July 31st Educational Walk with Local Pedestrian Advocate Robert Buciak
Yesterday we met up with local long-time pedestrian advocate Robert, who was the organizer and 1st chairman for ‘Piesza Polska’ (Federation of Pedestrian NGO’s in Poland).
We went on our first (of what we plan to be many) walks during which Robert shared his extensive experience as well as impacts of projects he had been involved with.
He occupies the interesting position of working both at the grassroots level with pedestrian advocacy and working at national level at the Spatial Planning Department at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology.
Yesterday we began with touring one neighborhood and Robert shared that city-wide, his projects have been responsible for 2 1/2 km of new or rebuilt pavement space, 8000 trees planted, 3000 benches, some km of bike lanes and dozens of crosswalks made safer (such as this one we photographed him crossing).
During our walk we also toured this lush linear park in a neighborhood that, as the largest urban heat island in the city, is so in need of such features. My guide for this walk, in tandem with a local architect, was responsible for this project coming to fruition and bringing the option to a participatory budgeting vote which local residents then voted for over parking.
There’s another linear park coming to this neighborhood too….
On this walk in Służewiec, Robert showed me interesting tension points as well as positive recent changes regarding pedestrian and cycle mobility. We also toured a natural playground (one of ten across the city that he helped to create) and he provided a good deal of historic context to this neighborhood – a former industrial now light business area with a good deal of residential development.
This is one of ten natural playgrounds that my walking guide was responsible for bringing into existence across the city (and local architects then designed).
I’m a big fan of such playgrounds- the aesthetic of the natural materials, the thermal comfort of the sand and of course the diverse and imaginative playscape.
We also spoke about the importance of planning such spaces not only with kids but also caregivers in mind. We both reflected, as parents, that when a playground is mindfully designed in that way (ample seating, good shade etc), there is greater likelihood that the whole family will enjoy their time there.
It was also a very rainy day when we toured the space which was perfect so I could then get a lot of photos of the space (no kids present). I later went back with my youngest on a warm afternoon and the playground was absolutely buzzing, with parents and caregivers relaxing on the various seating all around the playground.
Stay tuned for more coverage from these educational walks in Warsaw….
Annika Lundkvist, Editor & Founder & Pedestrian Space