Changing the perception of the post-socialist city: place promotion and ... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2454/is_2_165/ai_n28737617/...

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Lodz - problems and perceptions of the city

Lodz is an important regional capital and is Poland's second biggest city. In the nineteenth
century it developed rapidly as a centre for the mass production of cheap textiles, principally for
Russian markets. Rapid urbanization involved the influx of Polish, German, Russian and Jewish
entrepreneurs and textile workers that left a distinctive cultural, industrial and architectural
heritage. During the post-1945 era of state centralized planning the focus on textiles was
intensified. By 1990 52 per cent of those employed in industry (171 000 people) worked in the
textile and clothing industries. The loss of eastern markets, in 1989, devastated the local
economy. Industrial employment collapsed from 210 000 in 1980 (25% of the employed
population) to 93 000 in 1995 (Liszewski, 1997). The unemployment rate is approximately 18
per cent.

The promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the privatization of state-owned
enterprises (many of which are bankrupt) are of prime importance for the local economy.
However, domestic public and private capital are in short supply. Lodz has a poor record in
attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) (Liszewski, 1997), ranking behind other major cities
such as Warsaw, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice, Gdansk, Krakow and Szczecin. In terms of the
total number and percentage of companies with FDI the Lodz region ranks eighth and sixteenth
respectively (Central Statistical Office, 1998).

One factor which influences the complex process of attracting investment is the city's image
problem. During its rapid industrialization Lodz was seen as a prosperous place. It was
portrayed as 'The Promised Land' because of its economic possibilities and the new start it
offered Jewish immigrants. This image of Lodz is widely known, partly as a result of the novel of
the same name by Nobel Prize winning author Wladyslaw Reymont, and the subsequent film by
Director Andrzej Wajda. However, the city was also known in the nineteenth century as the 'bad

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Changing the perception of the post-socialist city: place promotion and ... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2454/is_2_165/ai_n28737617/...

city' (due to the poor conditions for workers) and the 'city of sad women' (after the high
proportion of women employed in textiles). It was also known as the 'Polish Manchester'. A
popular Polish song labelled Lodz 'the city of chimneys and factories' (Interview, Lodz
International Fair Ltd, 1997).

By 1989, Lodz was perceived as 'an unattractive city, purely industrial, with nothing interesting'
(Interview, Lodz City Council Department for City Strategy, 1997); a city with 'large eighteenth
century factories, poor weavers, poor spinners, grey, dull, and smoky' (Interview, Lodz
International Fair Ltd, 1997); and as 'a woman's city' or 'a dark city', characterized by dust, red
brick, factories and air pollution (Interviews, Lodz Regional Development Agency, Lodz Tourist
Chamber, 1997a). The collapse of the textile industry in the 1990s led to Lodz being associated
with high unemployment and economic recession. Historical factors also influence the
international perception of Lodz. During the Second World War the Jewish population of Lodz
was almost completely exterminated. Jewish, and subsequently German, property was
appropriated. Now the memories of these events held by German and Jewish people are a
barrier to some investment.

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