UrbanLab Gdynia — participatory city-lab pilot

UrbanLab Gdynia is a pilot urban innovation laboratory launched in March 2019 as part of a three-year experiment co-financed by Poland's Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, in partnership with the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IRMiR). Its mission was to test a participatory city-lab model adapted to Polish municipal conditions and to develop a replicable methodology for co-designing urban solutions with residents.

The model focuses on identifying real neighbourhood problems through resident dialogue, then co-developing small-scale, pilot-tested interventions in limited geographic areas (a street, a park or a district sub-area) before wider adoption. Thematic experiments in Gdynia covered mobility, public space quality, local economic vitality and youth engagement. A parallel pilot ran simultaneously in Rzeszów, providing a comparative test of the methodology across different city sizes and contexts.

The lab received external recognition: Gdynia was the only Polish city placed among the world's best 22 (from over 250,000 analysed) at the 2019 LivCom International Awards for Liveable Communities, winning 3rd place in the 150,000–400,000 population category. An academic article published in MDPI Sustainability in 2025 reviewed Poland's urban lab ecosystem and cited the Gdynia model as the most institutionally embedded Polish example.

The pilot concluded in 2022. A methodology guide was co-published with IRMiR to enable replication in other Polish and Central European cities. No permanent successor institution has been announced, which limits the programme's long-term sustainability.

Read the full analysis: https://urbanlab.gdynia.pl/en/urban-lab-en/