Wrocław’s Hala Targowa carries all of these roles. The iconic central market hall gives residents and visitors access to healthy food, local delicacies, flowers and handcrafted goods. It also provides a social function that goes beyond buying and selling.
At the same time, the market faces a clear challenge: Sales have fallen over the years, while many of the services on the second floor have closed. This local challenge will try to answer how to build a sustainable future without losing what already makes the place valuable.
A market with room to evolve
Some changes are already happening. Specialty coffee bars have brought new activity to the building, while Gastro Miasto has created a successful food festival on the nearby waterfront.
These examples point to the potential for a broader mix of uses and audiences. They also raise a practical question: how can new activity support the existing market rather than replace it?
Wrocław is inviting international placemaking and market experts to work with local actors on a strategic proposal for Hala Targowa. The workshop will ask:
How can the Market Hall evolve into a more active and diverse local destination while preserving its existing vendors, distinctive character and everyday function?
Bringing different experience to the table
The process will be moderated by Levente Polyak, founder of Eutropian and a board member of Placemaking Europe. Steve Davies, co-founder of Project for Public Spaces and a Market Cities expert, will bring long experience of public markets and their role in community and local economies. His work at Project for Public Spaces has included more than 500 major projects, with public markets among his areas of focus.
They will be joined by Małgorzata Golak and Edyta Pawlaczek from the City of Wrocław, Janusz Bujko and Katarzyna Sobolewska from Beeline Research & Consulting, and Maciej Koła, founder of the Gastro Miasto food festival.
That mix matters. The challenge needs knowledge of the city, the market itself, local economic development and the wider experience of market cities.
From discussion to a first pathway
The workshop is designed to move beyond discussion. Participants will explore the market’s current challenges and opportunities, share lessons from other places and work together on a strategic proposal.
The intended result is a shared vision, a set of priority actions and a first implementation pathway.
For participants, this makes the session a chance to contribute directly to a real place in Wrocław. For the city, it creates an opportunity to test ideas with people who have worked on markets and public spaces in different contexts.
Hala Targowa’s future will depend on finding ways to support its everyday function while creating room for new forms of activity.
That is the question Wrocław is bringing to the international placemaking community.
Local Challenge 1 takes place on Wednesday, September 23, from 14:30 to 17:30.
