The Cities for People project is being launched in Łódź – an initiative that shows how to create spaces that are conducive to everyday life, comfortable, green and safe. It is an invitation to discuss what really works in the city and what is worth rethinking.The Cities for Peopleproject is an interdisciplinary initiative implemented by the Łódź Design Festival.
Cities for People is a wide-ranging programme that combines an exhibition, a digital publication, talks, presentations and online tours. All these elements create a coherent narrative about designing urban spaces in a way that truly improves the quality of life of residents. The project draws on the knowledge of experts, design experience and conclusions from three exhibitions previously presented at the Łódź Design Festival: Futuropolis, Póki pną pnie (As Long As They Climb) and EverCity – miasto na wieczność (EverCity – a city for eternity). The creators of the project ask questions that concern us all: how to design a space that is comfortable, green, safe and conducive to meetings? What in the city supports our daily functioning, and what can be planned better? The focus is on the belief that smart design affects health, mobility, relationships and everyday comfort. This is not a vision of the distant future, but a direction that can be implemented right now – in the places we use every day.
Digital publication – the central element of the project
The central element of the project is the digital publication “From vision → through nature → to people. The city – a joint effort”, which develops the themes presented in the exhibitions and gives a voice to researchers, architects and designers who deal with the city as a social, ecological and cultural process.
It is a multi-voiced story about the city understood as a dynamic, changing and negotiated process – a space of everyday life, relationships and shared responsibility. The publication is structured around three main chapters and combines a theoretical perspective with practical experience, showing the city as an environment that has a real impact on the quality of life – today and in the long term.
An integral part of the publication are expert texts prepared especially for the project by:
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”1″ data-aria-level=”1″>Anna Cymer – an architectural historian, critic and researcher who organises the history of visions of cities of the future and their socio-cultural conditions,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”2″ data-aria-level=”1″>Jakub Szczęsny – architect and publicist, proposing a reflection on utopia as a process stretched out in time,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”3″ data-aria-level=”1″>Małgorzata Kuciewicz – architect and researcher, writing about designing with nature, regeneration and greenery as a space of experience,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”4″ data-aria-level=”1″>Kasper Jakubowski – researcher and educator, developing the perspective of urban ecology
and thinking about the multi-species city,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”5″ data-aria-level=”1″>Grzegorz Piątek – writer and journalist, author of a text on architecture designed with
everyday life inmind,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”6″ data-aria-level=”1″>Agnieszka Labus – architect and researcher, developing the concept of Architecture of Longevity™
and design for the changing needs of people,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”7″ data-aria-level=”1″>Mateusz Cyganek – architect and creative director of Design Lab Group, member of the board of SARP Łódź, combining design with social activities and urban prototyping.
The digital publication with texts by the invited guests can be found HERE.
Exhibition in the heart of the city
An important part of the project is theCities for Peopleexhibition, presented from 16 to 28 February at Łódź Fabryczna Station (free admission).
The exhibition invites visitors to look at the city from the perspective of everyday experiences. Through simple scenes and descriptions, it encourages empathetic thinking about shared space – as an environment for people of different ages and with different needs, as well as animals and plants that co-create the urban ecosystem. For those who want to explore the topic further, additional content is available via QR codes: a digital publication, video materials, a virtual tour and expert presentations.
Exhibition open:16 February 2026 from 6 p.m. – 28 February 2026.
The exhibition is open 24 hours a day.
Location:Łódź Fabryczna Railway Station
Additional activities: videocast, virtual tour and expert presentations
The project is complemented by a series of four video conversations (videocasts) in which Martyna Obarska talks to invited guests about cities as living organisms – unfinished, changeable and full of human stories. The episodes form a coherent narrative: from design and everyday life, through longevity and inclusiveness, to visions of the future and our relationship with nature.
As part of the project, Łódź Design Festival also offers a virtual tour of the EverCity – a city for eternity exhibition and video materials with expert presentations, including:
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”1″ data-aria-level=”1″>A city simulating longevity: from appearances to ethical design – Agnieszka Labus,
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”2″ data-aria-level=”1″>The party city, or how to invite people to a shared living room – Magdalena Milert (pieing),
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,”469777803″:”left”,”469777804″:””,”469777815″:”multilevel”}” data-aria-posinset=”3″ data-aria-level=”1″>Third time lucky? How Nordhavn, Copenhagen’s (almost) perfect district, was created – Marcin Wojciech Żebrowski.
This is an extension of the exhibition and publication with additional perspectives and examples of solutions that help us think about the city in a more empathetic, responsible and long-term way.
The city as a shared responsibility
Cities for people do not propose a single model of the ideal metropolis or a set of universal solutions. Rather, they encourage us to take a closer look at the space in which we function and to consider how design decisions affect health, relationships, safety and everyday comfort.
The project emphasises that a good city is not a distant vision, but the result of many everyday, often small design choices. It is a process that can be started right now – in the places we use every day.
For more information and the full project programme, visit:https://lodzdesign.com/o-nas/miasta-dla-ludzi. The project is being implemented thanks to funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO) – KPO for Culture.
source: press materials
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