Krakow – The city profile revisited

The 1984 profile of Krakow published in Cities depicted a stagnant city touched by socialist policy. Over 30 years later in the era of ‘always-on’ urbanization this medium-sized European city, which is visited by over 10 million travelers annually, has evolved considerably. After 1989, Krakow began a compound stage of transformation that was accelerated when Poland was admitted to the European Union in 2004. The modern economic and political order in Central and Eastern Europe has served to increase the process of urban dynamism in the city. This new profile describes some of the most significant urban changes that led Krakow to where it is today and explains whether recent processes were successful.