Expo in Łódź: “City Re:invented”

During the General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions, deputy prime minister Piotr Gliński, deputy mayor of Łódź Wojciech Rosicki, and deputy minister for development Tadeusz Kościński, officially launched the candidacy of Poland and Łódź. Poland was the first country to submit its candidacy at the previous sitting of the BIE on June 15th, 2016 when the government handed over a letter notifying the organisation of its intentions. A six-month window was opened at that time (which is to close on December 15th) for other cities to submit their entries. The voting for the Expo 2022 host city is to take place at the end of November and early December 2017. Poland wants to go back to the history of the World Expo by creating an exhibition centre that will later become part of the fabric of the city after the closure of the event. The proposed site for the exhibition is a 25 ha plot with a number of historic buildings that are to be revitalised. The Expo would be an opportunity to ‘revive’ the city centre and visitors would see how a living city could be transformed. It would be the crowning achievement in the revitalisation of Łódź creating a place where countries and cities from all over the world could exchange their revitalisation experiences. The logo for the Expo 2022 in Łódź is “City Re:invented”, or recreating a city while keeping its residents in mind and maintaining its heritage as well as its cultural and historical achievements. The problems of post-industrial cities affect every country in the world. The OECD estimates that by 2050 over two thirds of the global population will live in cities. The importance of urban issues is set to increase. According to UN-Habitat data, around 20 pct of all urban areas require some form of revitalisation. The challenges cities face are so considerable that they often require a complete repurposing. The Ministry of Development lists the benefits of organising the Expo as: the strengthening of Poland’s leading position in Central and Eastern Europe (this would be the first time for the exhibition to be held in the region), the promotion of Poland and Łódź, faster economic development, the promotion of Polish companies and brands abroad, and the fostering of business relations with the attraction of new investors and the creation of jobs.