By Marta Popiołek

At the end of June, I had the pleasure of attending the Placemaking Forum in Kraków, organised by Stowarzyszenie Lepsze Miasto and hosted at Apteka Designu in Wesoła – a place that was inspiring long before the forum even began.

Visiting Wesoła was a joy in itself. This former 9-hectare historic hospital site is being reimagined through culture-led regeneration and community participation, demonstrating how urban transformation can be approached as an ongoing, collaborative process rather than a one-off redevelopment project (you can learn more about this place here). Apteka Designu, a living laboratory for urban innovation, embodies this mindset by using design not only to shape spaces, but also services, relationships, and civic processes.

The forum brought together practitioners from Kraków and across Poland, creating a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences and openly discuss the realities of placemaking work. Beyond the inspiring case studies, two ideas stayed with me.

Photo credits: Alicja Rzepa / KBF

The first was a reminder that shaping cities is a privilege. In the face of everyday challenges, budget constraints, and complex stakeholder dynamics, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that our work has the potential to meaningfully improve people’s lives. That responsibility (and opportunity) is worth remembering.
The second was the recurring theme that participation is, above all, an art of negotiation. While we often focus on participation as a way to reach better solutions for places, an equally important purpose is creating space to understand one another: our different perspectives, needs, and values. In that sense, the process itself is just as valuable as the outcome.

I left Kraków feeling inspired and hopeful, and I’m already looking forward to continuing these conversations at Placemaking Week Europe – the next great opportunity to reconnect, exchange ideas, and learn from one another.