Becoming the promised land once again

The Manufaktura building, which is now a shopping mall in Łódź, is perfect example of how the city is transforming old industrial buildings into vibrant urban spaces. Photo: Emil Staulund Larsen

But as the industrial age faded, so did Łódź. Around the late 1980s, more than 850,000 lived in the industrial city, located 135 kilometres south-west of Warsaw. As industries left, so did the people. Between 1995 and 2012 the city lost more than 100,000 citizens – about one-eighth of its population. In 2004 Łódź was the fastest depopulating city in Poland – a far cry from “the promised land”.

Returning home

Mariusz Lamprecht, an expert of economic geography at the University of Łódź, wrote in a 2013 report about fluctuations in urban development using Łódź as a case study. Lamprecht predicted that the regression would continue for many years. Nevertheless, he saw opportunities for local authorities.

“Knowing the past of industrial cities like Łódź and being able to use the experience in solving these types of crises, one should focus on alleviation and a swift reversal of the detrimental trends,” he wrote. Lamprecht recommended that city authorities focus on new transport opportunities and new urban planning, or re-planning as one might say. It would appear that the local authorities heeded Lamprecht’s advice.

Kasia Korzeniowska clearly remembers when she first visited Warsaw with a friend while backpacking through Europe in 2000. Her friend looked around, astonished, at the grey façades of Poland’s capital. When Korzeniowska returned years later, there was a very different reaction. “Where have all the skyscrapers come from?” she recalls. “I remember 15 years ago it was ‘ugh, Warsaw, Soviet, grey””. This staggering evolution reflects the development path that Poland has taken. Similar reactions hit her when she moved to Łódź. Korzeniowska is one of many foreigners who have recently moved to the city. Born a Londoner, with a Polish father, she came here two years ago to teach English. She explains that despite being one of the larger cities in Poland, it is also one of the cheapest.

“For what I earn to how much I pay for rent, to what the cost of living is – I send money home,” she says. Korzeniowska is eating brunch in a hipster-like area called OFF just off the main street in Łódź. The area is filled with small cafés housed in an old cotton factory with graffiti art on the walls. While sitting at the café, it is difficult not to feel the metropolitan vibe. In Poland, this comes at a low cost, compared to its western counterparts.

“It’s weird, all the Poles send money home from London and I send money back to London because I can afford to save here even though I earn comparatively very little,” she says. Korzeniowska laughs many times during the interview – the sun is shining and OFF is buzzing. Life is seemingly good.

No longer down the drain

Poland had long been hit hard by “brain drain” – the trend of young and educated people moving abroad in the hope of finding a better life. It is estimated that since joining the European Union in 2004, around two million Poles have left to live abroad. The United Kingdom hosts over half of them. In 2004, Łódź was depopulating the most, but now the trend is changing.

“For the first time in years we have a net positive migration balance in the 20 to 29 age group – meaning more people are coming to Łódź than leaving it,” said Łódź Mayor, Hanna Zdanowska, last year to The Sun newspaper. Because of Brexit and the process in which the UK is leaving the EU, this growth is likely to continue. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, British police reported a spike in hate crimes and Polish people are some of those targeted. “[Brexit] scared a lot of people. I think many are wondering if they are welcome anymore in the UK,” Korzeniowska says.

Agnieszka Bielewska, an expert on national identity and migration at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, believes more Polish people will now consider staying in Poland. The Polish government estimated that 200,000 Poles will return as a result of Brexit. However she warns that these estimates may be optimistic: “From what we know from people who came back before is that they often don’t stay in the country more than three months before migrating again. So they might come back, but also might decide to leave again. It doesn’t necessarily need to be Poland, if they decide to leave; it could also be to, for instance, to Ireland.”

The potential return of many Poles from the UK could nevertheless boost the Polish labour market and help ease the demographic issues that the aging population is facing. Bielewska recommends that the government should try to encourage Poles to come back to Poland. “The government needs to act, otherwise these people will end up in other countries,” she claims.

With Brexit talks underway, many international companies have started to look elsewhere in the EU. The Polish government has been quick to react and is trying to encourage such partnerships. Aside from the potential repercussions of Brexit, Łódź is already benefiting from increased domestic and foreign business interest. The newfound interest has also allowed for the creation of better paid jobs. The Brexit developments may reinforce this trend. The Polish government estimates that around 30,000 British jobs in the business and service sectors will shift to Poland in the coming years.

“After many years, Poland is starting to be attractive for big companies like Amazon and Google. These big companies can offer a lot of jobs. And it is not just that people are moving into the cities, but also people who could leave are not leaving,” Bielewska claims.

Just ten years ago Łódź was in the pool of cities with little development potential. Other analyses claimed it was not attractive for foreign investment. Over the last few years, however, this trend has reversed dramatically. In the Polish Cities of the Future Ranking, fDi Magazine – a publication that specialises in global investment – rated Łódź as having the best foreign investment strategy in the country.

Korzeniowska attributes the attractiveness of the city to it being inexpensive  and its central location. Indeed, the new Łódź Fabryczna railway station has been upgraded and was re-opened in December 2016 and provides efficient routes to other major cities such as Warsaw, Gdańsk and Wrocław.

The Polish dream

Poland has been known as a country where young people emigrate to the West. Yet Poland itself attracts many young people from the East. Yan Kalashnik is one of many Ukrainians who currently lives in Poland. He moved to Łódź last year to begin his bachelor degree at the University of Łódź.

 “I was attracted by the low cost of education compared to other European countries … and the opportunity to study in English,” Kalashnik says. More than 30,000 Ukrainians are studying in Poland’s universities, making up more than half of all international students in Poland. Kalashnik explains why he came to study here. “The university provided us with a special opportunity to study at half the price.” Apparently it was a special deal only for Ukrainians.

In a survey conducted by the Polish National Bank, 69.1 per cent of current Ukrainian students expressed a desire to either permanently work or keep at least a partial professional connection in Poland. Only 2.4 per cent would like to return to Ukraine. Kalashnik himself dreams of eventually migrating to the United States. He says that when compared to Ukraine, Poland is more attractive and has better economic opportunities. For him and his compatriots, Poland is also not so far away from home – physically and in mind-set. “The Polish mentality is not that different to the Ukrainian one. People who come here do not feeling like foreigners,” he concludes.

Many analyses have argued that immigrants are a blessing for the Polish economy. According to Bloomberg, a shortage of labour in Poland has created more demand. As a result, many Polish companies employ Ukrainians on short-term contracts. In 2015, Polish employers issued 760,000 short term contracts. The minimum wage in Poland is more than four times higher than in Ukraine.

But these developments have not taken place without backlash. Last year a strike was organised in Mielec, located in a tax-free zone known as the Special Economic Zone. It was reported that the Polish strikers were told if they did not accept what the strikers called “poor working conditions,” they would simply be replaced by Ukrainians. Demonstrations were also staged in Warsaw by activists from the nationalistic All-Polish Youth and National Radical Camp (ONR), calling for a stop to the “Ukrainianisation of the Polish workforce”. Kalashnik says he is aware of the sentiment, but has not experienced any sort of discrimination personally. Ukrainians are not coming to steal jobs, he responds, but are in search of hope and a new chance.

“I can see some similarities between the process of Poles moving west and Ukrainians moving to Poland,” Kalshnik admits. “Most Ukrainians, even students, who come here, do not aim to find Poland specifically, but it is rather an escape from the Ukrainian reality.”  

Wanderlust gone

For a long time, it was an accepted custom that Poles would move west in the hope of finding something else. During the Cold War, the prime destination was the United States. Later, during the transformation from communism and the early years of the European Union, most Poles moved to the UK or elsewhere in Europe. Like so many young Poles before her, Magda Szylberg was one of those who moved west. She found herself living in Spain, but quickly learnt it was not all it cracked up to be.

“I couldn’t find a job [in Spain],” she admits. “I was looking for over 10 months. I had sent applications to bars, hotels, hostels, restaurants … but nothing came up.” When Szylberg decided to send her CV back home to Łódź, she immediately received five different job offers. It convinced her of the new opportunities to be found back in Poland and she made the decision to head home. “There have been so many changes,” she adds. “Many companies moved to Łódź, including those from Poland.”

Szylberg sees herself staying in the city. The urge to travel abroad has slowed down, and while she was away, Łódź turned into what she was looking for – a young vibrant city. “It’s a youth-oriented city,” she says. “There are a lot of bars and the atmosphere is great. The city is constantly growing and becoming more beautiful.”

Many young people spend their time at the OFF area. It is raw, spontaneous and dynamic. The cafés are filled with vegan burgers, second-hand furniture, flashy neon-signs, tattooed bartenders and funky cocktails. A fan of the city is the famous film director David Lynch, who is known for his mysterious-filled Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet.

“I enjoy how the architecture and design create mood,” Lynch once said about Łódź. The city definitely creates a mood. The old dark factories outside the city centre quickly give the city a gloomy feeling. Lynch first visited the city in 2000, prior to its revitalisation, where photos show him wandering around the old factories with a signature cup of black coffee in his hand. Together with the locals, he decided to support the creation of a cultural centre in the old power plant, called EC1.

In an interview with Newsweek Lynch said: “We want to create a fantastic place. The old EC1 power plant will become a space for sculpture, theatre, all kinds of music, cinema, dance, photography, painting and even metallurgic work.” It took some time for the project to take off, but today the Promised Land Art Festival celebrates digital and traditional art with artists and professionals from all over the world. And since then, Łódź has been ranked second (just behind New York) on the list of global centres of urban art. The massive murals found throughout the city easily convince visitors of its artistic nature.

History repeats     

Much of today’s coverage of Poland in western media is focused on its turn to the political right and its growing fear of Muslims and other immigrants. But for Korzeniowska, this is not something you sense, at least not in Łódź. In fact, it is rather the opposite.

“I love the fact that the city is so multi-cultural,” Korzeniowska says. “There are lots of businesses that have set up here. Many of their workers come from Europe, but also from Asia and Africa.” Korzeniowska points out that despite the negative media coverage, most Poles are open to foreigners and many also take advantage of the affordable yet hip lifestyle in Łódź.

In the 1820s many immigrants came to Łódź as the village was transforming into a modern industrial centre. This is when the city earned the name “the Promised Land”. Today, almost 200 years later, history appears to be repeating itself; Łódź, once again, is living up to its epithet. But instead of being an industrial centre, the city is now a centre for creativity, hope and progress.

In The Promised Land, the factory buildings are depicted as red-bricked. This can be recognised in revitalised places like Manufaktura – an arts centre and shopping mall – as well as the EC1 and OFF. All of these buildings, which have lost their utility, have now found a new life and symbolise the new Łódź. In Wajda’s film, the factory of Karol Borowiecki, Max Baum and Moritz Welt is burned down. Sorrow follows in the years after. Today, Łódź has become a beautiful city that has arisen from the ashes of the industrial era.

Emil Staulund Larsen is a Danish freelance journalist focusing on European culture and politics.

Emily Jarvie is an Australian journalist and geographer specialising in European news reporting.

Łódź, Poland, Report