No more Mordors

Large areas of Polish cities still resemble a kind of urbanised Frankenstein’s monster – built out of random elements from different eras, which instead of delighting those who pass through them, both horrify and dismay them in equal measure. One example, Warsaw’s Służewiec district, has colloquially come to be known as ‘Mordor’ – and has almost become a byword for failed approaches to city planning in the popular culture. This office basin had almost begun to sink under the weight of its own oppressiveness. However, the area is being resuscitated: new residential estates and hotels are being developed, while the city is improving the local infrastructure – and it could even become a surprisingly pleasant place in a few years. Meanwhile, fears that the mistakes of history are about to repeat themselves have been growing over another part of the capital, which is undergoing intensive reurbanisation – the portion of Wola district closest