Krakow Soda Works, initially called B&W Liban Chemical Products Factory in Podgórze and renamed several times, a factory producing soda was opened in 1906 in the town of Podgórze. The factory, which at the outset was located on the very fringe of the town, was absorbed along with the town of Podgórze by the expanding city of Krakow. From the very beginning the factory was a successful investment - vigorously expanding (initial production 5 tons of raw soda per day reached 600 tons per day in the period of the peak production in the 1960s), profitable and providing jobs for an increasing number of local residents but also having an increasingly harmful impact on the environment.
The Solvay process, used in the factory, although successively modernised and improved, from the beginning produced large amounts of waste.

In the 1930s,  the management found it necessary to build large settling ponds for waste, which came to be known as „white seas“. Although they prevented uncontrolled dispersion of waste and made further land reclamation easier, the ponds posed a risk to surface and ground water for many years, due to insufficient sealing and unfavourable hydrogeological conditions. Planting and reclamation of the devastated areas accompanied waste management.

In the late 1930s,  several hectares of wasteland was forested, thus creating a park close to the factory - today the popular Solvay Park. There were, however, few similar environmentally oriented efforts. Pressure from above to achieve a high production quota put environmental needs in second place, reducing the funds allocated to environmental protection.

Due to many years of neglect, the environment was heavily polluted. Following detailed studies that revealed the disastrous condition of the area, and with the protests of thousands of local residents intensifying, a decision was made to begin liquidation of the company on 1 October 1989.

The direct cause of the Krakow Soda Works liquidation were environmental factors together with the protests of thousands of local residents intensifying. The Solvay process of soda production, used in the factory, although successively modernised and improved, from the beginning produced large amounts of waste. Settling ponds for waste, called “white seas”, built to prevent uncontrolled dispersion of waste, due to insufficient sealing and unfavourable hydrogeological conditions  posed a risk to surface and ground water for many years. Concentration on economic results significantly reduced funds allocated to environmental protection. Pollution of the are and the ugliness of “white see”, shared with the Solvay factory buildings, were main factors marking the district as a deprived area.

The main goals of the liquidation were to prevent depreciation of the company’s assets where it was possible, maintain their economic value and prepare the area for new development.

Priorities in the project were:

The following physical and urban planning measures are/were carried out in the practice?

The methods of developing the former Krakow Soda Works area combined all the strategic goals of development in Krakow Province, i.e., labour market expansion, enhancement of living conditions in the former Krakow Soda Works neighbourhood, protection of the environment, modernisation and expansion of the technical infrastructure associated with effective physical planning, and also promotion of Krakow and the region.

The facilities of the Carrefour Shopping Centre, now called ZAKOPIANKA, are sited on 17 hectares, and consist of three main buildings totalling about 50,000 sq. m., a system of car parks with 2,000 spaces, a service station, and a reconstructed frontage along Zakopiańska Street.

The preserved group of the factory's oldest buildings, a monument of industrial architecture, has been skilfully incorporated in the new structures of the Shopping Centre and, in addition to its commercial functions, is used as exhibition space presenting the history of the
soda manufacturing in Krakow. The adaptation and restoration of these buildings was financed by Carrefour Polska and was done under the supervision of the Provincial Heritage Conservator in Krakow. An additional component of the landscape around the commercial facilities is a historic Burchard compressor, easily seen even from far away, recalling the industrial tradition of the area, an unquestionable attraction in its new setting.

The area was also developed by Polish companies such as Petrosol Industrial-Commercial Enterprise that specialises in the production, sale and installation of aluminium and PVC windows and doors, and Trapez-Carbo which manufactures a wide range of building materials. On the other side of Zakopiańska Street, facing the Shopping Centre, BP Poland has a service station.

Construction of the Shopping Centre also included many components of the whole technical infrastructure, such as water supply, sewage and storm drain systems, power lines and also modernisation and reconstruction of the Zakopiańska Street traffic system, co-financed by the investor and Krakow Municipality. The investor built, at his own expense, an underpass crossing Zakopiańska Street, access routes incorporating prospective local roads, and a roundabout located on the premises, with an exit to Jugowicka Street. BP Poland financed the reconstruction of the tramline and terminal, and also participated in financing the construction of access roads.
These new projects markedly improved the smoothness and safety of traffic flow along Zakopiańska Street - part of a national road.

The last part of the development of the former Krakow Soda Works area was the construction of a system of Multiplex cinemas with an area of about 6,000 sq. m. which, along with the existing Community
Centre and exhibition space in the historic buildings, form a cultural hub within the ZAKOPIANKA Shopping Centre.

By providing a long-term lease of that attractively located post-industrial area to the investor, the Krakow Regional Development Agency S.A., as the legal owner of that area, contributed to achieving the main objectives of the Krakow regional development strategy. The Krakow-South Investment Zone, apart from its management function resulting from the legal title to that area, acted as co-ordinator of the shopping centre project and implemented its own projects associated with technical infrastructure, thus enhancing the value of its assets.
One of the greatest achievements of the continuing development of the former Krakow Soda Works area is that it has restored the former level of employment. In its peak prosperity period, the Krakow Soda Works had 1,500 employees; today, 40 companies operating there are already giving employment to 3,000 people.

It would be difficult to enumerate all beneficiaries of the former Krakow Soda Works. Zakopianka has became shopping and entertainment centre for inhabitants of Krakow, particularly its southern part, and its neighbourhood. It gives job to 3000 employees, place to run business for 40 companies. It promotes the City and region. Such a way of the area redevelopment let protect the environment, preserve historical industrial buildings.

Total cost of the investment realization is estimated at the level of 100 MUSD, in which 21 MUSD is the cost of public investment (e.g. reconstruction of Zakopianska street, reconstruction and modernization of the tram line terminal in Borek Falecki).

The environmental part of the liquidation cost 10 MPLN, of which 68.2% was financed by the liquidated company, 23.3% by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, and the remaining 8.5% by the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.

The pay back period of the company’s resources invested in the liquidation was estimated for 3 years. In reality it was 2 years thanks to very profitable lease conditions negotiated by the Krakow Regional Development Agency S.A.

Małopolska Agencja Rozwoju Regionalnego SA
Ryszard Poda (Director), tel. +48 12 266 16 84

01/01/1989

case

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Urban renewal

Brownfield development