What should the stops of the new PKM South line look like and what should be done to make the passenger railway as environment- and resident-friendly as possible? This will soon be decided by students of the universities which are part of the FarU, in cooperation with the local government company PKM SA.

The competition entitled 'SOUTHBOUND RAILWAY. An architectural and urban study of shaping an environmentally and inhabitant-friendly passenger railway' is the next stage of the cooperation between FarU and PKM formally initiated in October 2021. (https://faru.edu.pl/pl/aktualnosci/pomorskie-uczelnie-beda-wspolpracowac-z-pomorska-koleja-metropolitalna). The joint activities revolve around the expansion of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway to include a new line connecting Gdańsk city centre with its southern districts and the neighbouring municipalities of Pruszcz Gdański, Kolbudy and Żukowo.

As part of the competition organised by the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway SA and the Fahrenheit University, an architectural and urban study will be prepared, taking into account functional and spatial solutions, made with consideration for social and environmental aspects and including innovative technological solutions, also those not directly related to transport itself, such as energy efficiency or energy generation.

- 'I am convinced that the creativity of FarU students will make it possible to create not only visually attractive but, above all, practical and ecological architectural, urban and transport solutions for the 21st century. Through our activities, we want to have a real impact on the surrounding reality, including urban structures, making them favourable to the environment and their inhabitants,' - stresses prof. Adriana Zaleska-Medynska, director of the Fahrenheit University. - 'For FarU students, this will be an excellent opportunity to apply in academic practice the knowledge and experience gained during their studies.'

The competition aims to create public spaces along the PKM South route in such a way that they serve the integration of passengers of both public road and rail transport, as well as other means of transport, including bicycles, scooters, carsharing and individual transport.

- 'The new PKM South project we have been preparing requires an interdisciplinary approach so that the solutions used in it are fully correlated with the current state of science, which in turn will make it possible to optimize individual areas of our activities,' says Grzegorz Mocarski, PKM SA President. - 'Apart from the fresh look of young people at our project, which may result in even visionary ideas for the PKM South, it is worth remembering that PKM SA can also share its experience with students. After all, it is them who will be working on new projects in a few or more years, whose beneficiaries will be the inhabitants of Pomerania.'

The Gdańsk-PKM South stops planned in the first stage of the project should be used by the participants as one of the elements stimulating development and improving the quality of life of local communities, taking into account several factors: economic, social, communication, natural and landscape-related. Considering that the areas covered by the PMR South project are among the most dynamically developing regions of the metropolis and the region, the students' visions of their development may prove to be extremely valuable inspiration for future designers.

The technical organiser of the competition is the Faculty of Architecture GUT. Students of the first semester of MA studies in architecture have been invited to develop architectural and urban concepts of the planned PKM stops and to participate in the competition.

- 'The competition entries will be prepared as part of the "Architectural and urban design" course conducted by academic staff from the Department of Urban Design and Waterfront Spaces and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Experts from the Fahrenheit University and representatives of PKM will also provide students with substantive consultations,' adds dr inż. arch. Magdalena Podwojewska, Vice-Dean for Students and Promotion at the PG Architecture Department.

The creators of the three best-scoring projects will receive financial prizes of a total value of PLN 15,000 founded by PKM SA. The first stage of the competition will end in June 2022 with the selection of the best student works, which will become the subject of further detailed studies in the second stage of the competition, already in the new academic year 2022/2023.

Applications will be accepted until June 21, 2022, between 11:00 and 12:00 by dr inż. arch. Elżbieta Marczak, competition secretary (Main Building PG, Architecture Department, room 368).