“The need to cooperate between bagels and central cities – cooperation models, resource management and financing” – The topic of the discussion panel was taking place, which took place during the Local Trends Local Government Congress in Sopot
In the discussion conducted by Sławomir Kalinowski, head of the WSI Economy Department, Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences, was attended by: Barbara Dykier, head of the Redzikowo commune, Maciej Kiełbus Partner Ziemski & Partners Kancelaria Prawna Kostrzewska Kołodziejczak i Wspólnicy, Tadeusz Szemiot, chairman of the Gdynia City Council, Tomasz Wojtkiewicz, president of the board of the Nextbike group and local government analyzes of the National Institute of Local Government.
Successes in the area of transport
The discussion showed two things: that Cooperation is very much needed, but at the same time it is not easy. In particular, the absorption of local government units by cities usually raises a lot of emotions. Smaller communities want to have the right to self -determination, while larger ones indicate joint challenges and at the same time feel used when it comes to public services they provide.
The cooperation of independent entities does not require such far -reaching decisions. Maciej Kiełbus noticed that For urban functional areas, the law provides a range of instruments enabling cooperation. Another thing is that the statutory of this basis has not been amended for a long time, they were not adapted for contemporary needs.
In the discussion, examples of institutionalized cooperation were given, Tadeusz Szemiot talked about the municipal union of municipalities “Dolina Redy and Chylonki” already operating since 1990.
Tomasz Wojtkiewicz spoke a lot about the importance of cooperation. He reminded that the world trend is clear: more and more people will live in cities.
Local governments: Cooperation with neighbors pays off / press materials
– Therefore, we must learn to use resources effectively – he emphasized.
Nevertheless, the fact is that city residents move to “bagel” units. This has its consequences.
The president of the Nextbike group referred to the area of the company’s activity, which is transport (Nextbike manages public bike systems). He said in this case The benefits of synergy and joint operation of local government units can be seen very well.
– In Poland we have been delivering public bike systems for over 14 years. At the beginning it was indeed a service of one city – he described. It has changed over time. President Wojtkiewicz described the example of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie metropolis.
– This is a unique example in a national scale, because it is the only area that has a special metropolitan act – he described.
It is an act on a metropolitan union in the Śląskie Voivodeship.
The Nextbike system includes 31 communes in GZM and is probably one of the three largest in Europe. It is integrated with other means of transport in the metropolis. It creates one coherent system with them.
– And it will grow, because more municipalities join the project – emphasized Tomasz Wojtkiewicz.
Local governments: Cooperation with neighbors pays off / press materials
Element of the municipal communication ecosystem
Over 3,000 Nextbike bikes also drive around Warsaw, they are part of the urban communication ecosystem, combined with technological integration with systems in neighboring cities such as Pruszków. On March 5, the company again won the tender for the service of the Wrocław city bike, now for 2025-2029. This season, the system will expand the range to include stations in several neighboring municipalities of the capital of Lower Silesia, including in Czernica and Kobierzyce.
As President Wojtkiewicz admitted, talks about cooperation between local government units are not easy and time consuming.
“The foundation for successful cooperation is trust,” he said. – Warsaw coped well in terms of agreement with municipalities, in Łódź we have a project to connect bicycles with agglomeration rail to facilitate access to the capital of the region – enumerated the head of Nextbike Polska.
In practice, the point is that smaller units trust the larger one, that benefits will become the participation of all system participants. Sometimes ambition differences and other barriers stand in the way.
“This trust I have said is built for years, loses in a second and rebuilds centuries,” he said.
Tomasz Wojtkiewicz also noted that the problem of reaching an agreement between local governments concerns not only bicycles, but also other means of public transport. Everyone is lost as a result. Meanwhile, you have to look for ways to fight communication exclusion, which remains the current problem of Poland.
Electromobility and micromobility
There are also global challenges in the background. As the president of Nextbike reminded, The shared mobility is part of the environmental and climate protection. This could facilitate finding financing for it, even as part of the Social Climate Fund.
In an interview with DGP, Tomasz Wojtkiewicz emphasized that this tool can offer Poland great development opportunities. Poland is to receive about EUR 12 billion from the EU fund for 2026–2032, which are to support, among others energy transformation and the development of low -emission transport. – However, the government plans to allocate only EUR 1.44–1.71 billion for the latter purpose – this amount is definitely insufficient against the scale of challenges related to smog or decarbonization of cities – says Wojtkiewicz.
– We need a more ambitious approach. It is necessary to increase the expenditure and include in the development plans both electromobility and micromobility – including the expansion of bicycle infrastructure – as key elements complementing public transport – emphasizes the president of the Nextbike group. – We say here, among others on the support of city bike systems, subsidies for the purchase of electric bicycles or developing transport services on demand. It is necessary to actually involve both society and experts in the planning process – only then EU funds can effectively support climatic goals and counteract transport exclusion – he concludes.
