Katowice is an old mining town in southern Poland which is gradually becoming a symbol of the sustainable energy. Katowice is in transition. On the one hand, there are soot-covered buildings. On the other, new construction sites can be seen on nearly every corner. Its rapid transformation is obvious. The largest municipal park in all of Poland is located right in the middle of the city of Katowice.
Between 1945 and 1989, Katowice was a major mining hub for communist Poland. The environment suffered serious ecological damage, like a loss of water sources, top soil and vital nutrients in the ground. Since 1989, more than forty percent of the city have been transformed into either parks or woods, there are newly installed bike paths and you can visit nearby lakes.
Outside the center of the city, near a highway, is one of Katowice's new sources of pride. The GPP Business Park may not seem like a must-see attraction, but it could soon be labeled as 'Outstanding' by Europe's sustainable building certification system BREEAM. The GPP park was built in an heavily ecologically damaged area avoided by land developers. So almost all of the cleaning of the land was paid for by the Polish government. GPP also used European Union funds for regional development. Buildings in the park use the latest technology.
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