Pocket parks in Łódź as an element of improving urban resilence in the city centre

Abstract

Urban resilience is one of the main challenges for the European cities, especially in densely built-up central areas. Crucial problems occurring in urbanized areas include air pollution, environmental degradation, insufficient number of recreational areas, flooding, and heavy heat. Greenery is one of the factors that can contribute to the improvement of the urban resilience. City centres are especially exposed to the problem of inadequate number of natural areas. In order to improve living conditions in cities, green infrastructure solutions, such as pocket parks, are introduced more and more frequently. They improve the microclimate, provide comfort, and improve the aesthetics of the place. Parks that form a spatially coherent network turn out to be the most valuable for intensively developed city structures. Methods used in the study include literature research, secondary data analysis, area inventory, archival study analysis and plot ownership analysis. The studied area borders with four city parks, however, there is not enough public green space fulfilling recreational functions. The particular issue refers to how to ensure the adequate amount of greenery in densely built-up areas. The aim of the research is to present the possibility of introducing greenery in densely built-up districts of Lodz. The project of the pocket parks network for the analysed area was presented and method of green infrastructure implementation proposed.