Opening the discussion, Marcin Juszczyk, Chair of ULI Poland, welcomed the audience and set the stage for an evening of multi-disciplinary reflection. “We’re entering an era where cities must be designed not just for density, but for human experience and climate resilience,” he said.

Drawing on global case studies—including Stockholm’s Meatpacking District, the Aarhus waterfront in Denmark, and the Lego-linked transformation of Billund—Jeppesen presented a model of climate-aligned urbanism. Rather than expanding outward in a sprawl, cities should invest in densification, infill development and adaptive reuse. “The cities we design today must reduce emissions not only through energy-efficient buildings but by changing the way we move and live,” he said.

Gehl’s projects emphasize not only aesthetic quality or urban density, but above all, the performance of public life. This approach translates into a focus on flexible and active ground floors, porous building edges, shared courtyards, micro-scale mobility networks, and spatial typologies that can evolve over time. “We need to design buildings that don’t just face the street, but participate in the life of the street,” said Jeppesen. The threshold between private and public space—the so-called “edge zone”—becomes a critical site of interaction, where cafés spill onto sidewalks, entrances invite rather than block, and greenery, seating, or shared facilities encourage lingering and informal contact.

Katowice: from coal to code

The second presentation, titled “Katowice – From Coal to Code”, was delivered by Mariusz Jankowski, Head of the Investor Services Department at the City of Katowice. Speaking candidly, Jankowski described Katowice’s decades-long transition from a coal-dependent industrial city to a knowledge-based economy.

“Our transformation is rooted not just in physical infrastructure but in a shift of mindset,” he said. Highlighting a three-stage model—restoration, revitalization, and repositioning—he showcased key achievements such as the Silesia City Center retail-residential redevelopment and the cultural conversion of the former Katowice coal mine into the site of the NOSPR concert hall and the Silesian Museum.

Legal enablers of urban regeneration

One of the most technical but pivotal contributions came from Paweł Białobok, counsel at DWF Poland, who focused on the legal infrastructure that underpins urban regeneration processes. His presentation made it clear that legal frameworks—often overlooked in urbanist debates—are not merely constraints, but powerful enablers when thoughtfully crafted and interpreted.

Białobok discussed how Polish spatial planning and investment law is currently undergoing fundamental reform, particularly in the context of the Zintegrowany Plan Inwestycyjny (ZPI), a new legal instrument introduced in 2023. “The ZPI gives local governments and investors a shared framework to coordinate complex developments, especially in brownfield areas,” he explained. This tool allows municipalities to consolidate planning, zoning, and public participation into a single negotiated package, streamlining otherwise fragmented processes.

Panel discussion: From concept to execution

Following the keynote presentations, a dynamic panel discussion brought together speakers from public, private, and design sectors. The conversation, moderated by Joanna Wojnarowska, partner at DWF Poland, covered the tensions between ambition and implementation, and highlighted the multifaceted nature of urban reinvention.

Morten Kjer Jeppesen reiterated that successful regeneration is not about architectural aesthetics, but behavioral outcomes. “We don’t design cities to look good—we design them so that people will want to spend time there, meet, and stay,” he said. Jeppesen also emphasized the importance of redefining urban value: “The market still often rewards isolation—private views, private access, private green—but we must build a model that rewards sharing, openness, and urban intimacy.”

Professor Piotr Lorens, the City Architect of Gdańsk, offered a strong institutional view on spatial governance. “One of our biggest obstacles is the gap between regulatory ambition and actual capacity at the local level. We have too many plans that are never implemented, and too few tools to guide incremental change,” he said. Lorens called for a more process-oriented planning culture: “We must stop pretending that the city is a fixed object. It’s a living organism, and planning should be about managing change, not freezing a moment in time.”

All panelists agreed on the critical need for new alliances. As Olbryk put it: “Regeneration is a team sport—it takes public vision, private capital, social energy, and legal support. And if one of those pillars fails, the whole structure weakens.”