in a formal way – through appropriate provisions in local zoning plans, purchase of land by the city, preventing the take-over of these places by developers.
It is important for various organisations to work together for the sake of nature protection, joint initiatives that are supported by associations (e.g., residents, non-profit organisations), the City Office and its units, and the residents themselves, who are active stakeholders (and are often overlooked or their participation is marginalised).
Other cities can learn valuable lessons from the example of the Drwinka River Park about how to take care of a valuable natural area by working with residents. Similar efforts can be repeated by other cities, it is important to cooperate and work together for preserving the wild nature of the urban environment.
● Böhm A., 2001. River parks in the landscape of Krakow (in Polish). Architektura Krajobrazu, 2–3/2001: 17–22.
● Böhm A., Pawłowska K., Zachariasz A., 1996. A comprehensive urban greenery development program for Krakow (in Polish). Instytut Architektury Krajobrazu, Politechnika Krakowska.
● Kozak M., Kozłowska-Kozak K. (ed.), 2022. Natural valorization of the Green Ring of Podgórze in terms of ecological connections, with particular emphasis on the Drwinka River Park and the northern part of the Aleksandra Park (in Polish). ZZM Krakow, 2022.
● Szwałko P. 2005. River parks [in:] M. Waszkiewicz (ed.) Water heritage protection guide (in Polish). Fundacja Partnerstwo dla Środowiska, Krakow, 31–38.
● Report, 2020. Co-design workshop on River Parks in Krakow, 13 October 2020, Krakow, Poland. https://sendzimir.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Co-Design-Krakow-Report-13th-October-2020.pdf.
● Report, 2021. The Second Co-Design Workshop on Krakow River Parks, 13–14 October 2021, Krakow, Poland, https://sendzimir.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report_codesign_workshop_Krakow_2021.pdf.
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