As part of the plenary session that opened the conference, national experts: Prof. Marek Bryx (Warsaw School of Economics, Poland), Prof. Magdalena Załęczna (University of Lodz, Poland) and Dr Zuzanna Rataj (Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland) presented the current situation and pointed out the main challenges facing the Polish housing market. The session was complemented by a speech by Aleksandra Trzcińska, an employee of the City of Lodz Office, who presented the progress in the revitalisation programme of Lodz. The subsequent plenary sessions were devoted to urban regeneration and gentrification processes (Prof. Paul Watt, Birkbeck, University of London, Great Britain; Prof. Aysegul Can, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey; Prof. Ludek Sykora, Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic), the special role of housing in promoting sustainable development and improving energy efficiency (Prof. Catalina Turku, University College London, Great Britain; Prof. Jesper Ole Jensen, University of Aalborg, Denmark) as well as cooperation of public, private and NGO entities as part of regeneration (Bob Jordan, the Housing Agency, Ireland; Katarzyna Przybylska, Habitat for Humanity Poland; Władysław Grochowski, Arche SA).
Additionally, the conference programme included 75 workshops with 220 papers which were delivered in 26 thematic groups on topics such as: housing policy, new technologies in housing, financing the housing market, senior housing and the housing needs of young people, the private rental market, the institutional dimension of the housing market, the issue of homelessness and social exclusion, crises, conflicts on the housing market and methods of solving them.
Apart from the formal part of the conference, the delegates had the opportunity to learn more about the history and architectural richness of Lodz thanks to participating in the so-called urban safari. In turn, study visits to selected private and municipal facilities, including in Księży Młyn, Manufaktura and Monopolis were an opportunity to verify in practice the effects of the undertaken revitalisation measures. The three days filled with presentations, academic discussions, exchange of opinions and networking meetings ended with a gala dinner at the Central Museum of Textiles.
Source and photos: Dr Konrad Żelazowski (Department of Investment and Real Estate, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Lodz)
Edit: Michał Gruda (Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz)
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