Young City at the heart of Tri-city
The new Gdańsk district, developed on a neglected and dilapidated post-shipyard area, is meant to become the new heart of the Tri-city metropolis. Młode Miasto will also be a modern and multi-functional district, which along with commemorating the area's special history, will offer shopping and leisure activities.
The whole area stretches over 73 hectares, owned and managed by Synergia 99, a company founded in 1998 and whose main shareholder was the Gdynia Shipyard. The latter took over the Gdańsk shipyard after it went bankrupt in 1996 and moved the shipbuilding works to Ostrów island.
Out of the 73 hectares, 12.5 ha was transferred to the city of Gdańsk for roads and squares. Some 7.5 ha was sold to private investors, Aluship Technology (three ha) and Baltic Property Investments (4.5 ha). The Młode Miasto development will be divided into 11 smaller areas, each of them appropriate for a different kind of urban program.
"The whole area is covered with valid local spatial development plans - this is not to be seen in any towns in Poland on such a large scale," says the president of Synergia 99, Janusz Lipiński.
The Młode Miasto project is planned to last 20 years, and it is estimated that the venture will be realized at the cost of E1 billion. The first part of the project calls for the European Solidarity Center and a multi-function complex developed by BPT to be built on the area of Solidarnoci Square. "Further projects will be completed every two years," says Lipiński.
Lipiński says that the stress will be placed on residential development. "At least 150,000 sqm of residential space will be provided in the Cesar Shipyard section, with 1,500 flats," he says, adding that the housing projects are expected to reach completion in around 10 years.
"It is difficult to compare the Młode Miasto project to anything in Poland. Due to its scale, location and history it has its own identity. The heart of the whole metropolis beats in the center of Gdańsk, in the Młode Miasto," says Lipiński, who compares the project to others in Europe, such as HafenCity in Hamburg and Kop Van Zuid in Rotterdam.
