REVITALIZATION OF THE ODRA WHARF AS A TOOL FOR ADAPTING THE CITY TO CLIMATE CHANGES

Abstract

Climate change and its effects are recorded in various areas and aspects of everyday life of people, regions and countries. Adaptation to ongoing climate change has become a feature that everyone who looks into the future rationally must take into account. Cities and urban areas, regardless of their geographical location, experience threats related to climate change, including: heat waves, intense rainfall, extreme temperatures, droughts, hurricanes and floods. For this reason, these phenomena should sensitize both governmental authorities and residents and other users of urban space to the effects of climate change and set an example for residents, taking a closer look at their public spaces and effectively adapting them to inevitable climate changes in such a way that they do not affect negatively on the lives of residents, and significantly improved the quality of life in the city. Racibórz is a city in Poland where many unfavorable phenomena and environmental threats can be noticed, the consequences of which, if ignored, may be tragic. In international and national documents, cities have been indicated as areas very sensitive to the effects of climate change. They cover a wide range of strategies and activities aimed at limiting the effects of climate threats, losses and the costs of these damages, but also benefiting from newly created opportunities. The article focuses on the area located on the Oder River, which has always been a tourist icon of the city and a popular meeting place for residents. This space is located in the very center and is therefore a place of accumulation of traffic of cars, pedestrians and cyclists. The developed solutions are aimed at restoring the city's positive relationship with the river by emphasizing its positive features (a place for sports, rest and recreation) and limiting the impact of the negative ones (flood risk, exhaust fumes and heat caused by car traffic, communication barriers).