The Great Island Avenue overpass in Wrocław creates one such opportunity. The bridge crosses the Oder, leaving an underused space beneath it. At the same time, the natural waterfront is already popular with runners and walkers.
Start with an existing idea
There is already local momentum. FAKIE SkateWro has taken the initiative to establish a skatepark on one of the banks. The project has gained significant support in Wrocław and provides a starting point for thinking about what the wider area could become.
The challenge is to build a place around that activity rather than treating the skatepark as an isolated intervention: How can the overpass become a safe, cared-for and flexible public space that supports informal uses, sports and new forms of community activity?
That means thinking about how people move through the site, what makes them stay, what activities can share the space and how the place can be cared for over time.
A group with different perspectives
Fredrik Lindstal will moderate the process. As founder of Glad Stad and a former deputy mayor of Stockholm, he brings experience across urban planning, culture and social innovation. Placemaking Europe describes his work as focused on human-centred urban development, while his work with Glad Stad has included temporary projects designed to make better use of urban spaces.
The workshop also brings together architects and researchers from Wrocław University of Science and Technology: Elżbieta Komarzyńska-Świeściak, Lea Kazanecka-Olejnik, Katarzyna Piskorek, Anna Wancel and Franciszek Linke.
A challenge with a wider application
The team will gather examples of how cities have activated leftover spaces under bridges and highways. These examples will inform a process that responds to local needs, strengthens existing assets and creates a sustainable management model.
A successful activation needs more than a good first idea. It needs people who can use and care for the space, a clear understanding of its surroundings and a way to keep activity going. Wrocław has plenty of infrastructural spaces that could face similar questions. The outcome of this Local Challenge could therefore become useful beyond the Great Island Avenue overpass.
For festival participants, the session offers a chance to work on a real site and bring examples from their own cities into the discussion.
Local Challenge 3 takes place on Thursday, September 24, from 14:30 to 17:30.
