Polski
Feedback, Issue 4/2026
The Lamus River is coming back to the surface. Lodz invests in green and blue infrastructure
Apr
The restoration of rivers in cities is increasingly becoming one of the tools for adapting to climate change, a way to improve retention functions and restore urban ecosystems. In Lodz, one of the most important green-blue investments of recent years is underway – the uncovering of the Lamus River in Kilińskiego Park. The project involves the restoration of the watercourse to the surface, the construction of a meandering channel and the creation of a recreational space for residents.
Cities return to their rivers
For decades, many urban rivers were treated primarily as obstacles to development and infrastructure. They were straightened, canalized, covered with concrete or reduced to the function of a technical receiver of rainwater and sewage. As a result, the watercourses that used to co-create the landscape of the city disappeared from its surface, and with them also disappeared their natural, retention and landscape functions. Today, this way of thinking is increasingly giving way to an approach in which water ceases to be solely an infrastructural problem and begins to be treated as one of the basic elements of urban resilience.
The restoration of rivers in urbanized space is no longer just a natural activity. In practice, it also means improving rainwater retention, microclimate, reducing the effects of the urban heat island, increasing biodiversity and restoring ecosystem continuity where technical infrastructure has dominated for years. In cities that are increasingly experiencing heavy rainfall, urban drought and overheating of public spaces, uncovering and restoring watercourses ceases to be a symbolic gesture and becomes part of a broader response to changing climatic conditions and the growing needs of residents.
Lamus – a river hidden in a city park
Of particular importance are projects that are not limited to cosmetic greening of spaces, but actually restore water’s place in the city. One such project is the investment underway in Lodz to uncover the Lamus River in Kilinski Park. This is an example of an activity in which the revitalization of a park, the restoration of the urban water ecosystem and the creation of a new public space are intertwined into one project.
Łódź, historically linked to a network of small rivers, has developed over the years at the expense of their presence in the urban space. Some of the watercourses were transformed, regulated or hidden in underground channels. Today, the city is increasingly showing that also small, forgotten rivers can once again become a legible and functional element of the landscape. The restoration of the Lamus River to the surface is therefore not only of local significance. It also exemplifies a change in the approach to urban watercourses – from an infrastructure that drains water towards an element of public space, nature and climate adaptation.
As the mayor of Lodz, Hanna Zdanowska, emphasizes: This is one of my favorite investments. Łódź used to be a city of a dozen rivers, and today, step by step, we are trying to bring them back to the residents. Because what’s most important about this revitalization – besides the obvious ecological advantages – is that we’ll all be able to use this new, wildly attractive, green space on a daily basis. At the same time, this investment is an important step toward building a more resilient, green Lodz that can use its resources wisely and sustainably.
Green and blue investment in Kilinski Park
Intensive work is currently underway in Kilinski Park to restore the Lamus River to the surface. This project combines ecological and revitalization dimensions: its goal is both to restore the city’s aquatic ecosystem and to create a new, attractive space for residents. Currently, earthworks and hydrotechnical works are being carried out to uncover the watercourse. A by-pass has already been made and construction has begun on a new meandering riverbed to replace the previous technical course of the watercourse, which has been hidden for decades.
At the same time, cleanup and preparation work is being carried out throughout the park. Sidewalks have been dismantled, preparations are underway for new alleys, tree stand maintenance and landscaping activities around the watercourse are being carried out. This is important because simply uncovering the river is not enough to restore its importance in the urban space. It is important to link the riverbed with its surroundings: greenery, pedestrian routes, rest areas and solutions that will allow residents to enjoy the park without reducing the river to the role of a decorative landscape element.
The next stages of the investment, scheduled for the coming months, include the strengthening and protection of the river banks, the installation of small architecture, and the construction of electrical infrastructure, including lighting and monitoring. Thus, the investment includes not only the unveiling of the watercourse, but also a comprehensive revalorization of the park: construction of new alleys, elements of small architecture and recreational spaces by the water. The work is scheduled for completion later in 2026.
A pioneering project not only for the city
The Lamus Discovery Project is pioneering – it is one of the few projects in Europe to restore a river hidden for decades in an underground canal and create space around it for recreation, education and contact with nature. Its significance goes beyond the mere revaluation of Kilinski Park. In practice, it is a test of how water can be reintroduced into the landscape in a dense urban fabric, not treating it merely as an element of infrastructure, but as part of a living natural and social system.
The project is titled: Innovative and comprehensive urban biodiversity development concept for local governments in Europe – restoration of the aquatic ecosystem of the city of Lodz by restoring the Lamus watercourse. As the name suggests – the investment is not just about local park modernization, but is part of a broader direction of thinking about the city as one that can recover its own natural resources and use them in planning public space.
More than exposing the trough
Renaturalization of urban watercourses is not just about uncovering the riverbed and cleaning up its surroundings. Its real value is revealed when the river regains its natural, retention and social functions: it slows down the outflow of rainwater, improves the local microclimate, creates habitats for plants and animals, and organizes public space. Then such a watercourse in the city is neither a technical channel nor an ornamental stream. It is a piece of a system that can promote retention and biodiversity.
The example of the Lamus River shows that even a small watercourse, hidden for years, can become an important element of urban adaptation to climate change if it is treated as a resource that can be incorporated into the structure of the city. In this sense, the Lodz investment is not only a local revaluation of the park. It is also a signal of a broader change in the approach to rivers in cities – from channeling and covering them up towards restoring their place in the landscape, urban planning and the daily lives of residents.
pic. main: Ancerowicz/Municipal Government of Lodz
Source: press release of the City of Łódź
