INTEGRATING AREAS UNDER BRIDGES INTO THE CITY’S RECREATIONAL SYSTEM - A CASE STUDY OF THE ANNA JAGIELLONKA BRIDGE IN WARSAW

The Vistula River and its left naturally formed right bank are an integral part of Warsaw’s landscape.Unique and picturesque on a European scale, it forms a green corridor protected by Natura 2000.This area offers a number of possibilities and still undiscovered and inaccessible places. Increasingaccessibility should become a remedy for activating and recognizing their potential, as everyappearance of users leaves a mark of domestication and inclusion in social functioning. Thesereflections attempt to initiate a discussion on managing challenging areas in the urban landscapeand extracting their spatial-landscape potential. It is worth defining the role that could be played byriverbank areas in sustainable development processes and the lives of demanding urban residents.The aim of this discussion is to present a land-use concept preceded by an analysis of the possibilityof integrating unused riverbank areas under the bridges into recreational functioning. These areasoffer an enormous spatial and landscape potential. An example of this is the area of the VistulaRiver under and around the Anna Jagiellonka Bridge in the Warsaw district of Wawer.The design proposal is also a response to the deficit of social integration spaces, as well as therestoration and increased accessibility of this area on the river side. With a creative approach tomanaging riverbank areas, a unique public space can be created here, which would be an attractiveviewpoint of the Warsaw skyline, emphasizing its identity as the southern gateway to the city.