Warsaw: Devastation, Modernization, (Re-)privatization, dérive - Zeitschrift für Stadtforschung, Heft 72 (3/2018)

Editorial
This special issue on Warsaw is the 72nd edition of dérive and
the first with an editorial in English for 18 years (the German
version is available on our website, derive.at). In addition to the
editorial, all contributions to the focal point are in English.
However, this does not mean that dérive will be available only in
English in the future. The choice of language is due to the issue
being produced in cooperation with the organizers of this year’s
INURA conference in Warsaw, where the magazine will also
be the conference reader. INURA (International Network for
Urban Research and Action) is a network of international urban
researchers and activists of which dérive has been a member
for many years. Every year a conference takes place in a different
city and is conceptualized and organized by the local INURA
members. I would like to thank Kacper Pobłocki in particular
for the great cooperation on the editorial work for this Warsaw
issue. Kacper is not only responsible for the editorial concept,
but was also – despite the time-consuming preparation for the
conference – involved in the production of the issue from the
initial idea to printing.
Warsaw is a city that has experienced radical breaks in
its development over the last century, which are still relevant and
visible in many different ways today: the Nazi occupation, the
crushing of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the subsequent
systematic and almost complete destruction of the city can
hardly be surpassed in terms of cruel contempt for humanity.
Several articles in the focal point refer to these events and their
consequences, most directly a text by Bolesław Bierut from
1955, which Irena Maryniak has translated – along with others
– from Polish to English for this edition of dérive.
The second major break in Warsaw’s recent urban history
saw the shift from a state-socialist to capitalist system.
Thereafter, the significance of property grew enormously and
profit-oriented thinking made a decisive breakthrough, having a
fatal effect on today’s housing market. This makes the ownership
of many houses and properties a hotly contested topic,
especially in connection with the (re-)privatization of property
originally stolen by the Nazis. Of course, most of the buildings
affected were destroyed at the end of World War II and, in many
cases, the property claims pursued today have nothing to do
with the original owners or their descendants. There are cases,
for example, where the companies that had real estate confiscated
by the National Socialists are revived simply in order to
construct a claim for compensation. In the recent past, this topic
has caused a stir in the media in Warsaw. Łukasz Drozda analyses
the associated debate as played out in current publications.
In an interview, activists of the Warsaw Tenants Association
(WSL) report on the everyday and concrete effects of conflicts
concerning the Warsaw housing market, which have repeatedly
turned violent.
In addition to the 1955 text by Bolesław Bierut, we have two
further manifesto-like texts from other periods. The architects
and urban planners Jan Chmielewski and Szymon Syrkus published
Warsaw as a Functional City in 1934. Meanwhile, in
2006, Bohdan Jałowiecki considered whether Warsaw is in danger
of becoming a Third World city. Taken together, the three
texts provide a range of reflections about the fate of Warsaw
and its development through time, thus documenting various
historical perspectives.
Three interviews with urban activists complement these
texts. In addition to the conversation with the WSL housing
activists, dérive spoke to representatives of the Open Jazdów Initiative,
an organization that is determined to save a very central
park-like site, and the activities that have developed there, from
valorisation. The third interview is about the highly active urban
grassroots movement that has established itself in Polish cities.
Chaos is a term widely used in discussions about the status
of Warsaw. Joanna Kusiak focuses in her article on what the
word chaos describes, how it is used, by whom and what it is
meant to obfuscate. She traces an arc from Hegel to Harvey,
from everyday experiences in Warsaw to the unbuilt Museum of
Modern Art, and from a heterogeneous cityscape to neoliberal
shock therapy.
Kacper Pobłocki has not only written an introduction to
the focal point. In his contribution Salon: Domestication of
Warsaw’s Public Space, Pobłocki writes about the relationship of
the capital to the rest of the country, about the dominant role of
the gentry in urban (class) society and how they have inscribed
themselves on Warsaw’s buildings (amounting to a literal
gentryfication) and, to conclude, about the function and use of
public and private space between salon and socialization.
Finally, a look at the 9th urbanize! festival which will be hosted
in two cities for the second time, combining theory, best practice
and hands on workshops. urbanize! takes place in Berlin from 5
to 14 October and is organized collectively by a broad alliance of
Berlin’s urban movements and housing initiatives in cooperation
with dérive. In Vienna urbanize! will take place from 24 to 28
October at Nordbahnhalle, taking a close look at the scale of the
neighborhood and its potential for citizens empowerment.
Program details will be available from August on www.urbanize.at.
You are welcome to join! Save the date(s)!
Our crowdlending campaign is still running for the
Viennese Habitat/Mietshäusersyndikat house project Bikes and
Rails, where dérive is also involved. We recently surpassed the
200,000 euro mark, which is a great success. But don’t worry,
we need another 1.3 million euro. So you still have the opportunity
to participate. Information is available at bikesandrails.org.
Christoph Laimer
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