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Short-term action and long-term vision are enabling the city of Szczecin to overcome the impact of the global financial crisis.

The city of Szczecin: proactive development strategies are in operation

With the global financial crisis undercutting the rate of growth in Poland's economy, elected leaders in Szczecin are combining short-term mediation and long-term planning to ensure future growth. This pro-active approach includes lifting the prospects for local business and fostering the connections necessary to attract funding for regional development that is greater than the sum of its parts. Coupled with the crafting of a development strategy aimed at diversifying the city's industrial base, the municipal administration of Mayor Piotr Krzystek aims to strengthen Szczecin's position at the heart of a greater metropolitan area that spans the Polish-German border. To meet the short-term needs for helping local business to weather the global economic crisis, the city is working to turn more of its expansive portfolio of commercial property onto the market and in ways that benefit the city treasury. The effort, which has come in response to sliding local property values, is being made against the backdrop of tax cuts offered to enterprises and developers that will see some 14.000 m.sq. of Class A office space open in the next 18 months. Other local initiatives undertaken during the crunch include infrastructure improvements to both roads and public transport with the aim of lessening congestion on city thoroughfares and improving regional overland links. More broadly, the municipal government is working with its counterparts in the region to forge a common development strategy and attract funds to shared projects.

Along with the German district of Uecker-Randow, Szczecin is applying for EU funds to improve marina facilities. Other partners in the regional development push include Ostvorpommern, Uckermark and Barnim from Germany and the Polish cities of Police, Gryfino, Stargard and Goleniow, representatives from which attended a conference on regional cooperation earlierthisyear.

Along with tourism, the city is working to leverage the youthful and well-educated workforce and its geographic location to attract high technology and services companies in an effort to diversify the commercial base. These efforts are being articulated in a new long-term development strategy, which is currently being crafted with input both from planning consultants and city residents. A hallmark of the plan is to lessen the reliance on traditional industries, creating a more stable foundationand one that will limit the effects of future crisis-level events on the local economy.