Warsaw Mayor prepares to surround Palace of Culture with offices

Warsaw city authorities intend to develop the area around Plac Defilad. "At last we will be able to pass an appropriate regulation on this matter," said Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski. The project will allow the construction of several office buildings with a combined space of 650,000 square meters around the Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN), which will be surrounded by a boulevard. "This boulevard will be a new living heart of the capital city," said Bartlomiej Bielyszef co-author of the plan. "We will do our best to have the plan passed. Without these changes it will be impossible to think about any new large scale investments in the city center," said Wojciech Kozak, the former mayor of Warsaw who now is the Council leader. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Feb. 8-9, p. 1) A.Z.