During the economic crisis, the promotion of individual cities may be a vital tool for successful urban development. Experts say that to attract new investors, tourists and residents, it is first necessary to invest in turning a city or a town into a brand, recognizable both in Poland and abroad. Moreover, key figures in this process are developers and architects.

Developing cooperation

Experts note that the best way to promote a city or town is through the cooperation of city authorities and developers. Janusz Malinowski, president of the management board at Ströer, a company providing outdoor advertising said, “Developers can help realize some of the visions that authorities may have for a given city or town.”

Jarosław Zagórski, the commercial and business development director at Ghelamco Poland, had a similar opinion. “The role of developers is cooperating with city authorities in planning the development of new investments and proposing interesting solutions,” he said.

Both Malinowski and Zagórski believe that developers may significantly help in promoting a city or a town, even by simply advertising individual projects. “Promotion of a single project is not only important in creating an image of a given project and company, but also the whole city or town in which the project is located,” said Zagórski.

“I believe that if the project is good, the city itself should promote it, inviting people from other cities, towns or villages to live in new residential estates, for example,” added Malinowski.

According to Malinowski, shopping centers can also serve as urban landmarks, raising awareness of a city among outsiders. “The best examples are Stary Browar in Poznań and Manufaktura in Łódź. They are very good investments but, unfortunately, they are only exceptions. In most cases, shopping centers have rather dull architecture and the cities themselves are not involved in the process of designing them. The examples of Stary Browar and Manufaktura show that in these cases, the host cities wanted to invest in something interesting,” he said.

When it comes to drawing new investors, Malinowski believes that it is a very simple process. “It’s enough to invest in one idea and this will generate further benefits,” he said.
He continued, referencing Poland’s Mazury region, which has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates. “There is a simple way to reduce [the Mazury region’s unemployment]. It’s enough to build one good road from Warsaw to Olsztyn or Białystok and build 10 golf courses there. Immediately after that, hotel investors, business investors and developers will appear there, as well as tourists from throughout Europe. It would be a great promotion and would mean a lot of new jobs for people,” he explained.