The past, present and future of Łódź

In 2020, Łódź celebrated 200 years of its industrial history. This anniversary became the basis for organising a scientific debate on the industrial history and future of our city, and the aftermath of a series of meetings prepared by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Studies during the anniversary year is this, the second publication. 

In the subtext of the debate, we posed ourselves the questions: How has the space of the industrial city evolved? How has Łódź and its space changed during the transformation period? What is the direction of the city's spatial policy today? What determined its transformations and what is changing in Łódź today? How does the industrial historical past determine the future of the city? How has Łódź changed and in what direction is it heading? 

The publication takes up two main threads of reflections on the development of the city, i.e. transformation and the urban space of Łódź - its past, present and future. The first part of the publication covers the processes of the city's transformation from a slowly developing small village from the period up to the 15th century, through the prosperity of the 19th century industrial city, to the post-industrial city towards its further transformation and regeneration. The second part focuses on the space of the city of Łódź and its transformations, as well as the factors and determinants of these transformations. By looking at the city of Łódź from different perspectives, mainly from the perspective of spatial planning, spatial economy, socio-economic geography, management, environmental protection, architecture and urban planning, we wanted to enrich the much needed new interdisciplinary approach to urban studies.