Abstract

Development trends regarding the business-related urban complexes seem to evolve from the “big-box” towards the more “multi-use” types of structures. Within it, the special role is reserved for places, which—due to economic, political, and geographical reasons—have not been previously considered as major business hubs. Only recently, places like cities in Central and Eastern Europe have become attractive locations for business complexes. These could offer centrally located and attractive locations for new structures, which resulted in the development of the new type of commercial centers—in the form of multi-use districts, walkable, and complemented by other uses. Therefore, to some extent, these cities “surpassed the development line” of the commercial and business complexes, and have become home to something much more advanced. Within the article, the cases from Poland, including Gdańsk, Warsaw, Cracow, and Wroclaw, are discussed. Not only is the urban arrangement of selected complexes presented, but the planning and socio-economic, legal, and infrastructural aspects of these developments are also discussed.

Highlights

  • The office clusters—and office‐dominated business parks and complexes—became increasingly common across Europe in the second part of the 20th century

  • The landscape of the selected area is characterized by the modern design of the office buildings, in many cases blended with pre–1989 structures which include occa‐ sional remnants of the pre‐war urban structure

  • The entire complex corre‐ sponds with the scale and form of the Wrocław city architecture, which contributes to the image of the high‐ quality urban environment of the area (Figure 6)

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Summary

Introduction

The office clusters—and office‐dominated business parks and complexes—became increasingly common across Europe in the second part of the 20th century. The theory of the creative class by Florida (2005) was recently criti‐ cized, the development of creative districts (as concep‐ tualized by Landry, 2008) as a driver of urban devel‐ opment is continuously being advocated (Culver, 2017), along with understanding that start‐up companies have the same (if not greater) importance for economic devel‐ opment as large corporations This trend is accom‐ panied by the development of the “slow‐life” and “work‐ life‐balance” concepts, which have resulted so far in the re‐appreciation of the traditional social networks and types of urban structures (Hatuka et al, 2018). It was possible to define the case studies to be discussed and, as a result of this elabora‐ tion, to draw more general conclusions on the nature of the phenomenon

Situation of the Business Centers in the Case of Poland
Description of the Key Case Studies
Warsaw
Urban Setting of the Selected Case Study
Current State of the Area
Planning and Development Mode
Social and Infrastructural Aspects of Project Implementation
Cracow
Wrocław
Urban Setting of the Wrocław Case Study
Gdańsk
Analysis of the Case Studies Discussed
Discussion
Conclusions
Full Text
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