This is the last meeting of Łódź authorities with representatives of partners cities before the November vote in the BIE International Exhibitions Office in Paris on which city will host this event. 

- We could always count on the support of our friends from 20 partner cities. We have heard voices of support many times. On this occasion, thank you very much for this support. And today we have an important conversation about what we can do to better manage our cities, how to make them better places to live. And I hope that we will mostly talk about it in 2022 during the international Expo exhibition in Łódź - emphasized the Deputy Mayor Krzysztof Piątkowski. The international forum is an opportunity to present Łódź’s activities in the field of revitalization of downtown quarters, urban vision, and the development of creative industries. Guests from partner cities of Łódź also shared their experiences in the field of managing city centers, revitalization and modernization.  

- In Tampere, we greatly appreciate your efforts to transform the industrial city into a city that is teeming with life and is an attractive tourist destination. For us at Tampere the topic of revitalization is also very current. We believe that organization of the Expo 2022 exhibition in Łódź will be a huge success – said Johanna Loukaskorpi, Vice Mayor of Tampere. Her opinion was also shared by the host of other partner cities of Łódź.

Also today in the newly created space at the Łódź Fabryczna station in the  S. Moniuszko Park will be unveiling commemorative plaques in the symbolic Avenue of Partner Cities. It will be a tangible gesture of support for Łódź’s efforts to organize in 2022 the International Exhibition on revitalization, with the leading slogan City Re: Invented. Representatives of partner cities will also record their statements supporting Łódź’s candidacy for the organization of EXPO 2022. 

- The city’s efforts are supported by the entire Łódź academic society. The testimony of this is among others creation of an inter-university course delivered by the Łódź Univeristy of Technology and Łódź University dedicated to revitalization - reminded prof. Sławomir Wiak, rector of the Łódź University of Technology, which is a co-organizer of the forum for even better cooperation between cities, exchange of experience, mutual support and development of new projects.