Śródmieście ('city centre', German: Innenstadt) is the central district (dzielnica) of the city of Katowice in southern Poland. It is located in a complex of downtown districts, between Dąb, Koszutka, Bogucice, Zawodzie, Osiedle Paderewskiego-Muchowiec, Brynów-Osiedle Zgrzebnioka, and Załęże, on the Rawa river. It has an area of 3.81 km2 and in 2020 had 25,320 inhabitants.
With over 50% of its area covered by buildings, Śródmieście is the most urbanized part of Katowice. The history of Śródmieście is closely linked to the history of Katowice, first mentioned in the 16th century. Since then, especially since the 19th century, with the arrival of the railway, industrial development, and the incorporation of neighboring towns, Śródmieście has transformed into the administrative and service center of Katowice. The district is home to Silesian Parliament, the headquarters of the Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik, the Metropolitan Office of Metropolis GZM, and the Katowice City Hall, as well as a number of institutions, including the Silesian Museum, Silesian Library, the University of Silesia, the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Silesian Theatre, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Katowice. There are also international companies like ING or Citibank. There are several consulates in the city centre, as well as the headquarters and branches of state and local government administration bodies.
The master plan of Central Katowice was designed by in the second half of the 19th century.
Extensive city growth took place during the Industrial Revolution. The centre has the finest examples of Modernism such as International Style and Bauhaus. Central Katowice also contain a significant number of Art Nouveau (Secesja) buildings along with the Communist Era giants such as Spodek or Superjednostka.
Geography
Location
Śródmieście is one of the 22 districts of Katowice, functioning as an auxiliary unit of gmina no. 1 within the group of downtown districts. It borders Koszutka and Bogucice to the north, Zawodzie and Osiedle Paderewskiego-Muchowiec to the east, Brynów-Osiedle Zgrzebnioka and Załęska Hałda-Brynów to the south, and Załęże and Dąb to the west.
The district's boundaries are: to the north – along Chorzowska Street from the intersection with W. F. Grundmann Street to Jerzy Ziętek Square (which the border surrounds from the south), continuing along to the intersection with , to the east – parallel to the west of J. Duda-Gracz Street and to the intersection with Przemysłowa Street; then the border follows and Polna streets to the junction with the A4 motorway (), to the south – along the A4 motorway (Górnośląska Avenue) to the intersection with the railway tracks running towards the , to the west – along the (west of the former locomotive depot complex); at Kamienna Street, the boundary turns north along M. Goeppert-Mayer Street and the western part of W. F. Grundmann Street to the intersection with Chorzowska Street and .
According to physical-geographical division, Śródmieście is located within the mesoregion, which is a part of the geographic region of Silesian Upland. In terms of historical geography, Śródmieście is located in the eastern part of Upper Silesia.
Geology and terrain Śródmieście is located within the . The rocks filling it originated during the Upper Carboniferous period and consist of shales, sandstones, and conglomerates that contain deposits of bituminous coal. These formations form the bedrock of Śródmieście, as well as the surface of the southern part of the district, located east of and further south of the railway tracks. Outcrops of the Orzesze layers (Westphalian B) are present in this area. They consist of massive series of mainly shales with sandstones, siderites, and coal seams. The thickness of this series exceeds 900 m.
The main features of Śródmieście's terrain were formed during the Tertiary period through intensive chemical weathering and denudation. During the Quaternary period, the Śródmieście area was likely covered by the Scandinavian ice sheet twice: during the oldest Mindel glaciation and during the Riss glaciation. The sediments from the first glaciation were mostly removed during the interglacial, while the ice sheet of the Riss glaciation left behind tills along valley depressions. During the Holocene, Pleistocene sediments were destroyed and cleared away, and a low terrace formed in several stages in the river valleys. There are no formations from the Tertiary period in Śródmieście; instead, a significant part of the district is covered by Quaternary formations. These mainly consist of glacial and fluvioglacial sands and gravels from the Pleistocene, while the Rawa river valley and the trough along the border between Śródmieście and Załęże are composed of Holocene river sediments.
According to morphological units, Śródmieście is divided into two parts. The lower, northern part of Śródmieście is part of the Rawa Depression, which stretches along the valley of the Rawa river. It is deeply cut into the Carboniferous formations and forms the bottom of the valley together with the Pleistocene terrace. This is also the lowest point – the water level of the Rawa river at is approximately 260 meters above sea level. The area of the district rises towards the south. This part of the district also encompasses the eastern edges of the Kochłowice Hills, which are characterized by flattened elevations. The highest point in Śródmieście is located near the Voivodeship Office Building, where the elevation above sea level exceeds 300 meters. The difference in height between the extreme points is about 40 meters. The terrain of Śródmieście has been heavily influenced by human activity related to urbanization and mining. Almost the entire area of Śródmieście consists of an anthropogenic surface of levelled land. Climate and topoclimate The climatic conditions of Śródmieście are similar to those of Katowice as a whole. They are shaped by both climatic and local factors. The climate of the district is mainly modified by oceanic influences, which prevail over continental influences, and sporadic tropical air masses arriving in the area from the southwest through the Moravian Gate.
The average annual temperature for the period of 1961–2005, based on data from the station in near Śródmieście, was 8.1 °C. The warmest month in the studied period was July (17.8 °C), and the coldest was January (−2.2 °C). The average annual sunshine duration between 1966 and 2005 was 1,474 hours, while the average cloud cover in the same period was 5.3. The average annual precipitation between 1951 and 2005 was 713.8 mm. The average duration of snow cover is 60–70 days, and the growing season lasts an average 200–220 days. Throughout the year, westerly and southwesterly winds prevail (20.7% and 20.4% of all winds, respectively), while winds from the north are the least frequent (5.7%). The average wind speed was 2.4 m/s.
The climate of Śródmieście is modified by local factors (topoclimate), depending on the land cover and proximity to river valleys. The topoclimate of areas located directly along the Rawa river is the most unfavorable. There is frequent heat radiation, and the high moisture levels cause significant evaporation, which draws heat. In densely built-up areas, the local climate is influenced by the warming of the atmosphere as a result of human activity. High concentrations of buildings, roads, and squares cause an increase in air temperature in the ground layer of the atmosphere. These areas also lose heat more quickly due to radiation at night, and a lack of moisture in the air prevents prolonged heat retention.
Surface and groundwater
The entire area of Śródmieście is located in the left basin of the Vistula river, almost entirely within the drainage basin of the Rawa. This river, a tributary of the Czarna Przemsza, flows from west to east through the district. Its course is fully regulated and embanked, and a large part of it within the Śródmieście area is covered. It is a recipient of treated and raw wastewater and meteoric water. In the mid-19th century, the Rawa was an exceptionally clean river, with a lot of fish and crayfish habitats. It was divided by numerous weirs, which formed cascades. In present-day Śródmieście, there was a large pond with an area of about 40 hectares, which stretched along today's and . These reservoirs were built for fish farming and to drive water wheels; the Bogucice forge, among others, used the cascades on the Rawa. By the end of the 19th century, the river had become significantly polluted. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, 60% of Rawa's waters consisted of sewage and post-mining waters. In the mid-1960s, the river was covered.
A small southeastern part of Śródmieście, located east of and south of , is located within the drainage basin of the . A fifth-order drainage divide separtes the Rawa and Leśny Stream basins. Currently, there are no water reservoirs in Śródmieście.
According to Bronisław Paczyński's classification, Śródmieście is located within the Silesian-Kraków hydrogeological region, in the Upper Silesian subregion. Aquifers occur across all layers, but their importance depends on several factors. According to the division of Poland into Uniform Groundwater Areas, the entire district is located within Uniform Groundwater Area No. 111 (Central Vistula Uplands Subregion).
Nature and environmental protection
The natural vegetation of today's Śródmieście was shaped during the last glaciation 12,000–16,000 years ago. Over the last 200 years, it has been subjected to strong anthropogenic pressure. Originally, the areas along the Rawa river valley were covered with riparian forests and alder carrs, while pine and beech forests grew in the higher areas. The development of dense downtown infrastructure in the 19th and 20th centuries led to the almost complete disappearance of natural elements. According to a study from 1859, the following green areas were located in Śródmieście: the Large City Pond, the park next to the castle, the park next to the Evangelical church, and agricultural lands in the southern part of the city. Ruderal species, among others, developed in urbanized habitats. Conditions were also created for the development of synanthropic animals, the most important of which are birds, including those that have long accompanied humans, such as the house sparrow and pigeon, as well as native birds that have adapted to urban conditions, including swifts, house martins, and barn swallows.
In the current natural structure of Śródmieście as a place of dense, older buildings, greenery mainly exists as street plantings, courtyards, squares, parks, cemeteries, and church grounds. These areas form green islands of various sizes, which are separated by barriers in the form of dense buildings. The Rawa river, on the other hand, serves as a wildlife corridor in Śródmieście. The area of green space for recreational purposes in Śródmieście is 17.7 ha, family allotments occupy 5.45 ha of the district, district parks 4.59 ha, and there are 13.11 ha of squares and green areas. The first park established in the district was the park next to the castle, on the site of today's Silesian Insurgents' Park. Other parks and squares developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in Śródmieście include the and . Before World War I, there was also a tree-lined square with a playground between the Great Synagogue and the Municipal Baths; the Ślązak department store was built there during the Polish People's Republic era.
There are two groups of family allotment gardens within the boundaries of Śródmieście: No.NameLocationArea (ha)Number of plots (2007)1Kościuszki4.681402RymeraRybnicka Street0.7630 History