Parks, Power Lines, and Bureaucracy
Done is better that perfect - from parks under high-voltage wires to sound barriers turned into green walls, there are countless examples of how practical thinking and leaner bureaucracy can unlock the full potential of public spaces.
REGULATIONBLOG
12/15/20241 min read


This is neither a beautiful place, nor the best I could see last week in Poland, nor aesthetic photos of mine. 🙂
However, these photos show one important thing—that despite the bureaucratic entanglements, which are even more abundant in our neighboring countries than in Lithuania, the same thing can serve more than one function.
After all, it was precisely because of this lack of understanding in infrastructure companies that the Teltonika case happened in Lithuania, when a €2 billion investment was suspended because the road authorities did not give permission to the energy companies to build an electric cable on the edge of the road plot and sent everyone to negotiate with hundreds of neighboring plot owners. It is precisely because of this understanding that a thing that serves several functions is a useful practice; this case has been resolved just for Teltonika, but it has not yet become a principle for everyone.
In the photos, we can see how a blasphemous thing was done in Katowice (that lacks quality public spaces for sure)—under the high-voltage poles, not just greenery was introduced, but a park with lighting, large trees, and commemorative busts. 🙂 Our energy bureaucrats, with all the mentality of protective zones (when unknown, neither protected for what, nor from whom or what, nor in what way), would likely find this unacceptable.
Again, having high-voltage wires hanging over it doesn't make this place cool. But it wouldn't be any cooler if everything were cut down and torn down under these wires, leaving only a vague meadow.
I didn't take photos of cool sound protection walls on Polish highways, which are also a support for climbing plants—in Poland, it has become almost a standard and improves the view even in winter. It's not safe to take such photos while driving. But pay attention to these green walls, especially when entering Warsaw from the Lithuanian side.
Make bureaucracy lean again! 😉


Expertise:
Regulatory Innovation and Delivery, Urban Policy and Change Management
© 2024. All rights reserved.