(II) INSTIGATORS/ DEVELOPMENT PROCESS/ (III) SCALE
The city wants to protect the Zakole Wawerski
City officials asked the Wawer district for an opinion on the commencement of the local spatial development plan for the area covering part of the Warsaw Protected Landscape Area and the Wawer Meander. The area covers 55 hectares.
The reason for starting such a plan is simply the lack of applicable local law, which would effectively protect the areas located within the Warsaw Protected Landscape Area against unfavorable changes in development, colliding with the spatial policy of the capital city of Warsaw. In the further content of this justification, it can be read that if investments were allowed in this area, various negative phenomena would occur, such as: lowering of the groundwater level, disappearance of existing wetlands, wetlands, wetlands and variable wet meadows, and degradation of animal habitats where performs, among others about 37 species of birds. At the same time, the Wawer District Office receives a relatively large number of applications for a decision on building conditions and land development inconsistent with the assumptions of the Study on the conditions and directions of development for the Capital City of Warsaw.
On the 17th August 2017. at. At 17:00, the matter of starting the development of the local spatial development plan, Zakole Wawerskie will be assessed by the Spatial Order Commission of the Wawer District Council.
http://gazetawawerska.pl/2017/08/16/miasto-chce-chronic-zakole-wawerskie/
(VI) ARCHITECURAL APPROACH
Due to the vast majority of private land ownership, the future of this place is uncertain. The buildings that penetrate deeper and deeper into the meadows, drainage and fill the land, and consequently destabilize the water conditions, threaten the peat bog, which is a place of life for many rare and protected species of plants, animals, and fungi. The change in the character of the Zakole Wawerski deprives Warsaw and its inhabitants of an area that fulfills extremely important functions – it cools the city and locally alleviates the climate, retains rainwater, mitigating the effects of violent storms and long periods without rainfall, and also deposits huge amounts of coal, which in the case of drying the terrain would get into the atmosphere.
Many environmentalists call on the Warsaw authorities to take responsibility for the entire area of the Zakole Wawerski and save this urban wetland. Zakole may become a unique wetland park, which will give residents the opportunity to use this area as a place for walks and relaxation, as well as non-invasive communing with nature, education about the role of water and wetlands in cities in the context of climate change. We demand the protection of the Wawer Bend against degradation and the adoption of local plans for this area with provisions that will effectively protect it against buildings, raising the ground, grubbing up, drainage, waste disposal, and other practices that negatively affect the value of this place for nature and climate. It is necessary for the city to regulate ownership issues so that this area can be realistically protected and made available to all Varsovians, proving a responsible approach to the submitted climate declarations.
The status of the rest of the area remains uncertain – despite the fact that the entire Zakole Wawerski has been designated as part of the Warsaw Protected Landscape Area, it is not guaranteed effective protection. In the absence of a local zoning plan, the buildings in Zakole are intrusive on the basis of building conditions.
https://naszademokracja.pl/petitions/chronmy-przyrodniczy-skarb-warszawy-zakole-wawerskie
https://mediactivism.eu/blog/zakole-new-ways-of-talking-about-and-experiencing-places
Co-Dreaming Climates: Inhabiting the EcoTone 