Have you ever been to #Łódź - I had not.
When you visit the city you’ll be stunned by the industrial heritage and turn-of-century buildings awaiting modernization.
Whilst some only see them as structures in decay, the more imaginative among you will envision them as buildings revitalized 🐣 . And what exciting retrofits did we discover!!
On our last visit to Łódź, we got invited to a refurbed factory building, called #Fuzja, to meet key local practitioners for a workshop. “How to scale retrofitting?”, we asked them, naively. One answer stuck with us: "Start with streets! If you’d like to retrofit buildings at scale, start at street level by creating amazing places people like to visit and hang out at." Which is where we went for dinner #offpiotrkowska
Bustling streets should then prompt property owners to revist their historic buildings: Why let them rot away, and eventually pay for the buildings' demolition if there’s money to be made! In fear of missing out, more neighbouring real estate will follow suit, and the revitalisation snowball keeps rolling.
Is it that simple? Of course not! Modernizing heritage comes with many more challenges. But, importantly, it can work and we’re going to learn how it’s done. #Urbanregeneration and #retrofittingbuildings are therefore two of four connected conference tracks at UF25.
Which makes Łódź the logical place to meet in 2025 and the first Eastern European city to host the Urban Future 💪 . Leading cities, pioneering developers and innovative businesses will share their know-how on how to profit from one another going green.
Do you 🫵 want to be part of it?
Please share with me:
💛 projects, places or people to highlight,
💛 experiences or great stories to tell,
💛 networks of change-makers to get involved,
💛 events to be combined as a side events or field trips.
Reach out to me via mathis@urban-future.org or use this form:
➡ https://lnkd.in/dSsdquSF
#UF25 | The Better-Cities Event
🇵🇱 Łódź, Poland
📅 May 21-23, 2025
