Balanced development
Anna Kapica-Harward: There are currently a number of major developments underway in Wilanów and Robyg has two large projects there. Why is it such an interesting area?
Zbigniew Okoński: Projects in Wilanów are of special importance to me personally and in a way I have come full circle in regards to developments in the area. I have only been the president of Robyg for two months, but six years back, when I was still with Prokom Investments, the company decided to invest in Wilanów. This was a joint investment with stakeholders of what was then Robyg Development, the first company that was established in the group. At the time such an investment was very risky as Miasteczko Wilanów was still very much an idea, nothing tangible, and Robyg Development was the first company to build apartments in the area. Prokom Investments' president, Ryszard Krauze, envisaged a large-scale development when he finalized the purchase of a 169-ha plot in Wilanów in 1999, and I, as vice president, was responsible for planning a development appropriate for the size and scope of the area. This is when we decided to create a new borough of sorts, which would function as a city within a city. Our plan and dream was that future tenants would not only live there but also work there and could send their children to local schools as well as be able to satisfy their cultural needs.
Wilanów is some distance from the center, with transport links in need of improvement. What is its appeal?
In terms of the convenience of living and transport links, it is better than it might first appear. I myself live in Wilanów and have to travel to the center every day. It often takes me as little as 20 minutes. There are already several thousand people living in the area and transport is likely to get better. The municipal authorities have realized that there is a need to improve the infrastructure in the area and there a plans for new streets to provide even better links between the area and the city. In addition, there are plans for a tram line along ul. Sobieskiego and ul. Rzeczpospolitej, which will run through the middle of Miasteczko Wilanów. I'm not sure when it will happen, but I hope that perhaps it could be possible in four or five years when most future tenants will have moved in and a shopping center has been built along with the area's own town center. Moreover, as there will be schools and offices built in the area, there will be less need to travel into the center everyday.
It sounds like Wilanów draws on the idea of a garden city. Are we likely to see more developments like this?
With its low-rise buildings and ample green spaces, Miasteczko Wilanów certainly draws on some characteristics of a garden city. But will other such places be built in Warsaw? I've heard of plans for the area currently occupied by Lucchini Metalworks, which would be a similar sort of development to what we are seeing in Wilanów. It's a huge area of about 300 ha so there is a chance for a new city within a city. In terms of projects closer to the center - like our City Apartments development, they will not be on the same scale. However, we may still see balanced development.
Is this model likely to be implemented in other cities?
Yes, certainly. However, this depends on the city and the areas it has for potential development. We could look at it historically. Gdańsk, for example, has brownfield sites around the old shipyard, where there is a possibility to develop apartments as well as functional infrastructure. As far as I know there already are plans for a project in this area. In Wrocław there are many gaps even in the center, as a result of WWII, and some kind of balanced developments are possible even there. Poznań wasn't so badly ruined in the war, so developers will have to move away from the center and I believe that the idea of satellite towns there could be possible. So it all depends on the city, its post-war development and potential.
