INVOLVING PUBLIC SPACE USERS TO DESIGN CHANGES BASED ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SQUARE IN GORZÓW WIELKOPOLSKI (POLAND). CASE STUDY

K e y w o r d s : Social participation; Public investments; Social investment model; Architecture; Public space; Participatory design. 3/2019 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T 41 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T The Si les ian Univers i ty of Technology No. 3/2019 d o i : 1 0 . 2 1 3 0 7 / A C E E 2 0 1 9 0 3 5 S . W i d z i s z P r o n o b i s Case studies based on many examples of public participation in spatial planning e.g. during the international conference “The role of social participation in shaping the city” under the patronage of the TUP and the Architecture Department of Warsaw University of Technology, held on 24 June 2017, gave the impression that stakeholders are lacking the competence to allow constructive discussion on topics touching them directly. In addition, municipalities are reluctant to participate in activities such as public events, arguing that their organization and the extension of participatory processes is an additional, often unnecessary factor increasing the cost of the entire investment. The reluctance to consultations deepens the rift between the results of decision taken without social consultations (taken at higher levels of power) and those taking into account social standings (developed with participatory processes) [1]. 1.1. The range of activities involving residents in different cities using different tools For some, participation was a disappointing process, while for others it gave hope for a partnership approach to the problems of cities [2]. Among the advocates of cooperation were both: the employees of municipal offices acting as the city residents who wanted to bring a new quality to their work; and the city authorities wanting to get closer to the residents. The launch of Citizenship Budgets (BOBudżet obywatelski) has had a major impact on the development of public participation in cities. Looking closer at various models of public participation [3], the study conducted by Martela B. have shown that Polish editions of the civic budget are based mainly on popular voting, rather than on organizing public meetings and discussions open to the public. However, over time, there are more and more examples of cities where the budget becomes the beginning of a broad debate about the city and the needs of its inhabitants. These cities include Dąbrowa Górnicza and Gorzów Wielkopolski. However, there are also such cities where the local government still does not understand the essence of the civic budget and therefore is using it to achieve its own goals for instance for the election campaign. Lack of strategy, information and civic education, which are crucial for the success of tools such as the Citizenship Budget, for example, in Bytom (169 902 residents in 2015) resulted in the submission of only 19 positively verified projects in the second edition of BO 2015 [4]. In many municipalities, participatory tools served to build mutual trust between residents and officials [5]. The effects were and continue to be different. Meanwhile, in 2016, a tender was organized in Gorzów Wielkopolski for a project to reconstruct the Unknown Soldier Square with a participatory component. The public procurement had additional requirements including an experience in the implementation of activities involving residents in architectural design. The only offer made was by Pronobis Studio, a company run by Grzegorz Pronobis and by the author of this paper – Sylwia Widzisz-Pronobis. Both for many years worked socially as culture animators, using animation and workshop methods to design urban space in cooperation with general public. At that time, very few architects treated such methods seriously, as valuable tools for building/designing the future of Polish cities. 42 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T 3/2019 Figure 1. Traditional investment model (scheme by Sylwia Widzisz-Pronobis) INVOLVING PUBLIC SPACE USERS TO DESIGN CHANGES BASED ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE SQUARE IN GORZÓW WIELKOPOLSKI... 2. STATE OF KNOWLEDGE 2.1. Participatory design Stangel M. with Szóstek A. [6] carried out a broad analysis of the current research on participatory design described in paper from 2015. The researchers recalled the beginnings of participation referring to great figures such as Jane Jacobs (1970) [7], Alexander Ch. (1977) [8] and Cullen G. (1995) [9], who saw the value of social cooperation in urban planning. Stangel M. and Szóstek A. also recalled the beginnings of participatory design in the 1980s in Scandinavia, where democratization in design was very important. There the future users, with variety of tools and techniques, could influence the final shape and design solutions. The studies are important in the context of project activities in Gorzów Wielkopolski, especially regarding research through design and the role of prototyping in the participatory process. Earlier in 2014, Włodarczyk A. [10] described the design process with the inhabitants of the Opole region regarding public spaces in rural areas. Włodarczyk referred to the German and Swiss experiences of participatory design in 2013. She described the process of participation as a method of building a positive reception of rural areas and raising the quality of life by creating public spaces. All that integrated local communities and increased the sense of identity with the place. 2.2. Research methods In the context of sociological sciences, qualitative research used in the participatory process was based on new trends in Grounded theory, analyzed by Gorzko M. [11] comparing the basic version presented by Glaser B. and Strauss A. in 1967 [12] with the trends presented by Charmaz K. in 2000–2009 [13, 14, 15, 16], Clarke A. E. in 2005 [17] and Corbin J. in 2008, 2009 [18, 19]. The evolution of the theory stimulates every reflection on the subject of the research and the goal we want to achieve by cooperating with the participants of the study. The applied research methods are based on Lewin’s output, according to which the respondents become active participants in the change process. Application of Participatory Action Research methods, resulting from the Action Research theory, brings greater dynamics to the research, and also increases the sense of influence on planned changes. In the context of urban space and architecture, public discussion requires the use of various research methods and techniques involving future users or, more broadly, the urban community. In 2008, BugnoJanik A. [20] carried out a study aimed at creating a functional program for the planned extension of the building of the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, including the users of the object in the study. Throughout the study, students became both researchers and respondents who relied on their experience of using the facility. In 2009, the team Niezabitowska E. D. [21] pointed out that at that time “cooperation of researchers focused solely on urban planning issues on a large scale and sociological research used in making planning decisions”. With this in the framework of the PolSenior project, the researchers undertook a qualitative research used for design purposes, which allowed drawing conclusions for the social policy regarding senior housing. Researchers used various tools such as surveys, focus meetings and indepth interviews with selected individuals. Overal, the interdisciplinary collaboration between sociologists and architects was of great value. Bugno-Janik A. (2015) [22] within a few years of cooperation with Janik M. and together with the students of the Faculty of Architecture at the Silesian University of Technology, conducted research on proprietary research tools. She based her research techniques and tools on the theory of Action Research and concluded that in addition to obtaining information from residents, they would also allow them to creatively participate in the identification of problems and to dialogue with the researcher in the context. Additionally, Nawrocki T. (2017) [23] analyzed the possibilities of using mental maps for sociological research of the city. He presented the Kevin Lynch’s method and its modification in the research of psychologists, social geographers and urban planners. Mental maps are a very useful tool, thanks to which we get data that may be otherwise easily overlooked. However, the map works well for open and creative participants and requires some level of experience from the researchers in order to properly analyze the collected material. The behavioral models of design processes described by Bańka A. in 2016 [24], including the Alexander’s model, were based on the assumption that the way to solve the problem is as important as its solution, was an important element in the selection of research methods for this paper. 2.3. Participatory democracy The term participatory democracy (2007) [25], in which citizens decide about the direction of activities, also appears in the discourse on social participation. A R C H I T E C T U R E 3 /2019 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T 43 a S . W i d z i s z P r o n o b i s Łabędź Ł. [26] writes about it (2015), analyzing civic participation at the local level. He describes social consultations as an element of participatory democracy, pointing to problems resulting from simplified procedures without consultation meetings. Local governments usually carry out social consultations of documents, apart from direct actions, e.g. public discussions. 3. INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPACE OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER SQUARE The Unknown Soldier Square is located in the center of Gorzów Wielkopolski, a provincial city in the Lubuskie voivodeship. The history of the square dates back to German times when Gorzów Wielkopolski was called Landsberg. During those times the square was enriched with