The growing pains of the cabbage patch kid

Las Vegas was created in the middle of a desert. Americans can build anything out of nothing - but only, of course, at the cost of billions of dollars. There is no desert in Poland. New towns and their districts are more likely to be built on cabbage fields

And people who know Warsaw well probably know what I am getting at. Yes, I am thinking about Miasteczko Wilanów, which was built on land that was cultivated by farmers only 15 years ago. On the one hand, it is has received much international recognition. On the other hand, it has been accused of being yet another bleak housing project with no public areas. Reading a number of the internet forums set up by residents of this new part of the city, more moaning than admiration is evident. However, the most common complaint of forum users is not the lack of public areas but the fact that there is no shopping centre or large hypermarket. I am wondering why the ability to do your shopping in a huge mall located right under your nose is such a priority. Do none of the residents realise that having a large shopping centre on your doorstep will bring with it a constant influx of people from other districts? And that the streets of Wilanów will probably become one big traffic jam as a consequence? As we enter the age of online retail, is it not enough to simply have your groceries delivered to your home - and instead have a public park built on the planned site of the shopping centre, where people could spend their free time? Obviously not. Residents of Miasteczko Wilanów will instead be getting a shopping centre, as well as an Alma delicatessen supermarket as part of the Wilanów Office Centre project developed by Robyg.
It is worth noting that Miasteczko Wilanów is changing not only because of the new streets and office buildings, but because further residential projects are also being developed, as well as shops, restaurants and language schools. And the list goes on... It is good that both the district authorities and the investors behind the Miasteczko development have finally started turning their attention towards leisure facilities. A few people may be aware that the Orlik children's playground has been opened on ul. św. Urszuli Ledóchowskiej and is now functioning very well. It should also be pointed out that the residents themselves have taken matters into their own hands on a number of occasions and set up people-friendly spaces in Miasteczko. The integration of the local community is contributing to the fact that residents are increasingly using the internet to arrange to meet up for games of basketball or football. And more and more trees are now lining the streets of Miasteczko. The small saplings planted in the early days of the project have burgeoned and flourished over the last ten years. In addition to this, the restoration of the gardens of the nearby Wilanów Palace has recently been completed. The designer of a new square in Miasteczko Wilanów has attempted to allude to the gardens with gravel alleys. Has he succeeded? Not entirely - it is not easy to encapsulate or imitate a several-hundred-year-old garden. The square on ul. Herby Szreniawy is intended to be main developer Polnord's statement on what the public areas in the centre of Miasteczko Wilanów are going to look like (a part of which will be the long-awaited shopping centre). However, we will have to wait for these amenities for a few more years. In the meantime, we now have a square with green grass, clean benches, Swedish mountain ashes and maples, a sign that things are finally changing for the better.
In conclusion, Miasteczko Wilanów has been changing, but the positive effects will only be seen over time. However, it is clear today that despite its many shortcomings, we need to give it the benefit of trust. Let the trees grow, let all the buildings and roads be developed... Only then will we be in a position to see whether it was worth changing a cabbage field into a new city district.

Zuzanna Wiak