In the Polish city of Krakow, some places have remained unchanged for centuries. But there are others which have undergone great upheavals in recent years. These increasingly visible developments can be explained by the struggle of this city of nearly a million inhabitants against the atmospheric pollution.
“The city was built at a time when there was not like today, 700 cars for 1000 inhabitants: it is not suitable for all these cars,” points out Łukasz Franek, director of the Public Transport Council in Krakow. “Our streets in the historic center are not as wide as in Warsaw, Wrocław or Poznań,” he adds. Hence the municipality’s policy to drive the car out of the center by reserving certain streets access to residents, bicycles and scooters.
Electric bikes instead of cars
Krakow prides itself on having one of the largest pedestrian and cycling bridges in Poland and has launched an e-bike loan scheme as part of the European Low-Carb project which concerns six regions of Central Europe and is based on their joint efforts to reduce emissions from their transport systems.
Marek Rybarczyk, resident of Krakow, uses them. We meet him at a bicycle station. “They are in a location which is convenient because I live next door, the price is right since it’s free and they are electric so it’s great in every way,” he believes.
However, these changes are not to everyone’s taste. In the newly created clean transport zones, restaurants and shops can only be delivered at certain times and their customers are not allowed to access them by car. The traders feel aggrieved.
This is the case of Izabela Bobula, a business leader from the Kazimierz district. “When you want to shop in large quantities, you prefer to take your car and go to one place to buy everything on the spot and not have to carry everything yourself: that’s what poses the problem,” she indicates.
Public consultation
The authorities in Krakow are aware of this. They undertake to consult residents before taking new measures to improve air quality.
“We want to do it at the end of this year and next year,” says Andrzej Kulig, Deputy Mayor of Krakow. “Discussing mobility issues is crucial for us: we are perfectly aware that with this openness to society, we will not do something that will be imposed from above, we must do it together and go as far as the inhabitants us. allow it, “ he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted many to be more open to clean mobility, as traffic restrictions during lockdowns have shown their effectiveness in combating air pollution.
In some neighborhoods, Krakow is dreamed of as “quarter of an hour city” : residents could access everything in a maximum of fifteen minutes on foot. But to make this happen, the municipality will have to have their green light.
This report is part of “Mobility Week” on euronews. From September 13 to 17, 2021, we are exploring new trends in the fields of transport and individual mobility. Discover other articles here.
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