Varsovians vocalize
Roman Rewald, chairman, American Chamber of Commerce
I would definitely like to see an improvement in the road infrastructure - we need a ring road around Warsaw to move the traffic away from the city center. It's a scandal that you travel from Berlin to Moscow via the center of Warsaw. We also need new highways leading to the airport.
Alex Kloszewski, chairman, Warsaw Destination Alliance
We need an urgent coordination of all promotion and advertisement for the city, as well as the building of a world-class congress, conference and exhibition center for conventions of 12,000 to 15,000 delegates. Without this we cannot compete with Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Berlin and other cities.
What I would like to accomplish is a well-organized campaign to clean our city's walls of graffiti. This is a major problem for all of us, and certainly affects Warsaw's image. Eighty-five percent of all buildings on ul. Nowy Świat and Chmielna bear the scars of graffiti. I know how to fix this problem, but we need the Mayor of the city to help us with this crucial aspect of our tourism product.
Tomasz Kułakowski, sales & marketing executive Central Europe, Ryanair
In order to improve the accessibility of the Polish capital, attract inward investment and tourists, and lower the overall cost of doing business in Warsaw, the new Mayor of the city must as a matter of urgency develop an alternative airport for Warsaw that would be competing for traffic with Okęcie.
Jeremi Mordasewicz, expert, Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan
From an entrepreneur's point of view, the main issue to tackle is the transportation network. First, we waste a lot of time in traffic jams. Second, our employees waste time and get very tired and finally it's really hard to employ someone living further than 20 to 30km from Warsaw. An agglomeration like Warsaw needs more than one metro line and we are definitely in dire need of a ring road.
Another big problem is the lack of spatial-development plans, which makes construction investments in the capital extremely difficult and raises the prices of flats in Warsaw. For that reason, a young person from Rzeszów is more likely to emigrate to London than move to our capital.
Aleksander Morozowski, managing director, DHL Express Poland
For transport companies and messenger companies the most important issue is the ring road. It would give us a chance to quickly move from one end of the city to another. Recently, the acting Mayor of Warsaw introduced a decision limiting the traffic of vehicles over 12 tonnes in the city, which has an effect on trade as well as on supplying goods to stores and hypermarkets.
This issue is important both to ordinary people stuck in traffic jams as well as to enterprises dealing with transport and supplying goods.
Rafał Muszczynko, founder, Warsaw Critical Mass
I would focus on mass transportation within the city. I would like Warsaw to be friendly for those for whom it is not friendly at the moment. It is friendly for car drivers but 70 percent of people move around the city by means of public transport where the tickets are too expensive.
When it comes to bicycle lanes, I can't see many of them being constructed and there's no common strategy of building them. When the lanes are finally built somewhere, it is very often in places where nobody is going to use them, which is a waste of public money.
Andrzej Sadowski, founder and vice president of the Adam Smith Research Center
The unresolved ownership issues are what prevents Warsaw from developing. More than 10,000 people in Warsaw are waiting for their property to be returned to them. These people are fighting the city in courts. The unresolved property and ownership issue is the main obstacle to Warsaw's balanced development in all districts.
Nigel Wade, managing director, CB Richard Ellis
The most urgent problems to be solved are the clarifications on zoning plans. Zoning plans for each district need to be approved and implemented and ownership rights should be clarified. Transportation and road improvements are also an urgent issue. Personally, I would like to see pedestrian bridges built over Rondo Zgrupowania AK Radosław and more respect for cyclists all over Warsaw.
Bogna Świątkowska, president, Bęc Zmiana Foundation
Warsaw is in dire need of an image boost and of promotion based on its real strengths - not on the dull assumption that it's the Old Town that is the most interesting part of the city, although it certainly is a unique example of post-war reconstruction.
Warsaw's biggest advantage is the fact that it keeps developing, it has great architectural potential and we can use it by inviting world-class architects to embellish the city and arrange the existing chaos. The lack of certain things can also be turned into an advantage, as in the case of the lack of a museum of contemporary art, which could be designed by an internationally famous architect.
Roman Osadnik, director of the Polonia Theater
We need a multi-hall venue located in the city center, which could stage shows from all over the country. The new administration should change the criteria for the distribution of city funds among theaters. Currently, 90 percent goes to institutional theaters and only 10 percent goes to independent theaters. The proportions should be changed. This could lead to more competition and a better repertoire.
Andrzej Wierzba, president, Netmedia
The obvious thing for me to fix is the infrastructure - both when it comes to the road infrastructure within the city and the means of mass transport. They should be improved in the first place from the entrepreneurs' point of view - people have to get to work somehow.
Wiesław Piegat, executive director, Warsaw Chamber of Tourism
From the tourism point of view the most urgent issue is the development of the second terminal at Okęcie Airport as well as Modlin Airport for budget-carriers and charter flights. We should also think about highways around the city. I believe a calendar presenting events some six months in advance would help foreign visitors organize their time in Warsaw. Personally, I think that the Vistula should be closer to the residents of Warsaw. The promotion of the city has long been neglected, but with the establishment of the Mazovian Regional Tourism Organization this will change soon.
Aleksander Hetko, associate attorney,Hogan & Hartson Jamka Galos Sp K
In my opinion, the most urgent issues are spatial-development plans and a clear development planning policy. It's important to regulate ownership including the problems of Warsaw properties. It is also crucial to develop infrastructure.
