Today, the Metropolitan Debates in Olivia are starting. Together with “Dziennik Bałtycki” – the organizer of the debates and the substantive partner of the project – the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area Association, we will consider how to build a strong metropolis that will serve the inhabitants of our region well. Throughout the first half of 2018, representatives of local governments, universities, cultural and art institutions, entrepreneurs and politicians will meet in Olivia Business Centre, discussing the most important topics for our agglomeration.

The first meeting of the “Metropolitan debates in Olivia” series is today, January 22 at 11:00

Follow the Debate live on the Facebook page of “Dziennik Bałtycki”

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The topic of the meeting, in which will be attended by m.in. Mieczysław Struk, Marshal of the Voivodeship, Paweł Adamowicz, Presidents of Gdańsk, Wojciech Szczurek of Gdynia and Jacek Karnowski of Sopot and representatives of the government, Pomeranian MPs and senators, as well as the business and science community, reads: “Opportunities and needs for the creation of a metropolis in Pomerania?”.

The inhabitants of the region were the first to be convinced of the idea of a metropolis, the creation of which has been discussed for several years. The benefits of being “together” have always been obvious to them (a common ticket and implementations of public transport, common solutions to environmental problems, issues of education or planning the development of the region…). In 2011, local governments that wanted to cooperate with each other established the Gdańsk Metropolitan Area Association. Today, the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area Association consists of 57 local governments (the area covers a total area of nearly 5.5 thousand km²; according to the area of counties: 6.7 thousand km², inhabited by nearly 1.5 million inhabitants).

A similar opinion is expressed by business representatives, who have been talking about the metropolis for a long time in the context of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot and neighbouring cities. Over the years, however, it has been more difficult to convince local government politicians. Among them, of course, there were declared enthusiasts of the idea of a metropolis, but there were also skeptics who claimed that it was easier to communicate in order to solve some specific problems.

To this day, however, the Pomeranian metropolis has no statutory authority. And without it, solving many problems together is very difficult in practice.

Looking for ideas and specific solutions for the metropolis, together with “Dziennik Bałtycki” and the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area Olivia Business Centre association, we are organizing a series of debates under the slogan “We want a Metropolis in Pomerania”. The participants of the first of them, scheduled for 22 January, will sign a declaration in Olivia about the need to create a Pomeranian metropolis. We believe that this declaration will become the cornerstone of the entire enterprise.

In the next debates, planned for later months, we will reflect together with politicians and residents of the region on how to most effectively solve problems related to specific spheres of life: transport and public transport, environmental protection, education or tourism. In each of these areas, together we can do better and more.

Follow the current information on the website dedicated to the Metropolitan Debates in Olivia

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Topics that will be discussed during the meeting on January 22:

• Does the development of metropolises in Poland require special legal acts? If so, should the government issue regulations to the Act on Metropolitan Unions passed in the previous term, as it happened in the case of the Silesian Metropolis, or should it develop a new act?
• Will the creation of a metropolis solve our everyday problems? If so, which ones?
• How to build a new common quality – the united strength of cities – in order to be able to act more, better and more effectively?
• What tasks should be fulfilled by the future metropolis?
• Won’t the possible creation of a metropolis threaten the sovereignty of the municipalities located around the Gdańsk agglomeration?

Welcome!

_{Source: “Metropolitan Debates in Olivia. We want a metropolis in Pomerania! Together we can do better and more”/ author: Jarosław Zalesiński, after: http://www.dziennikbaltycki.pl/metropolitalne-debaty-w-olivii/a/metropolitalne-debaty-w-olivii-chcemy-metropolii-na-pomorzu-razem-mozna-lepiej-i-wiecej,12844967/}