Growing populations and cities increase the impact of climate change and put more pressure on everyone to reduce their carbon footprint. The transition to a net-zero carbon economy could cause millions of jobs to disappear, and people will need training as they look for new work. They may need to relocate. Regions and cities that depend on fossil fuels will have to be redesigned quickly to use green energy. Changes in societies and new ways of working will force cities to keep redefining urbanism.

Chrzanów, in southern Poland, is a former industrial city that is redefining itself. Most of the region’s heavy industry has left and created opportunities for new businesses: research and development, manufacturing, logistics and service companies.

These new jobs and Chrzanów’s proximity to Kraków and Katowice, important growing urban centres, have forced the town to adjust its infrastructure and make changes right from the centre.

“The centre of Chrzanów, close to the market square and the rail and bus stations, is traditionally the heart of our town,” says the mayor of the city, Robert Maciaszek. “This area has enormous potential.”

With EIB advisory support, the city authorities were able to develop a state-of-the-art regeneration plan. The city centre will have a vibrant, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhood, with a high quality of life and good connections to nearby towns and the wider region.

The neighbourhood will be one of the first eco-districts, or sustainable urban districts, in Poland. It will include a new bus station at the bottom of a multifunctional building and public space, 200 new apartments, a modern market hall with a city greenhouse, new cinema halls, office spaces, green courtyards and several hundred new trees.

The buildings have been designed to accommodate people of all ages, with minimum energy use. The designs use circular economy principles and consider local architectural and urbanistic traditions. The project is being built to adapt to the needs of elderly people and residents with disabilities, limiting social injustices and exclusion and setting a new standard for other parts of the city.

“Sustainable, ecological construction is another step towards improving the quality of life. I’m glad that the European Investment Bank saw this potential and helped us make this project a success,” Maciaszek says.

The advisory support helped structure the project so that the eco-district would be financed by multiple sources, benefiting from urban investment mechanisms set up by the European Commission, the EIB, national partners and the government.