June 26, 1968
Warsaw, Poland — Urban planning in Poland begins with the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party.
In some cases, it ends in a small, neat cooperative apartment or a convenient school or a large attractive park.
In many others, it produces frustrating, 10-year waits for a flat, slow and crowded tramcars, and long lines at the bread store.
Between the cause and the effect, the future of Polish cities is shaped much like the future of Polish steel production — as an investment, which must pay a dividend to the nation’s planned economic growth.
Planning seems to be Poland’s major industry. The national economic plan is shaped by an estimated 300,000 people. This means, in simple terms, that one of every 26 working Poles is planning what the other 25 should be doing. The physical planners, their course plotted in large part by the economists, decide the “where.”
Joining economic factors in shaping the quality of city life in People’s Poland is a complex mixture of politics, culture, history and geography. We may get some understanding of it, though not the full picture, by looking at the experiences of a Warsaw family.
Introducing Joseph Nowak
Joseph Nowak is a fictional, 41-year-old Warsaw resident who will share his view of the city with us. Like most Varsovians, he was not born here but came to Warsaw from a rural area in 1946 to help rebuild the destroyed city and find here a role for himself. By now, he is urbanized but still yearns occasionally for the simplicity and quiet of the green countryside.
His wife, Anna, 38, is a Warsaw native. She still entertains bitter memories of World War II in which she lost an uncle and two brothers. The Nowaks have two children, Basia (Barbara) who is 12-yearsold, and Jan. 9.
With a better-than-average job in the big car factory, Joe Nowak brings home 2000 zlotys a month. Anna works as a clerk in a state-owned dress shop and earns another 1400 zlotys monthly. Since she is a good seamstress, Anna occasionally earns a little money on the side making dresses for friends. Their combined income of 3400 zlotys a month make the Nowaks middle-class wage earners. (The official exchange rate is 24 zlotys for $1. Tourists exchanging larger amounts get the equivalent of 40 zlotys per $1. But most Poles consider $1 to be worth 100 zlotys.)
At Home With The Nowaks
Since he earns more than 800 zlotys a month, Joseph Nowak isn’t eligible for the cheapest workers’ housing. So he became a member of WSM, the largest cooperative housing enterprise in Warsaw (and the world, a spokesman says) with 26,000 members.
WSM was created in 1921 by left-wing Socialist Party members to build cheap, healthy and comfortable houses. The original concept of large settlements provided with social services has been adopted all over Poland. WSM, because of government opposition and financial difficulties, struggled in the pre-war years. It resumed activity in 1945 but in 1949 was ordered to suspend new building. In 1956, WSM won the favor of the new government and has flourished since.
Until 1963, about 80 per cent of the urban housing was built by the government — state and local. Since then, the ratio has been reversed. Now, about 80 per cent of city housing is built by cooperatives like WSM. The switch has been probably the most significant urban development in postwar Poland.
Why the change? Informed sources say the government simply found itself unable to keep the Communist pledge of free housing for everyone and decided the people should pay a large part of the tab. One economist told me the change was inspired by the realization that people who pay for their homes take a greater interest in them. He observed, “The people are earning more money than they can spend on other kinds of goods because we haven’t many other products.” A Polish sociologist, criticizing the “somewhat apathetic attitude” of residents in government-financed housing, said the greater sense of community found in the cooperatives “is probably due to the fact that to join a cooperative housing estate requires considerable financial sacrifices.”
The Sady I project is the pride of the WSM Cooperative and considered the best housing estate in Warsaw by some. In the play area, a large blackboard (right of swings) gives children a place for graffiti.
In Joseph Nowak’s case, the considerable financial sacrifice involved a deposit of 18,000 zlotys — nine months salary. After applying for WSM membership, Joe waited three years until he was accepted as a member. Then he paid the deposit on his flat. But he had to wait another four years until he finally received an apartment.
The Nowaks are among 70,000 people (19,000 families) living in WSM housing. Another 26,000 people are on the waiting list for flats for their families. BY 1970, WSM expects to have 100,000 residents.
Joseph Nowak did not buy his apartment and cannot sell it. He may transfer the rights to the flat to his wife or children and, after 40 years, to other relatives. If he leaves before 40 years, he will get his deposit back. The Nowaks pay a monthly rent of 400 zlotys and utilities cost about 200 zlotys a month. So housing takes only one-sixth of their monthly budget. Low interest or interest-free loans to the cooperative by government banks make the low rentals possible.
When Basia and Jan reach college age, they will probably apply for WSM membership. With the long wait, they can anticipate that by the time they graduate and get married, an apartment will be nearly ready for them.
The rigid government standards, which govern housing construction and allocation in Poland, say the Nowaks are eligible for an M-4 apartment with total floor space of 48 square meters (516 square feet), including kitchen, bathroom and hallways. The flats are anything but spacious.
The Nowaks apartment has a small, neat kitchen with just adequate room for cooking but none for eating, a tiny bathroom, two small rooms (about 10 feet by 10 feet) which are bedrooms for the children, and a living room (about 16 by 10 feet) which is used also as the dining room and bedroom for Joseph and Anna. Since the apartment affords little privacy, Basia gets out whenever possible to meet her friends.
The Social Side
WSM doesn’t stop with providing a flat for the Nowaks. Its housing estates teem with social services. In each settlement, there is a social center. The one serving the Nowaks has a coffee bar, meeting rooms, a television and reading room, and a youth club. Nearby, within a brief walk, are clubs catering to the diverse interests of WSM families. If Joseph were a hobbyist, he could gather with others to pursue photography, painting, sailing or stamp collecting, to mention a few.
When Basia was younger, she took dancing and music lessons at the social center. Jan is currently active in sports and scouting provided for WSM youngsters. Anna Nowak finds herself too busy to enjoy much of the organized program but she is glad it is available to the children. Included in the Nowaks rent is a 10 zloty monthly charge to help finance the social program. WSM receives other money from factories whose employees live in the estates.
The cooperative has its own government, with each housing estate electing a cooperative council and the local council members in turn electing a congress of sorts for the entire WSM. It even provides a local judicial body, which may discipline Nowak’s neighbors if they are loud, disorderly or otherwise not good neighbors. It can impose fines or even take away flats for serious offenses. WSM publishes a newspaper of news about members, though only 10,000 copies can be printed because of a shortage of newsprint.
First, A Place to Live
To Joseh Nowak, WSM is first of all a means of having a decent house, something he sees many of his friends and fellow workers struggling for.
Nowak has one friend who lives with his wife and two sons in the kitchen and one room of a private home. The house belonged to the man’s mother-in-law. Several years ago, when she died, the government decided the family had too much room. So two large rooms were boarded up and to this day remain unused.
Joseph Nowak has also seen three families sharing the same flat. “You can’t believe the problems,” his friends tell him. “You can share a bathroom, or even a bed, if you have to. But you can’t share a kitchen with another family.”
So Nowak is pleased with his apartment. He has sunlight, green space outside the building, and a place for the children to play. He gives little thought to the fact that most of the buildings in the housing estate look the same because of the inflexibility of prefabricated construction. Things are pretty good at home for Joseph Nowak.
In the Marketplace
The Nowak’s housing estate has been provided with commercial services, like all new housing built here since 1945. The state norms require that basic shops be included in housing in proportion to the population.
In the same block as the Nowak’s flat is the state grocery store where Anna Nowak joins the daily queue for foodstuffs. Anna thinks the settlement needs two stores but the norms said only one was required and the lines get long at times. Being as busy as she is, Anna hates to waste time standing in line. So Basia often finds herself waiting for the daily bread on the way home from school. Joseph occasionally joins the line at the meat store on his way home from work and stuffs the meat in the black briefcase that nearly everyone seems to carry in Warsaw. (Food prices: bread, 4 zl.; milk, 3 1/2 zl. per quart; potatoes, 1 1/2 zl. per lb.; veal, 30 zl, per lb.; eggs, 2 zl. each; strawberries 5 zl.lb.
If the Nowaks want to make something other than an everyday purchase, they can go to the nearby shopping center, which serves several settlements. There, they will find a clothing store, a variety store similar to an American Woolworth’s, and an appliance store plus a few smaller shops. A hairdresser-barber and a pharmacy are nearby.
But for their important purchases, the Nowaks go to the city center. Though Polish planners are trying to encourage people to shop in the neighborhood shopping centers, most Varsovians seem to think they can do better downtown, buying perhaps from one of the private merchants who have little shops in the mid-city area, or from the large state department store.
Once in a while, the Nowaks get a few dollars from Joe’s cousin in Philadelphia. With the dollars, the family can make purchases in the Pekao stores, which sell foreign merchandise for dollars only. English sweaters and American drugs are popular with the Nowaks.
Anna occasionally visits the large outdoor market in the poor Praga section to see what’s available in the way of clothes. The market does a brisk business in used clothing, and some new items, which come in large part in packages from America to relatives here. A pair of authentic blue jeans for Jan cost about 1100 zlotys — more than a week’s income — and are ruled out of the Nowaks’ budget. But shoes for Anna — used but not worn — are available in good foreign styles for 200 zlotys, compared with 500 zlotys for less fashionable Polish-made shoes bought new.
‘Producer Dictatorship’
In their expenditures, the Nowaks often experience what one Polish sociologist calls “producer dictatorship.” He explains, “The consumer may complain about the quality of goods to an intermediary without any direct influence over the producer. The producer is interested in fulfilling the plan and getting bonuses fixed by the given set of obligatory regulations.
“But if he wishes to expand the enterprise, for instance, or renew his park of machinery, he receives credits regardless of whether his goods are sold or not.” This is why, according to sources here, one radio factory produces from 30 to 75 defective radios in each 100 it makes.
The Nowaks, like all Poles, have learned to be patient in the marketplace, a virtue unknown to American consumers. Joseph and Anna will quietly endure the widespread discourtesy found in state stores and almost luxuriate in the mild courtesy shown by the private merchants.
Numerous play areas, like this one in the Mlociny housing estate, (Above) are built in the WSM settlements. A social center is provided for each settlement also. The center in Joliebush South (Below) is especially popular with teenagers who gather there to drink coffee, dance and talk.
In many stores, the display of merchandise causes shoppers further aggravation. Anna must often ask the clerk to bring to her each item she wishes to inspect since the goods are generally kept behind counters. There being nothing comparable to American advertising, the Nowaks generally learn of new products only by visiting the stores.
Some of the features of shopping here are worth consideration for U.S. cities. One of the best is the handy Ruch store. Located every few blocks along the sidewalk in small stands, the Ruch stores carry an amazing variety of everyday needs. They sell such things as newspapers and books, stamps, bus tokens, aspirin, toiletries, cigarettes and small toys. A Varsovian may even pay his telephone bill at the Ruch stand. They are not only convenient but add color to the street scene.
The sidewalks are enlivened also by small flower kiosks and poster boards advertising the newest cultural offerings.
On The Road
At nine years old, Jan Nowak is already something of an expert on cars. His interest is heightened because his father works in a car factory and because the family often talks about its wishes for a car. The wish is not to be realized soon. The automobile is Poland’s greatest luxury.
The big Warszawa, which resembles a Plymouth of the early 1950’s, costs about 125,000 zlotys or more than five years of Joseph Nowak’s salary. Even if by some miracle he found the money, he would need special government permission to buy one. The same permission is required for t-he cheaper Syrena (72,000 zlotys) and the new Polish Fiat (180,000 zlotys). The Polish economy requires that most car production be exported for hard currency.
Out of curiosity, Joseph occasionally takes Jan to the Sunday morning automobile flea market in Warsaw where cars of every age and condition are parked along the street awaiting buyers. To put it mildly, the prices are high. A nearly new Mustang recently was offered for 800,000 zlotys ($8000 at the 100-to-1 rate, $32,000 plus at the official rate.) A used Mercedes-Benz brings 600,000 zlotys; a good Volkswagen goes on the block at 200,000 to 300,000 zlotys. Curiously, a used Warszawa in good condition sells for more than it did new. The reason for this, Joseph Nowak knows, is that the used Warszawa can be purchased readily while a new one can’t.
There are only about 40,000 cars in Warsaw and half that many motorcycles. The Nowaks, like the great bulk of Varsovians, ride public transportation.
Moving a City
The public transit system in Warsaw carries 1-5 billion riders a year, about 360,000 passengers an hour during the morning and evening rush. Half of the red and cream-colored transit fleet is busses, 1000 of them. But the 880 tram cars do the bulk of the work, carrying 57 per cent of the passengers, Trolley busses, which seem to have extraordinary trouble staying on the wire tracks, round out the fleet and are slowly being phased out.
Proof of the systems capacity is the fact that it makes 800 trips per year for each Varsoviane Costs are very low–1 zloty for a tram ticket and 11 zlotys for a bus fare. For a 100 zloty pass ($1), Joseph can ride the system as often as he wishes in one month.
On the trams, the Nowaks face two problems — speed and breathing space. During the rush hour, Anna finds herself crammed into tramcars so full that people dangle out the doorways. And the demand for transportation requires frequent stops. Since the trams share a common track and must compete with vehicles and pedestrians for right-of-way, riders are required to devote large amounts of time to commuting.
Anna Nowak wishes the city had built the underground rapid transit it proposed in the early 1950’s. But soil conditions caused technical problems and raised the cost of a deep underground system, forcing the project to be dropped. Recently, Anna read that the city hopes to go ahead with a cheaper, shallow underground transit system. The first stage is proposed for construction in the mid 70’s. Five lines are planned at a cost of 7 billion zlotys. Until then, more and more busses will be added to the system, officials say.
Step Lively
The Nowaks have not yet mastered the art of pedestrianship in a motorized society. Both have had narrow escapes while dashing for a tram in the face of cars and trucks. Many of the busy tramlines they use run down the middle of major streets, taking on and discharging passengers into the traffic flow. The car being a relatively new menace to Varsovians, many people are struck by autos while dashing to catch a streetcar.
A Warsaw intersection (above) is a maze of tram tracks, street, and crosswalks. One of the double-section busses used in Warsaw (right) stops alongside the Palace of Culture.
The bustle in Warsaw’s streets is punctuated by the sound of pneumatic hammers as the city tries to remodel its roadways to accept both autos and tramways. But the two simply do not seem to be compatible. To a driver, the city often seems to have 400,000 cars — not 40,000 — and navigation requires you to dodge busses, whip around pedestrians and watch for turning trams, all the while remembering not to stop suddenly in front of a bad-braking Warszawa.
City transportation officials express confidence that they can build a transportation system, which will include both public and private means. They believe that, despite the projection of one car for every five people in 1985, Varsovians can be convinced to use private cars for after-work recreation and not as a means of getting to work.
The Nowaks see as many modes of transportation used in Warsaw as in any city in the world. Taxis do a booming business and are cheap, carrying several passengers to different destinations on each trip. Motorcycles with sidecars sometimes carry a family of five. Suburban residents often hitchhike into the city on passing trucks. Horse drawn wagons with heavy loads are a common sight outside of the central business district. Bicycles are still used though not as commonly here as in many European cities. But above all, Warsaw moves on its feet. No matter what part of the city you visit, large numbers of people are walking.
In the After Hours
Basia and Jan Nowak, and their parents when they find the time, love to plant themselves in front of the television set. Although Warsaw has only one channel, TV is the city’s main form of entertainment. The programming includes something for everyone — musicals, documentaries, children’s shows, news, sports and a number of good educational programs, which enjoy wide following. Socialist ideals are fed in among the popular foreign movies by the state-controlled producers. Joseph may give Anna a sly wink when he learns that the best show of the year is to be aired the same time as Corpus Christi celebrations are scheduled in Polish churches.
Warsaw has far more movie houses than most large American cities and motion pictures are shown from early morning until late at night, usually to full houses. The American western is a great favorite of Polish youngsters like Jan.
Cultural opportunities abound in Warsaw. To mention a few of the ways the Nowaks can spend their free time, the city offers a superb opera, an excellent concert hall with varied programs, more live theater than any American city save New York, and dozens of museums and exhibits. The children can attend the finest circuses for 20 zlotys. Sports enthusiasts are provided with top professional soccer (in the 100,000 seat stadium), horse racing, water sports, bicycle races, and a variety of more routine activities.
The Nowaks may while away some time in any of several attractive and well-maintained city parks. The parks provide everything from a forest atmosphere to scenic views of the Vistula River. And they are pleasantly free of any vehicular activity.
When they have the time — and a friend with a car — the Nowaks flee to the countryside for a pleasant day of green quiet. Joe Nowak’s favorite recreation, though, is a good conversation with friends and fellow workers. Sometimes he finds it at a coffee bar but more often he stops at a sidewalk beer stand for a few quick ones and some hardy talk. Late afternoon in Warsaw sees large numbers of gay workers strolling arm in am down the wide sidewalks.
The Second Allegiance
The Nowaks, as nearly all rural and urban Poles, are devout Catholics. The Church is to them, at once, a source of diversion, recreation and inspiration. Since their housing estate, like all those constructed in post-war Poland, is without a church, they journey to one of the older neighborhoods each Sunday to attend Mass.
No matter the hour, they find the church filled, often beyond capacity. They are joined there by young and old, men and women. They respond strongly to the prayers and sing the hymns with gusto. They listen intently to the sermons.
The big feast days are occasions for fervent celebration. When Basia was younger, she put on the crisp, lacy white dress her mother made for her and marched solemnly in each procession. Anna often takes Basia with her to the weekday evening Mass, which is also well attended.
Closing the Urban Door
A Varsovian is presented opportunities of many kinds not available to Poles in villages and on farms. Joe Nowak knows many people in the area he was born who would like to move to the city. There are so many who desire the city life that the government restricts migration to Warsaw (though at least 20,000 people are estimated to live here unofficially).
The government’s policy of deglomeration — reducing the growth of the city — will not affect Joseph Nowak. But one of his friends did have to move out of the city when the government ruled that the company he worked for did not merit a Warsaw address.
Behind the policy is an effort to create more urbanization in areas now considered underdeveloped. This spread of urbanization — to be accomplished by decentralization of industry — is aimed at building a nation with few differences from area to area in technology, education and culture.
A Fireside Chat
Sitting in Joseph Nowak*s flat on a warm summer evening, an American visitor would ask him many questions about this Warsaw of his. With a bottle of fine Polish vodka on hand for toasts, the conversation would be free and easy. Joseph Nowak remembers the ruined city he found here in 1946 and what he sees of it today is proof that a lot of great things have been done here. Since he has never traveled outside of Poland, he has a difficult time comparing Warsaw to other cities.
The visitor would try to avoid political questions when discussing life in Warsaw, but somehow nearly every subject would come back to the system.
What do you like best about Warsaw? The answers are as expected, Joseph cites employment opportunities. Anna feels the city offers the children better educational opportunities and her husband a better job than might be found elsewhere. Besides, this is her hometown. The children cite their school, their friends and “a lot to do.”
Why do so many houses have such big locks on the doors and some private homes have barbed wire atop their fences, the visitor wonders. Nowak replies simply that they provide security.
The streets of Warsaw are dirty with a brown, earthen dirt not normally associated with a large city, the visitor observes. Anna retorts a little sharply that this is a sign of the great construction activity under-way in the city.
Why are so many new apartment buildings still unfinished outside even though people are living in them, Nowak is asked. He explains that one enterprise constructs the buildings and a second enterprise does the outside plastering. Since there is a shortage of plasterers, the second enterprise can’t catch up with the first and some buildings are left unfinished for several years.
Joseph Nowak doesn’t know that 120,000 people are waiting for new housing in Warsaw but he does realize there is a great housing shortage. He is unaware that young architects here are hard at work to convince the government to abandon some of the rigid standards now set for building, to give them flexibility which they feel would allow them to build better and cheaper housing.
The Nowaks have no knowledge or concern with the sophisticated planning methods being used to predict future growth and shape it to “socially correct patterns.” Not knowing how urban decisions are made, they hold no opinions like that of one highly placed Pole who told me, “In your country, the profit motive is the great factor. A speculator tries to build as cheaply as he can in order to turn a larger profit. Though we have eliminated the profit motive, we are in danger of having the same end result because we are allowing economics to take precedence over people.”
The Nowaks view of Warsaw is one of a million to be found here. Some are warmer toward this city and others more bitter. Their views are shaped by every experience the city provides. Better than anyone, they know the strengths and weaknesses of Warsaw. The planners might try laying aside their slide rules and charts and talking to the Nowaks.
A new prefabricated apartment building, with an outside spiral fire escape. A grocery is left of fire escape. Nearby buildings are unfinished.
Modern Warsaw is being shaped in factories and stacked in yards to await assembly. Prefabricated buildings like these are cheap, quickly built and require less skilled workers. They lack only the human touch.
Received in New York July 8, 1968.
Mr. Meeker is an Alicia Patterson Fund award winner, on leave from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This article may be published, with credit to David A. Meeker, the Post-Dispatch, and the Alicia Patterson Fund.
