Development of Public Spaces as a Part of Urban Waterfront Regeneration Strategies. Case Study: Gdynia

This paper deals with the phenomenon of urban waterfront regeneration and the role the public spaces systems play in the process of planning and implementing the particular projects. The aim of the paper is to verification of concept of public space as base of waterfronts development and transformation and to examine the opportunities and threats arising from these processes.Waterfronts development is one of the most challenging tasks for planners and urban designers nowadays. Although waterfronts have different characteristics, different ownership structure, their transformations are focused on the best use of this special natural and historical resources and regarded as the most important factor of harbor cities growth. At the same time in many cases we meet problems with public spaces development, with their functional program determination. These spaces are formed under the influence of contemporary social trends: privatization, profits maximize, tourism and globalization. Very important is the phenomenon of closed space and gentrification. And Public space main task is spot that helps to promote social interaction and a sense of community.This paper attempts to understand the evolution of waterfront within the framework of urban design and public spaces by taking Gdynia as a case study. Gdynia as a relatively young city has a fairly transparent public spaces system. Shaping the City Centre in ‘20s and ‘30s of the last century was permanently associated with the process of creating a coherent and well thought spaces to meet the needs of the inhabitants. The entire modernist downtown area is based on a very clear compositional axis, opening the port and the sea. Currently the City is facing new challenges associated with transformation of the city center, recreational areas, harbor and industrial sites. Newly developed, diverse public spaces should integrate urban structures. It forces to overcome the many difficulties: appropriation of public space, investors desire to the land privatization, new areas inclusion to existing urban tissue.Within the paper it will be determined if public spaces can add new value to development Gdynia waterfronts as well as have a positive influence on new metropolitan functions in Gdynia structure open for sea