Poland to invest in Łódź despite failed bid for Expo 2022
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
16.11.2017 11:27
The Polish government intends to invest in Łódź, central Poland, despite the city losing its bid to host the specialised Expo 2022 to Argentina's Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
Łódź. Foto: Lestat(Jan Mehlich)/Wikimedia Commons (GFDL CC BY-SA 3.0)
Most of the PLN 360 million (EUR 85 million) that had been set aside in next year’s budget in case Łódź won the right to host the urban renewal-themed expo will be spent on “developing the city and region,” the development ministry said in a statement.
Spending plans include a future underground rail connection between two of the city’s major train stations, support for the government’s ambitious central airport project which will be located near Łódź, funding for the city’s main university, and a new science and technology centre which is to be set up in a defunct power plant.
The fair was expected to draw some eight million visitors if Łódź won its bid.
World Expos that last six months are held every five years, while three-month “small” expos focused on special themes take place in intervening years. The last small expo was held in Astana, Kazakhstan, last summer.
Poland’s bid for Expo 2022 in Łódź with a theme of “City Re:Invented” received 56 votes at the Bureau of International Expositions' 162nd session in Paris, while 62 votes went to Buenos Aires' expo idea of “Science, Innovation, Art and Creativity for Human Development. Creative Industries in Digital Convergence”. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP